Re: Re: Developments in Cork

The Cork Independent 11th Jan.2007
By Finbarr Cullen.

BERNARD v OWEN
BERNARD Allen has gotten rightly up the nostrils of the man changing the face of Cork city, glass box builder Owen O’Callaghan.
Allen complained that the Horgan’s Quay development would not include a conference centre and, that if the thing were ever built, it would be ten years down the line by which time Limerick will have pipped Cork with its own plan for an 8000 seater centre.
We’ll be left with nothing, moaned Bernard, as there wasn’t room for two conference centers in Munster.
The northside deputy alleged that the emphasis was on residential and commercial units at Horgan’s Quay because they brought in more bobs – not on a conference centre.
He also took a swipe at the “promises we’ve heard before”, such as the one concerning the Corpo owned land at Mahon that was sold with the proviso of an events centre being built but with a clause enabling the developer to get out of the obligation if he wanted to. He did and, according to Bernard, the Horgan’s Quay proposal was now going the same way.
Back came O’Callaghan to rebut Bernard’s criticism. A centre at Mahon had not been economically viable, he proclaimed but, of course, like everyone else he was all for the idea on Horgan’s Quay.
As was City Manager Joe Gavin.
Significantly, however, O’Callaghan didn’t say when at Horgan’s Quay the conference centre would go ahead neither now nor in the future.
Bernard it seems is right. The conference centre has been put on the long finger, a very long, long finger.
And Cork will lose out.