A-ha
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It probably isn’t fair, but that is just the way our crazy country is run. What people should remember though is that Ireland only 30 years ago was as poor as Kosovo or Bolivia is today (there’s nothing wrong with my geography by the way…. I know they are both on opposite sides of the world). But, the government is still stuck in a fu*king time warp, which is why, with all the money the country has, we still lack the infrastructre that a modern European country should have. Take London for example, I know the city has a population five times the whole population of Ireland…. but they are spending absolute billions on public transport. The new Cross River Tram got planning permisson and funding with the blink of an eye. The DLR was built in the ’80’s for the East End and they are adding to it every day. Not to mention five international airports, the most extensive underground network in the world, high speed trains to Paris and Brussels and a new high speed train opening in time for the 2012 Olympics, appropriately called the Javelin to link one side of London with the other and then onto France and Belgium. When you see integrated transport like that in operation, you’d wonder what the hell the government are doing over here all day!
Six! The way things carry on in this country it will probably be made into a bungalow. I still don’t know how Eglinton St. is being built…. 80m including the spire (someone must have been given a brown envelope).
@a boyle wrote:
With respect to cork airports debt. If this new terminal is so rooted in economics sense and not a pure piece of government pork , then why oh why does my irish times repeatedly tell me that i will have to pay for cork airport debt, through higher landing charges ? Could you please explain that one to me in one sentence.
It’s only fair, we paid for Shannons shady “incentives” long enough. Just because it isn’t classed as a form of debt doesn’t mean that we never forked out money to fund it’s development.
Anyways, moving on, has the new terminal been named “Cha & Miah Terminal” or is this just rumours spreading? I’m just glad they didn’t decide to call it after Roy Keane.
@daniel_7 wrote:
surely dunnes aren’t going to take 140000sq ft on pana, when you put it in perspective with tescos in wilton which was, not sure if it still is the biggest supermarket in the country at 32000sq ft?
Maybe they are going to use some for offices. I can’t see Dunnes operating 140000 sq ft…. especially when there is one across the road in Merchants Quay. Perhaps they might close that when they open the new one. The one in MQ would make a great H&M.
@A-ha wrote:
a boyle, that train idea is fine if you live in the city, but what if you live in the backs of beyonds.
😡 Actually I want to change my view. That whole train idea to Shannon isn’t fine…….it’s actually incredibly stupid. Talk about going backwards. I don’t want to give the impression that Cork Airport is equivelant to London LHR, Paris CDG or Amsterdam AMS, but really, do you think Shannon is God’s gift to the aviation world? I mean, like, who would even consider closing three airports so a train line can be built to Shannon. I don’t think people from Douglas would be to happy when they found out that the ten minute car journey to the airport has turned into a twenty minute car journey into the city centre, followed by an hour and a half train journey (including stopping in numerous stations along the way…. that is if it’s supposed to be profitable and of use to people), only to find out that you must wait three hours in a manky old dilapidated airport. I don’t think so! I’m off to bed before I have a banger attack.
I know I know…. the airport bashing should stop. It’s gone on abit to long, but I can’t seem to stop. a boyle, that train idea is fine if you live in the city, but what if you live in the backs of beyonds. I doubt every town and villiage would have it’s own railway station. And don’t even try to defend our rail system, which is one of the worst in Europe. France has a much better system. You must have been looking at the high speed TGV map, which only covers major towns and cities. There are hundreds of villages in France that are connected to the normal regular SNCF network. And you can say it all you want, but I would think that most people would be aginst closing all the airports to open up a single new one. Talk about creating a monopoly…. something that has gone on far to long in this country.
@a boyle wrote:
scrapping cork is the correct thing to do. instead of investing in cork airport , investing in a new direct rail link from cork to limerick and on to shannon is the best thing you could have done with the 180 million euro invested in cork airport.
That way you would have a rail link between cork and ennis (with a real chance of it continuing to galway) AND an airport with an catchment population comparable to dublin.
Intead you have a provincial airport which will never bring the same choice of destinations as shannon could.
However if shannon and cork can both survive then all the better , but if there is a choice it is quite clear that shannon is preferable.
First of all, if we lived in a first world country like our government leaders force us to believe, then we would already have a railway line all up the west coast, probably connecting five different airports along the way. Also a boyle, it’s easy to see that Cork Airport does offer a wider range of destinations than Shannon does (excluding the American destinations). Can I ask what airport people from Clare and Limerick must go to if they wish to go on a week-end break to places like Prague, Amsterdam, Budapest, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Nice….. the list goes on. And I mean Barcelona…. not Girona (about 120km away from Barcelona). Cork has the widest range of European flights when compared to Shannon. I would imagine that more people from Shannon-side have a need to use ORK than Lee-side people have a need to use SNN. But I have to agree a boyle, both airports must be kept open, Cork has a large population base and ORK caters for that population aswell as the surrounding counties. Shannon too must look after its own local regional area as all people should be as close to some form of airport as possible.
@dave123 wrote:
In the end Shannon has it’s debts cleared.
Cleared by “deals” with the American Military and Government subsidies for employing large amounts of unnecessary people. Also I cannot see Shannon being debt free for many years to come, which is possibly why the DAA must hold on to it. Shannon has a 60 year old runway that is in serious need of upgrading. Also, wasn’t it only this time last year that the Minister for Transport revealed that the state pays the €10m annual cost to air-traffic control due to US military aircraft in Irish airspace. Financial figures released in April 2005 show that the airport lost €2.5m, whilst the transport of US troops made an income of €18m for the airport (that’s €30.5m in debt from next year already). So, come 2007-2008 when the Military leave, the Open Skies agreement is in place, the Stopover will have ended and the airport will need total modernisation…..hmmmmm how many millions will Shannon be loosing annually then €40-50 million?… maybe more.
P.S. – I almost forgot… how’s that EU investigation going over the incentives given to Ryanair? I hear Brussels-Charleroi is supposed to pay millions in fines to the EU. You’d better all get rid of those brown envelopes before someone comes knocking.
@shrink2cork wrote:
Why will Maryborough Hill be closed to two way traffic for nine months to one year? Wait till the schools go back, then the fun will start…….
Can any one help?:confused:
And well done to A-ha this is the best Thread, please keep it going:cool:
Thanks for that shrink 😉 . Maryborough Hill will be closed until March 2007 (I think) as they are putting in cycling lanes, bus lanes and in general just widening the road.
A €1…. did somebody bid for it on eBay or something. I would have gone to €1.25, but that would have been my limit. That’s such a shame though. I really wanted to get to see that project through. Whats planned for the area now then?
Thank God, I’m really after taking a liking to it. I can only imagine what it would look like if it was renovated. It would make a good museum, but apartments seem to be written all over it.
Thanks for all that, but I’m just looking forward to getting the latest on whats happening around the city. There seems to be building sites everywhere but never get to know what they are building until I come on here (someone always seems to know something I don’t).
As I’m at it….. whats the story with HTD Studio’s Tyndall Institute in the Docklands? It really is one of my favourits to get built.you need to look at this on a national basis. cork has enough to support a small airport . but if shannon was connected with a railway line to galway limerick and cork it could no doubt support 20 million people a year.
I have to say that I have never heard anything more narrow minded in my life. Local economies depend on services such as those offered at local airports. I would imagine that the economies of areas such as Galway, Sligo and Mayo that depend on Knock airport as a means of income would suffer if it were to be replaced by a train connecting the area to Shannon…… not to mention the economy in Cork where the pharmaceutical industries including Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline rely heavily on the airport for many reasons. Although overpriced, the airport has been money well spent, even if it did come at a cost, it had to be done. And really I can’t see Shannon airport coping with 20million passengers without getting a new terminal of it’s own, so it’s just as well the money was spent on Cork, as Shannon, whatever way you look at it, will always be “out of the way”. The Clare airport will have to come up with a plan soon though if it intends to stay economically viable. The Shannon Stopover that has for years dampened the transatlantic development out of both Dublin and Cork airports will end next year as well as the US military aircraft stopover which has decided that it will move to a base in Germany.
From what was being talked about a few months ago, it would be a commuter style service to be used by both locals and tourists with each boat capable of holding about 20 passengers, maybe more, I’m not sure. It sounded like a good idea but I haven’t heard anything since.
Has anyone heard any more about the water taxi service that was in “planning” stages at Christmas. I haven’t heard anything about it in ages. Is it still going ahead?
Is the Odlums building listed? I’d hate to think that it might actually be knocked down. As for the museum a boyle, I can see where your coming from. It could be made into the Battersea or Tate Modern of Cork.
Low-cost airline Wizz Air have announced that it will start a service from Cork International Airport to Gdansk in Northern Poland from early December. The airline has recently started flights from Cork to Katowice. There is also a lot of talk over Ryanair’s decision to recruit extra staff in Cork. I wonder have they decided to increase their presence at the airport. :confused:The Odlums building looks as if it could be converted into really nice and modern apartments. Keep the facade, do up the interior and you’ve got what they’ve been doing in Liverpool for years. I’ve never really noticed how nice that building was, but those photos show it’s beauty. I don’t think there is much hope for R&H Hall…… although I always thought that if they lit it up at night with coloured lights, it might look pretty cool.
Yes…. I know I haven’t been on in ages, but thought I would throw in my pennies worth. Firstly, I’m not a fan of closing down our main thread, but it’s still a good idea having threads related to specific topics. And secondly, just in case anyone didn’t know because I didn’t see it mentioned anywhere, Centralwings are starting flights from Cork to Krakow and Wroclaw in Poland. This, including flights already in operation to Katowice and Warsaw brings a total of 4 Polish destinations to Cork. This gives a total of 7 new routes to Cork for the month of June – Madrid, Lanzarote and Prague with Aer Lingus, Galway and Leeds-Bradford with Aer Arann and Wroclaw and Krakow with Centralwings. Not a bad start for our new terminal which opens July 10th.
@phatman wrote:
Em, I kinda appreciate your sentiment, but to me the old shop front was just another shabby part of a shabby street in general. I think Oliver Plunkett Street, along with North Main Street, retains the feel of a street in a country town, or the city back in the 80’s. Alot more effort could be made.
I agree, I’m surprised that manky green signage stayed for as long as it did. I don’t know how anyone can say that they will miss it. It’s so vile and as said by phatman, a reminder of the city back in the 80’s, which weren’t really the most spectacular years of Cork’s history.
Also, I read a piece today saying that Panorama Holidays are to begin charter flights to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, supposedly by the end of December in time for the winter sun season. These flights will be the first ever flights from Cork to Egypt.
@lexington wrote:
😮 US-carrier Delta Airlines are in discussion with Cork Airport about the option of opening up a US route from the airport, however the stage of progression associated with the talks are unclear. The airline has identified Cork as one of its possible expansion options – the route could bring significant benefit in terms of both tourism and investment should it materialise.
*shortly I would hope to post some (restricted) details of an emerging aviation development associated with Cork – although preliminary in nature*
That all sounds very exciting. Make sure you keep us updated lex! Also, on the subject of the airport, I just read today that Aer Arann are beginning flights to Nantes (Brittany) in France instead of Angers. It’s sort of old news at this stage, but I wonder are Aer Arann trying to compete on the Nantes route with Ryanair who fly there from Shannon. I think the route will be popular as it’s the only route to Brittany without getting the ferry to Roscoff. It also saves on driving time down to Shannon (and back again) aswell as the cost of driving and parking your car down there too.
