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We have heard in recent months about “imminent” planning applications for:

1. Kyrl’s quay
2. Kent station
3. Howard / Tedcastle’s site in Docklands.
4. Howard Holdings Event Centre.

Anyone any news? Are these imminent in the historic Martin Cullen/CIE/Manor Park usage of that word?

Also any news of Kenny’s Treasury Building. Is it going to be built? They have planning.

I just took a wander through the city this lunch time having been away for a few weeks. In general the City is improving on a daily basis but there are some annoying eyesores that really should be sorted out.

I think the Grand Parade is coming along nicely. The wide pavements look well but one criticism would be the lack to date of bars, restaurants and cafes with outside seating as it is ideal for this – Soho is the honourable exception. In this regard the loss of the former restaurant/cafe next to Fitzgeralds electrical – now a (admittedly nice) shoe store – is a pity. Still such changes of use will happen with time I’d imagine.

The start of Washington St is similarly benefiting from the Council’s work and again business is following the council’s lead with a new cafe and v nice new restaurant on the side by Singer’s Corner (surely due a change of use itself even if it is an institution!). On the other side of the road comes bugbear no.1 – Mannixs. Why? It is an attrocity of an eyesore. Moreover it has PP for (I’d say) 3 yrs. Anyone any idea if there are plans to build? Anyone any idea when the Planning runs out?

The Coal Quay is similarly coming along and the new shopping centre will be fine (I’d say ready at Christmas judging by progress). Its no world beater but the Church bit will be nice and I assume there will be access (and views) to it from Paul St. On the Opp side of Coal Quay there is a new version of the Coal Quay bar (“the Cornstore”) which seems very nicely appointed and a big improvement on its predecessor. Quite what is happening with the Bodega God only knows but given the original reason for OOC’s purchase was as temporary accommodation for a shop, the lack of that new use to date (or any sign of it) is a bit of a mystery. Surely the need for such use will pass soon?

Finally Washington St itself is slowly improving and the new Jurys and associated apartments look quite well. However bugbear no.2 is the Kino. Again it has PP for years for a 3 storey redevelopment as a two (three?) screen arthouse cinema plus cafe, etc. Any idea if there is any progress likely soon? Surely the PP is going to run out in the next 18 months I’d have thought………..

Just as a general observation, on a sunny day Cork is rapidly becoming a nice city to walk around – particularly Patrick St, the streets toward Paul St and even Oliver Plunkett St (though this is a disappointment overall I feel though the rapidly changing tenants are improving it). The upgrading of the Grand Parade and its surrounds described above is further enhancing the feel of the city I think. Any news viz the Kino and Mannix would be appreciated though.

@jungle wrote:

That’s crazy really. The line is already there and in the case of Kilbarry in particular, the population is already there.

I thought these were originally slated for 2008 and now 2010. It must be true, Martin Cullen said it and his word is his bond. A prince amongst men who is totally misunderstood.:D

The dragging of heels on Cork transport is v. deflating. Perhaps the most depressing thing was when the Greens tried to get measures re regional transport in the programme for government they were told where to go. Pretty much guarantees no substantial action on anything bar the Transport 21 Plan for Dublin…I mean Ireland for the next five years at least. I think though that the Kilbarry and Blarney stations are in Transport 21 (they probably made a mistake and thought these were in Meath or Wicklow or some other Dublin commuter town so they slipped in by accident) ?

Thanks for that. The 3 buildings look great. No idea where the Environmental Research Institute is but looks nice. CIT is v impressive and delighted to see the City Hall extension recognised – well done to all concerned esp. Cork City Council. This really is a serious achievement actually, there were 13 awards for all of Europe and 3 of them went to Cork! On that link all three buildings look the part.

I’m going to post this separately anyway but just to note the 3 Cork buildings commended…more of this please.

From today’s Examiner…..

Architecture awards – Public sector projects lead the way

THE perception of dullness, widely associated with the public service, is well and truly scotched by the annual awards for excellence in European architecture.

Undoubtedly, the most striking aspect of the four Irish winners of Britain’s prestigious RIBA Awards, is that they are all commissioned by divisions of the public service here.

Unlike other EU states, a surprising lack of adventure characterise the private sector when it comes to designing new architectural projects. Generally speaking, it appears the liberal spirit of the Celtic Tiger era has not rubbed off on promoters of most new developments.

In contrast, the lion’s share of the 2007 crop of RIBA awards have been scooped by Irish public sector commissions. Of the 13 awards, four went to Ireland, compared with two each for Denmark and Germany, while France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium each won a single award.

The winning Irish projects include a primary school at Cherry Orchard in Dublin, plus three in Cork: the Environmental Research Institute at UCC, the CIT building, and the County Council’s new civic offices.

Normally in the headlines for negative reasons, it is refreshing to commend the public service on a positive note for a change.

@paul h wrote:

Cork city – pop.119.143 (2006 census)
metro cork – pop.274,000

Belfast city – pop.277,391 (2001 census)
Belfast metro – pop.579,554

Dublin City – pop.505,739 (2006 census)
Dublin metro – pop 1.6 million (estimataed by CSO to reach 2.1 million by 2021)

So in summary:
Cork = teeny tiny
Belfast = tiny
Dublin = small to medium
😀 😀

Seriously can we lose the Cork / Dublin shite (and that applies to posters from both necks of the wood). Yes Dublin is much bigger, yes quality of life is better in Cork and yes one is a crap small international city and the other is a crap medium international city. Can we now concentrate, on the correct threads, with suggestions on how to improve both.

I know I’m a broken record on this but this HAS to become a municipal stadium. I’m not saying the GAA should part with it cheaply – they should be properly compensated – but it should then be a municipal stadium which all the various sporting bodies / clubs should lease. And don’t give me the economic arguments against it until we’ve at least done a proper analysis. Suffice it to say I think it could be run at a profit once concerts, hotels etc are thrown into the sporting mix (70% of Croke Park’s revenue is non match day related).

There is an article in today’s Examiner where Sean Kelly (now of the Irish Sports Council) talks of Ireland hosting sporting events like the Rugby WC or the European Championships in Football in the next 10 yrs. He lists as venues Croke Park, Landsdowne, Maze site in Belfast, Abbotstown (eh?) and Thomand Pk. The fact that Cork, Ireland’s most sporting county (both in terms of interest and success – about 50% of the country’s greatest sports people are/were rebels inc 4 of the first 5 in an RTE poll at the millenium) doesn’t get a mention (for obvious reasons) is a disgrace. I see the City Council gave Frank Murphy an award last month – any chance they could now call in a favour from the Great One?

Ciaran Lynch of Labour proposed a Motion last January calling for a study into the feasability of a municipal stadium. I know Ciaran has moved onto bigger and better things but this Motion needs to be followed up. Anyone any idea where it is at? I’ve e-mailed Ciaran Lynch already asking him to see that his co-opted successor doesn’t lose sight of this issue.

Finally that Examiner article for those interested is as follows:

“Kelly: bring on the big games

IRELAND could host, or co-host, events such as the Rugby World Cup or a European Soccer Championships within the next decade, according to executive chairman of the Irish Institute of Sports, Sean Kelly.

The former GAA president believes that developing sports infrastructure north and south, a mild climate and an improving transport system makes Ireland the ideal location for such showpiece events.

He explained: “We are getting the infrastructures in place. Stadium-wise, we will have the new Lansdowne Road, a stadium at Abbotstown and a possible new development in the Maze in Belfast.

“We also will have a revamped Thomond Park, and the possibility of using Croke Park for other sports, depending on the GAA’s attitude post 2009.

“These are all modern state-of-the-art projects capable of hosting top international events. The key is to have two grounds to take the major games while the other grounds can take lesser matches.

“Given the number of airlines and airports now in existence, the issue of co hosting an event could also be explored.”

Mr Kelly doesn’t see any issues with venues like Thomond Park hosting a soccer game should the need arise.

“Rugby never had a problem with soccer. After all, Lansdowne Road is a rugby stadium first and foremost and then it opened to soccer.

“There were plenty of rugby grounds around the country who opened their doors to GAA clubs when they were in trouble.”

Despite the costs of hosting such events, Mr Kelly is convinced that such tournaments offer a win-win situation for Irish sports and the economy.

“There is massive publicity to be gained from a tourism perspective — just think back to the Ryder Cup.

“Then you have all the hotels, shops and businesses that would benefit. And don’t forget the exposure that the sports themselves would get.”

Mr Kelly continued: “We should be targeting something like this as a long-term strategy. The Department of Sports has a committee set up to look at the knock-on benefits of the Olympics Games in London in 2012 and how we can cash in on it.

“They are planning to get teams to come here on training camps and then try to extend their stays. We as a country are starting to look outwards.

“That committee is a first step in that direction. There are other possibilities like sending some out to France to the Rugby World Cup to make contacts and gain more information about what is required to host a major sporting event.” “

Before I post this I should clarify I have no party allegiance

Just to happily give the electorate of Cork a public apology. I said previously on this thread that we were complete twats to vote in so many FF Tds in 2002 given the way the last gov treated Cork from 1997 on. This time unlike the rest of the country we gave FF three less seats in the county and fair dues to us. At least we had the balls to send Bertie a message.

That said I feel v bad for Dan Boyle. He’s a good guy and good for Cork. As it happens I’m one of the first preferences he lost for tactical voting reasons. If GP are in government I hope Dan’s loss does not distract the GP from cork transport development.

Thanks for that Kite.

One issue you might clarify is the status of the tax breaks. These were approved in principle by Brussels, they have obviously been promulgated amongst the developers – I remember Greg Coughlan of Howard being quoted in the paper talking about adequacy or otherwise of the tax proposals – but I’ve never seen details of them, nor any mention of when they’ll be implemented.

We got EU clearance in October 2006 for tax breaks so why weren’t proposals in the December Budget or the Feb 2007 Finance Bill? I did disturbingly see an article by the Head of The Docklands project in City Hall in an IE “Pullout” on the Docklands last Jan which welcomed the EU approval and said that CCC would NOW start putting together proposals on same to Government (in other words, 3 months after EU approval CCC were now “starting” to put together proposals). Is CCC responsible for the delay or is it Government?