Pana01
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According to yesterday’s Echo, the new airport terminal’s opening could be delayed for another 4 to 5 months. This is due to ‘construction delays’. In the meantime, to cater for the huge numbers of passengers over the peak summer months, a temporary canopy may be erected over the existing terminal. This is becoming a right shambles. Wasn’t the airport originally due to open before the launch of Cork 2005?
On a more positive note, the Kinsale Road flyover is now due to open in October, a full seven months ahead of schedule.:)
I’m tired of discussing the vile portakabin on Patricks St. In today’s Examiner, there’a a report on it, along with colour photo. Amazingly, it’s been there since July 2002, a total of 3 years and 4 months. A pledge has been made to have a trendy replacement in place before christmas.
Why does everything take so long to resolve? And, more importantly, why do we need a hut on Pana in the first place? I know the old one was taken away, but is it necessary to have a replacement? Why can’t the busmen find a place within the refurbished Bus Station, a couple of minutes walk away? The owners of H Samuel, Golden Discs and AIB must be thrilled at the prospect of the busmen dropping into the hut for the ould cuppa, chat and changeover from here to eternity.
Someone from city hall should have the balls to tell them to move. They’re an embarrassment to Pana.
And while I’m on the rant – why are there so many cars parked in loading bays in town on Saturdays, especially Oliver Plunkett Street and Patrick Street? Too many parked cars and taxi ranks, ruining the new look of the street, not to mention Caroline Street, beween the Old Oak and Scotts is crammed with cars and jeeps at all times. Unsightly.A report on yesterday’s Examiner stated that the busman’s hut on Patrick Street will remain there until at least September, as new plans for it’s replacement were not yet ready. It was described as an ugly eyesore.
Can anybody out there tell me why we need a hut on Patrick Street at all? Surely these busmen could have been housed at the redeveloped bus station at Parnell Place, which must be all of 2 minutes walk from the Statue. What value is it adding, by having it in the middle of our most prestigious street? Any time I walk past, the lads are having a chat and making tea. I can’t recall seeing a similar farce on O’Connell Street, Oxford Street or the Champs-Elysees. Someone at City Hall should have the balls to stand up to these busmen, and just demolish the thing.Does anyone have any civic pride left??
Living in East Cork (Youghal), and commuting to Ringaskiddy every day can be very stressful.
I clearly remember driving through Midleton, Carrigtwohill and Glounthuane and even through the city (prior to the tunnel) to get to work.
The commute isn’t too bad, apart from the nightmare that is the traffic lights at Castlemartyr. It’s a frustrating bottleneck, used to allow a few cars and tractors access from Shanagarry and Mogeely. When the lights are out of action, the traffic flows freely. Every other day, however, traffic is tailed back on both sides of the bridge, because of these hideous lights.
I read that there is a long term plan to include a dual-carriageway from Midleton to Youghal – anyone else hear of this??Back to the architecture – anyone know what will be built in the Beasly Street car park site, backing onto Parnell Place, and when it will commence?
Hi all,
any updates from last night’s meeting at City Hall where the contentious issue of the portakabin on Patrick Street was being discussed?I was surprised to see it feature on the Sunday Independent, along with full colour photo. Maybe they’ll sit up and listen now.
On today’s Neil Prendeville show on 96FM, it was announced that Patrick Street will have to be dug up to repair ‘faulty drains’. There was total disbelief about this, but City Hall refused to comment on the scale of the digging.
They also hightlighted the ‘farce’ of the roadworks between Grand Parade and Pana – will it ever be sorted? How long is it going on? Why can they always repair roads much quicker in other countries?
I despair. The shop owners on Patrick St are wondering why business is down. Impossible parking coupled with farcical road digging – that’s why. And (here I go again), will they ever remove that vile Portakabin??Lex – any contacts to get this moved??
Walking down Patrick St on Saturday, I saw that the martyr of a portakabin is still alive and kicking!
Two CIE men were laughing and making cups of tea inside.
A few weeks ago, ‘Inside Cork’ had a cover story on this ‘eyesore’, and how nobody from CIE was available for comment. I feel like dismantling it myself – any volunteers, let me know.Lex – I thought it was agreed that this thing was to go recently??
Rant over……..
>>>>And many and most of you will be delighted to hear that FINALLY, Bus Eireann, CCC and Cork Business Association have agreed to remove the Portacabin on Patrick’s Street currently serving as the Inspector’s/Information Station for local bus routes. A new purpose-built street kiosk in-keeping with the new street-scape is to be provided as a tasteful replacement. The location along Patrick’s Street has yet to be determined.<<<<
Good Lord – why are taxis and that vile bus-hut allowed to dominate Patrick Street? The taxis were offloaded to Academy St but refused to stay there. The number of new taxi ranks on Pana is unreal, they are an eyesore and should be limited.
As for the bus hut, wasn’t that due to be housed in the refurbished bus station? That means we still have to look at them boiling their plastic kettle in the middle of our state-of-the-art main street.
Sorry for ranting, but they seem to have a divine right to Pana.
On another note, the revamped Emmet Place – there is a ‘no parking at any time’ sign outside ‘Marble & Lemon’, but there is ALWAYS at least 2 cars there. Does anyone care?
Lex, any potential timeframe for MP extension to include M&S? Thanks for your regular inputs, very informative.
Speaking of Clinton Cards closing down, I was speaking with an employee of that old Cork institution O’Donovans butchers on Princes St, which has been a hive of activity for many a long year.
I was shocked when he informed me that they are closing down. The reason? Business is way down, and customer feedback indicates that lack of parking and cost of same is driving people out of the city.
Will CCC do anything to help (apart from Park and Ride, which may not entice enough people)?
Still on my rant – will that vile Portakabin outside H. Samuel ever go? It will look great under the new Christmas lights, I’m sure.
Yes, I saw that report in the Echo. A 13,000 population area near Blarney.
I’d like to know when that proposed dual carriageway from Midleton to Youghal is going to happen. Whoever decided to put traffic lights in Castlemartyr?? The traffic is an absolute nightmare ever since, tailed back for miles on both sides.
With all the recent press about the wonderful new look Patrick Street, I couldn’t believe the headlines on todays news saying that Cork was the dirtiest city in Ireland, and that Pana was ‘filthy’.
Bishop Lucey Park and Oliver Plunkett Street were also singled out for criticism. One good point was that the city council were told to get their act together – and not before time. They seem to have no pride in Cork at all.
The level of chewing gum spat upon our streets is a disgrace, some people have total disregard for the area. Sorry to rant on again, but another reason Pana looks filthy is overflowing litter bins (Hello City Council – do you think you can EVER address this situation, it’s going on as long as I can remember – do you ever have meetings and put plans in place to address issues???)
Also the 4 or 5 new taxi ranks clogging up the street, and allowing 20-30 car park spaces there is another joke. Oh, and while I’m at it, why are loading bays allowed to operate until 6pm on Saturdays, our busiest shopping days?? Crazy – and on Saturdays, 90% of the time they are occupied by abandoned vehicles anyway. Who really delivers on Saturday afternoons, clogging up the main street?
Finally, as I walked along Maylor St on Saturday afternoon, I was bullied out of the way by a ‘people carrier’. I said to the driver ‘this is pedestrian only until 5pm’. I can’t repeat his reply here, but why is there never any Gardai stopping these people?
No major transatlantic news from the Cork Airport press conference today……
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Aer Lingus has announced plans to establish four new routes between Cork Airport and contintental Europe from next summer.The airline said it was planning to operate direct flights from Cork to Munich, Rome, Nice and Faro.
Aer Lingus already flies from Cork to seven other destinations.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>Hmmm – looking forward to that BIG announcement, Lexington.
Regarding that vile Portakabin, I have a bad feeling that it will be there forever. Why can’t these guys just have a ‘base’ at the bus station and be done with it? They’ve had it cushy for far too long.
I read on the Echo last night that the Taxi drivers were having a big meeting to discuss their problems, including the explosion in the numbers of Taxis in Cork – and – this is the best bit – their dissatisfaction at the way people were parking in the ‘new taxi ranks’ in Patrick Street, taking up their valuable rank space.
They are cluttering up Pana – please oust them to another location.
The 250 staff at Jutys hotel are to lose their jobs, as the hotel is to be demolished in February. A six-storey, 185 bedroom hotel will be built there by O’Callaghan properties, and leased back to Jurys. It will be ready in about 2 years.
That building has been derelict for an incredible 53 years, according to recent press reports. It really is an eyesore. If they can’t renovate it, they should at least paint it.
Another point, Maylor Street is traffic-free between 11am-5pm on Saturdays. However, every Saturday, I can’t believe the number of taxis and cars bullying pedestrians out of the way, between those hours. Does anyone care – where are the traffic wardens/Gardai??
Walking through Patrick Street on Saturday, I was shocked to see a big Portakabin outside Golden Discs/H Samuel, housing the contents of the former CIE shelter that used to be opposite Merchant’s Quay. Please tell me that this is a temporary arrangement.
Was planning permission required for this cabin?
There was a lot of debate when the original shelter was being removed. At the time a lot of people felt it was unsightly and unnecessary.What is it with CIE (Bus Eireann) and the taxi ranks? They seem hell-bent on cluttering up our new spacious main street.
Beth Gali said her design was to give Patrick Street ‘back to the people’. It would be nice to think this concept could be put into practice. 😉
This is my first post – I stumbled across this forum, and find it very interesting. I have a keen interest in the development of Cork City. There are lots of positive things happening at the moment. Patrick Street looks impressive, but one or two questions – whay are loading bays in operation all day Saturday, up to 6pm? And whay are cars allowed to park there – they make the street look cluttered and untidy. There must be 4 new taxi ranks along Pana, when originally they were to locate to Academy street. Does anyone konw of that cccTV camera on a high pole outside BT (Maylor St side) is going to move??
Fianlly, thanks to Lexington for all the insights – very helpful info.
I just saw the following on the Examiners ‘breaking news’ web-page, looks exactly like Lexington’s recent report!!
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Top brand BT2 to open Wilton outlet
24/07/2004 – 15:15:11Designer label store BT2, an offshoot of the popular Brown Thomas, will be drawing fashion-conscious shoppers to Wilton, Cork.
The store is understood to have agreed a lease at Wilton Shopping Centre.
The pricey clothes store features more casual gear than the clothes sold at the main Brown Thomas department store.
Other tenants for the new €20m extension at Wilton Shopping Centre are believed to include clothes stores New Look and Specsavers.
Meanwhile at Mahon Point Shopping Centre, a source has revealed that popular shoe store Schuh is to finalise a lease at the shopping centre.
It has also been revealed that high-street fashion outlets River Island, Mango, Zara and Miss Selfridge have made letting or sale agreements at the 500 million Mahon Point complex.
Already-named tenant stores are French Connection, Next, Principles, Pamela Scott, Easons, Sam McAuley chemists, Tesco, Debenhams and DIY retailers B&Q.
Urban fashion store Topshop has also been linked to the Mahon complex but no papers have yet been signed because of its plans to cut costs.
The shopping centre will also have three restaurants, a food court with six additional food outlets, an 11-screen cineplex and parking for 1,600 cars.
It is believed that Ward Anderson, the largest cinema group in the country, won the multiplex contract over rivals UCI cinemas.
The food court tenants expected to be announced shortly at Mahon are McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Zumo Juice Bars and sandwich outlet Subway.
Meanwhile, shoppers to the west of the city could be buying M&S clothes and household goods locally.
A property source has also revealed that a possible tenant at the new Ballincollig Town Centre could be Marks and Spencer.
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