7 days ago
Cork taskforce 'must entice people to live in city centre'
A taskforce on Cork City must be focused on 'reimagining the core' to entice people to live on shopping and commercial streets, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
Mr Martin has said that any taskforce will need to have 'clear objectives' to pursue, but stressed that he has been focused on developing Cork since first becoming Taoiseach in 2020.
'I didn't need a taskforce to tell me what we needed to do in terms of the docklands and the investment in the airport, in the port, all of which has happened,' Mr Martin said.
I think the focus has to be reimagining the core of the city, the city centre, but also the immediate suburbs adjacent to the city centre.
'It seems to me cities and towns are changing and we have to reimagine what a modern city centre would look like and how we sustain commerce in the city centre but also bring in more residential.'
In late June, Tánaiste Simon Harris said the Government would be establishing a taskforce on Cork, after promising during the election campaign that Fine Gael would seek its creation within 100 days of Government. That pre-election deadline passed in early May.
The Taoiseach said he wanted to see the current Government begin the development of light rail in the city, as set out in the so-called Cork Luas plan.
The rail is set to run for 18km, going between Ballincollig and Mahon point, with a total of 25 stops along the way, including at Munster Technology University's Bishopstown campus, Cork University Hospital, University College Cork, Kent train station, the docklands, Blackrock, and Mahon.
Mr Martin acknowledged that the public consultation is underway and there are issues around Ballintemple which need 'to be resolved". However, he said:
In my view, we shouldn't wait forever to get started.
Meanwhile, the Tánaiste said the Cork taskforce is a 'very clear commitment' within the programme for government.
'This is something that Government is working on and I think the example we have seen in Dublin shows that a taskforce will benefit businesses and communities alike,' Mr Harris said.
'We have seen the difference it can make in Dublin, where Government, local government, and community stakeholders, work together and say: 'What's our common vision — let's stop this silo [thinking], that's a job for the council, that's a job for the government, that's a job for somebody else — let's actually pull together and say where do we want the city to be over the next 10 to 15 years.'
'We've now done it in Dublin. It needs to happen in Cork.'
The Government has yet to outline the funding allocation to the Cork taskforce, but said the model used in the Dublin taskforce could be replicated by a taskforce in Cork City.
Following the Dublin taskforce report, the Government approved the establishment of a new body due to oversee redevelopment of the capital city.
However, proposals to redevelop the GPO to include retail units and offices have been sharply criticised by the opposition.
