Shanghai and Cork links bearing fruit during coronavirus crisis

CORK'S relationship with its sister city Shanghai is becoming increasingly important amid the current spread of Covid-19, according to a local councillor.

Fine Gael councillor Des Cahill said that it is his understanding that universities in Cork and Shanghai are sharing knowledge relating to the virus.

“My understanding is, from people that I’ve spoken with, that there is shared knowledge between both cities on the virus.

“I would be very familiar with UCC having very close connections to the universities in Shanghai and I know that the HSE have very close relations in Shanghai and my understanding is that there is a lot of shared information taking place between those bodies as we speak, which is the point of a lot of these relationships,” he said.

Cllr Cahill said that he met with Shanghai's Minister of Health while speaking at a World Health Organisation (WHO) event in the city a few years ago, accompanied by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the HSE.

He said that a “memorandum of understanding” was being written between both cities at that time.

“When I was in Shanghai a few years ago, I was actually speaking at a WHO event, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the HSE were with us and we met with the Ministry of Health in Shanghai and there was a memorandum of understanding being written between the two in fact.” He said that the close communication between both cities is a “good thing” and that it is a good example of the strong connection Cork has with Shanghai.

“From a business point of view, there was always a strong connection with Shanghai which is getting stronger. Then you have the cultural exchange, but the exchange of ideas and exchange of information is the biggest one and I think this is a good example of it now.

“The fact we have those relationships built up it’s very easy to pick up the phone and log onto someone,” he said.