Plan for former Cork city centre bookshop green lit

PLANS for a new bar and sky-bridge at the site of a former bookshop in the heart of Cork city have been green lit.

Back in January, Mutual Enterprises Ltd — which operates a number of establishments in Cork including An Bróg Bar, BarBarossa, Voodoo Rooms nightclub and BarBarella Bar – lodged a planning application with Cork City Council for the development at the site of the former Uneeda Bookshop on Oliver Plunkett St.

The applicants sought permission for the change of use of the premises at 71 Oliver Plunkett St from a bookshop to a licenced premises incorporating a ground floor bar and first-floor office and store.

The plans also included a proposed sky-bridge structure traversing over Market Avenue to link with adjoining licenced premises at numbers 72-74, namely BarBarossa, the Bróg and Voodoo.

Uneeda Bookshop, which sold books, records, CDs and DVDs, closed in 2020 after a long trading history.

There are 19 conditions attached to Cork City Council’s approval of the proposed redevelopment.