Ambitious plans to enhance Cork city centre come under the spotlight

Tackling anti-social behaviour and expanding public transport options in Cork City were among the issues to come under the spotlight at a symposium hosted by Cork City Council.

The authority brought together a range of stakeholders to review progress in the city centre and discuss upcoming projects and schemes, including the council’s night-time economy strategy.

This refers to the diverse social, cultural and economic activity occurring during specified evening and night-time hours and balances the needs of inter-related communities that co-exist to bring the city to life and create a sense of shared place.

Action plan

Following the publication of the NTE Taskforce Report, Cork City was successful in being designated by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media as one of nine pilot towns and cities in the country that will prepare and implement an action plan.

The plan will set out a range of interventions to support the co-ordinated development of Cork City’s night-time economy.

Speaking to The Echo following the meeting, Cork City Council’s night-time economy advisor Fiona Collins described the night-time economy as a hugely important contributor to the city’s economy, cultural, and creative sectors, highlighting the importance of protecting, supporting and sustaining it.

“I am working on an anti-social behaviour campaign and hopefully that will be rolled out across the nine pilot areas in the hope of reminding people that our community is important to us and it’s our responsibility as much as the guards to look after our areas

,” Ms Collins said.

Connectivity

Ms Collins also highlighted the importance of connectivity and said that research by Ipsos Behaviour and Attitudes on what people would like to see in Cork City centre showed that people are using public transport to come into the city, which she said means there is pressure on the public transport system.

“It’s about working with the NTA [National Transport Authority], especially from a night-time perspective,” Ms Collins said. 

“We’re lucky that we have a really good late-night service in Cork.

“I know not everyone agrees with that, but when I’m looking at other areas, their bus services stop at 8pm and ours here in the city run until about 11.30pm, and we have a 24-hour service and lots of cities don’t have that.

“I would love to see three or four 24-hour bus services. One going to the airport, one to Glanmire, one servicing Blarney.

“It shouldn’t just be Ballincollig and Carrigaline, we have a huge network around the city and people should be able to get to those areas as well.”

Ms Collins said that the pilot scheme is about trying new things and learning how to improve them until they stick.

The Lord Mayor of Cork, councillor Dan Boyle, said that while plans for the city centre are ambitious, they must be implemented.

“We can see construction on the ground and this is expected to continue over the next number of years, transforming the experience of the city centre and making it a more enjoyable and pleasant place,” said Mr Boyle.

“I am delighted that the first conference convened by Cork City Council following the local elections focuses on the city centre, reflecting the importance the elected members and executives are putting on enhancing Cork as a place to live and visit.”