Cork City Council paid out €208m to private contractors over five years

Cork City Council paid almost €208m to private contractors to carry out construction works on its behalf over the past five years, with close to three quarters of that sum going to the top five firms to be awarded council contracts.

Between 2019 and June of this year, the council paid a total of €207,959,053 to private construction firms for works in the city.

Over the five years, five construction firms were awarded council contracts between them to the tune of €145,849,354.

Top five firms

The top five firms were McGinty and O’Shea, which received €34,569,011; Sorensen, which was paid €32,419,187; Jons Civil Engineering, €29,444,070; Murnane and O’Shea, €25,777,724; and MMD Construction, which received €23,639,362.

Of those companies, one, Jons Civil Engineering, does not have offices in Cork, while almost a third of the contracts awarded went to companies which do not have Cork offices.

In 2019, Cork City Council paid €24,581,137.04 to private contractors. That year, Jons Civil received €7,061,191 for works in the Beamish and Crawford Quarter.

That 2019 work on the South Main St site is described in the contract as “pedestrian and cycle bridges”.

Sorensen Civil Engineering received €6.3m for “construction of the Marina Park including drainage, concrete works, landscaping, waste removal, road works, and utility services works”.

Houses

Noel Regan and Sons were paid €4,727,600 for construction work on 24 houses on Kilmore Road Lower as part of Phase 2C of the Cork North West Quarter regeneration project.

In 2020, the first year of the covid pandemic, the council paid €4,836,045 to private contractors, with the largest amount, €2,353,632, paid to Coffey Construction for road improvement works.

Lagan Asphalt received €1,424,595 for the Western Road Rehabilitation Scheme, while Cumnor Construction was paid €447,461 for the Horgan’s Quay Improvement Scheme.

In 2021, Cork City Council paid private contractors €54,060,102, with the two largest amounts both going to MMD Construction — €12,597,995 for Phase 1C of City North West Quarter Regeneration project (to wit construction of 41 units), and €11,041,367 for Phase 2B of the same project, in that case 38 units.

Tramore Valley Park

That same year, Jons Civil Engineering received €7,578,630 for the Grange Road to Tramore Valley Park Pedestrian/Cycle Link, including the N40 overbridge.

In 2022, the council paid €65,491,000 to private contractors, with the largest amount, €20,495,058, going to Sorensen for the Glashaboy Drainage Scheme.

Murnane and O’Shea received €16,787,270 for the Poulavone Housing Project, while Jons Civil was awarded €14,804,248 for the Morrison’s Island Public Realm and Flood Defence project.

In 2023, the council paid private construction firms €37,178,803, with the largest amount, €13,470,217, going to McGinty and O’Shea for the Mahon Cycle Scheme.

Marina Promenade

Murnane and O’Shea was paid €8,990,453 for the Errigal Heights Housing Development scheme, while Ward and Burke was paid €6,589,123 for the Marina Promenade works.

So far in 2024, Cork City Council has paid private contractors €23,102,366, with the largest payment, €14,452,821, going to Cumnor Construction for the Beamish and Crawford Quarter public realm project.

The second- and third-largest sums paid so far this year, €2,005,397 and €1,428,539, went to the firm Retrofit Design for two apparently separate projects.