Lord Mayor's Diary: A great pleasure to inspect army band at Collins Barracks

The office of Lord Mayor is a constant balance between tradition and addressing current concerns; between remembering and planning for a better future.

In recent weeks I have experienced all this.

The courtesy visit to Collins Barracks was a huge privilege. Inspecting a guard of honour with an army band present was meant to highlight the strong and dependent relationship Cork city and the Army.

We remember it especially now when our soldiers, as UN peacekeepers, find themselves under threat in Lebanon.

Security

Peace and security was also a theme when Garda Commissioner Drew Harris came to City Hall to take questions from members of Cork City Council.

A narrative has been created that Cork city centre is not a safe place to be. I don’t believe that that is fair perception, but a number of recent events have created this fear.

The Garda Commissioner was made aware that confidence had been dented, although a noticeable increase in garda patrols is helping to redress this.

Similar dissatisfaction is being expressed about the delivery of the public bus services in the city.

Bus Éireann recently held a meeting with public representatives where this dissatisfaction was clearly made known.

It will be a subject we will be continuing with next week when the Minister of Transport, Eamon Ryan, will be coming to City Hall along with the chief executive of the National Transport Authority, to seek further progress on this.

While large issues dominate, I also got to acknowledge individual achievements on behalf of the city. 

Reception

One such person was Ted O’Sullivan who I was honoured to give a reception for. 

Ted had been given a Distinguished Service Award from the World Council of Credit Unions for his work with the International Development Foundation, a programme run by the Irish League of Credit Unions.

Ted is now part of a short list of Irish recipients of this awards, which also includes the noted John Hume.

One act of remembering I wished I didn’t have to do, because he was also a friend — Tony Langlois, was the promoter in chief of the IndieCork Festival, that enjoyed its 12th successful run.

His unexpected death left so many of us saddened. IndieCork will continue strongly into the future, informed by the contribution Tony made, inspired by the quiet confidence he evoked in others.

We have too few Tony Langlois’ in our city. We shouldn’t be doing with fewer. I hope we can honour how he brought about the best of us.