Mixed reaction to €28m allocation for active travel projects in Cork city 

There has been mixed reaction to news that Cork City Council has been allocated €28m for 2025 under the National Transport Authority (NTA) Active Travel Investment grants scheme.

On top of the €28m allocated in active travel grants, the city council has also been allocated €6,535,000 in other NTA funding streams, bringing to €34,535,000 the total amount allocated to the city.

The news was hailed by some as a very welcome investment, but one representative saw it as proof of the neglect of Cork city’s northside.

Among the headline figures allocated in the city are €5.6m for street renewal in the Mahon area, €5.2m for the Lehenaghmore Road Improvement Scheme, and €2m for the Marina Promenade Active Travel scheme.

The Lord Mayor of Cork, Green Party councillor Dan Boyle, welcomed the allocation and he thanked Transport Minister Eamon Ryan for his help.

“An important figure to bear in mind is that Cork City Council has benefitted from more than €100m in NTA funding over the past four years,” he said.

“I’m glad this round of funding has been put in place because there are a lot of projects that have been started that need to be finished, and some that have been promised and need to be started.

“I’m hoping that this level of funding can be maintained over the next number of years, because it’s important that we not only put in cycleways here and there, but we make every effort to have a completed network of connected cycleways across Cork city.”

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, the Sinn Féin TD for Cork South-Central, welcomed the €5.2m Lehenaghmore Rd allocation.

“This is a crucial step forward to finally getting the people of Lehenaghmore and Lehenaghbeg the footpaths and road scheme they deserve,” he said. 

“This has been a saga that has gone on years, and people in this community have been waiting for far too long for the basics.”

However, Mr Ó Laoghaire’s northside Dáil colleague, Cork North-Central Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould, claimed the funding allocation “once again proves the neglect of northside infrastructure”.

Mr Gould said the average project spend on northside projects was almost €100,000 less than the overall average per project.

“The numbers don’t lie and, year-on-year, the spend is less and the average spend per project is less.”

The northside TD said he had written to the authority and Cork City Council seeking urgent meetings and, once the Dáil returned, he would seek a meeting of the Transport Committee “to look at this pattern of unfair allocation”.

Despite his misgivings, Mr Gould said he welcomed some positive projects, including pedestrian works on the Banduff Rd, the Nash’s Boreen Active Travel Scheme, and active travel measures in Innishmore.

In the same funding announcement, Cork County Council was allocated €19m for 2025, and €1.9m through other authority allocations, bringing to €20.9m the total allocation to the county. 

The headline figures in the county include €4.4m for the Ballinacurra to Midleton Phase 4 scheme and €2,073,040 for the Carrigtwohill to Midleton Phase 1.

The mayor of the county of Cork, Fianna Fáil councillor Joe Carroll, said the investment was extremely positive.

“Significant progress was made right across the county during 2024, including the substantial completion of the Dunkettle to Carrigtwohill pedestrian and cycle route, and the completion of several safe routes to school with many more progressing,” he said.

“These projects enhance our towns, villages, and local areas.

“They can improve the quality of life for our communities, enabling people to choose more sustainable ways to travel whether it’s for work, school, or leisure.”