480 footpath complaints made since last summer in Cork city

Four hundred and eighty footpath complaints have been made since last summer in Cork city, as a councillor says she often has to walk on the road because of the condition of the paths.

Figures released to The Echo under the Freedom of Information Act show that there were 480 complaints related to footpaths made to Cork City Council from the period May 1 2024 to June 1 2025.

Previously, The Echo revealed that between 2019 and May 1, 2024, 2,427 complaints about paths were made to the local authority. The latest figures bring the number to 2,907 since 2019.

In 2019, 488 complaints were made, or 41 a month; 483 in 2020 or 40 a month; 457 in 2021 or 38 a month; 416 in 2022 or 35 a month; 443 in 2023 or 37 a month; and 140 for the first four months of 2024 or 35 a month.

The total for the past 13 months equates to an average of 36 complaints monthly. 

Further figures show that 56 of these complaints were in May 2025, suggesting the complaints are increasing.

A Cork City Council spokesperson told The Echo that a "significant programme of footpath upgrades" will take place this year.

Social Democrats councillor Niamh O’Connor told The Echo: “The state of footpaths in the city is appalling. It is one of the things all councillors hear all the time. There is nowhere in the city where we don’t hear complaints about footpaths. I live in the South Parish area and have two small kids, pushing a buggy in this area is almost impossible with the state of the footpaths. I often find myself walking in the middle of the road hoping no cars will come along.” 

She added: 

“For a lot of people footpaths are a quality of life issue, people with mobility issues or people who are not as sure on their feet are hugely disadvantaged when footpaths are in poor condition. The council understandably prioritises areas that get higher footfall for repairs but that leaves some areas is a very poor state for protracted periods and that is unacceptable. We need to look after the most vulnerable among us and usable footpaths is very minimum people deserve.” 

A Cork City Council spokesperson told The Echo it is responsible for the maintenance of the approximately 2,000km of public footpaths in Cork City, with an estimated cost to replace the entire network of €375m.

“Complaints relating to footpaths are logged on our Customer Relationship Management system, are inspected and repaired, where possible, by our crews,” and the council undertakes an annual footpath replacement contract they said.

This contract was worth €420,000 in 2024 but has been increased to €750,000 for 2025 with works to commence “shortly”, they said. “In addition to this, Cork City Council has secured a loan of €4m to carry out further footpath replacement works, which will result in a significant program of footpath upgrades”.