'My son suffered a broken arm': 50 complaints about Cork city footpaths in May alone

CORK city footpaths have been described as “uneven and bulging in the middle of the path”, “caving-in”, and having “major breaks”, with several pedestrians having had accidents on footpaths, including one who required surgical intervention.

These were among 480 complaints about footpaths made to Cork City Council from May 1, 2024, to June 1, 2025, with a total of 2,907 since 2019.

The complaints from May of this year were provided to The Echo on foot of a Freedom of Information (FOI) request and showed that there were 24 complaints about footpaths on the northside of the city and 26 about footpaths on the southside, with multiple people noting that they had raised an issue years ago, but that nothing had been done.

A spokesperson for Cork City Council told The Echo: “Cork City Council is responsible for the maintenance of the approx. 2,000km of public footpaths in Cork city, with an estimated square area of 3,000,000 sq m and 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.

“Further to this, Cork City Council undertakes an annual footpath replacement contract. In 2024, the budget for footpath replacement was €420,000. This has been increased to €750,000 for 2025 and works will commence shortly on these projects.

“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 programme of footpath upgrades.”

Cork Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice highlighted how often complaints are lodged after falls, saying that it shouldn’t take an accident for a dangerous footpath to be repaired, and called for government funding.

The council should not have to take out a loan to repair dangerous pavements, Mr Rice said, saying that while there is a government funding stream for new footpaths, there is still no dedicated funding for their maintenance, leaving the council to choose which are repaired and which are not.

Complaints

One person wrote that the footpaths on Wilton Rd “are in a severely dangerous condition throughout”, saying: “My wife has had two falls due to tripping on potholes and fissures, and could have sued for compensation. Many other residents have had trips and falls and near-misses over the years.”

Another said: “There’s a lump of concrete broken up in Gerald Griffin avenue; it’s been like that for weeks. The concrete is lifted from the footpath and a very dangerous trip hazard now,” and asked for someone to repair it “before someone has a bad trip there”.

One person wrote that her son “tripped on an unsteady paving slab nearby the Maldron Hotel and sustained a serious injury”. They said: 

“As a result of this accident, my son suffered a broken arm, which required surgical intervention and rendered him unable to work for the next eight weeks. The unsteady paving slab in question poses a significant hazard to the public, and I am deeply concerned about the potential for similar incidents, particularly involving elderly individuals or those with mobility issues.”

The parent asked for immediate action to be taken, saying: “The lack of maintenance and prompt repair of such hazards is unacceptable and demonstrates a failure in the duty of care owed by the city council to its residents and visitors.” They also requested a review of other public areas to prevent similar incidents, and information on the measures the council will take to ensure such hazards are promptly addressed.

Footpaths on McDonagh Rd were also mentioned, with one person writing: “Two bad falls happened recently with another elderly lady falling and hurting herself last Sunday.”

Some of the complaints were noted by the council: “Caller reports the footpath outside the Maxol garage in Glasheen has sunk and cracked and people are falling constantly.”

One caller said that a cover on South Main St has caused him “to trip and take a bad fall”, while “broken or missing paving stones posing a hazard to pedestrians” were reported at multiple locations, including Marlborough St, Princes St, and Cook St.

A person called to say his mother fell on the footpath on Inniscarra Rd, while another person said that on Charles Daly Rd the footpath was cracked and broken and there was “a big chunk” missing, and that they broke two bones in their foot on this path.

Loose paving all along North Main St is “moving and posing a safety hazard”, and particularly “causing difficulty for people with impaired mobility”, a council staff member wrote.

A resident of Rochestown Rise said that the footpath outside their drive had collapsed, leaving a hole, while another caller said that at the boardwalk off Nano Nagle Bridge, “the wood is rotting and uneven, some pieces have lifted off the ground, posing a tripping hazard”.

One caller rang about the footpath in front of houses at Clashduv Estate, which they described as “severely damaged”, saying this was first reported in 2023 and there has been no correspondence since.

The council staff noted from a caller that “his niece, who is disabled, found it very difficult to use a wheelchair”. One person rang after their mother fell on a cracked footpath at Boherboy Rd, while another saw someone fall out into the road after tripping on a footpath at different levels at the corner of Parliament Bridge and Parliament St.

Another caller rang stating that there was a hole in the footpath along Sawmill St, saying it was incredibly dangerous and that she had injured herself as a result.

The staff member noted the caller “is incredibly concerned about the safety of the local residents”.

Another tripped on the footpath near St Mary’s Cathedral and said one of the stones on the path was loose, which he described as a “safety issue”, while another said footpaths on Cherry Grove were “crumbling”.

A manhole cover on Hollyhill Lane was reported as being uneven, with the council staff member who took the call saying: “She’s visually impaired and concerned she will fall.”

Due to a raised footpath on South Mall, one woman “fell and hurt her leg and shoulder” near the Imperial Hotel. The staff member noted that she was “very upset” and an American couple who were staying at the hotel called a taxi, put her into it to go home, and paid for it. She expressed concern that other people could fall at this location.

Some complaints were issued by councillors, with one writing: 

“A dangerous footpath (at a high footfall area on Woods St in the city centre) opposite the Mercy Hospital outpatients department has been flagged with me as ‘an accident waiting to happen’… I would appreciate if remedial works can be carried out urgently, before the council is held liable for a fall/trip at this location.”

Another said: “Local residents have contacted my office with regard to loose pavings at the junction of Murphy Gardens/Summerhill South crossing.

“The loose paving is such that they are a hinderance to pedestrians, and are the cause of many minor trips and near-falls.”

They are a concern, “as an elderly pedestrian could very easily trip and fall into the live carriageway, which would have the potential to cause serious injuries. The fix, in my view, is a simple fix that would mean so much to those that use the crossing on a daily basis,” they added.

Another councillor got in contact about the footpath outside a house at Brookfield Park, The Lough, saying that “a resident logged this with the city council a couple of times a few years ago, and was told it would be scheduled to be repaired, but nothing has been done”.

Call for government funding

The numerous accounts of trips and falls come as The Echo revealed in September of last year that nearly €6m had been spent since 2019 by Cork City Council to compensate people injured on its footpaths.

Information released to Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice showed that, on average, more than than €1m a year was spent on compensating people injured on footpaths in Cork between 2019 and 2024.

Some €1,095,534 was paid out in 2019; €568,006 in 2020; €1,195,316 in 2021; €939,208 in 2022; €1,460,126 in 2023 and €693,221 and in 2024 — a total of €5,951,411 in five years.

Speaking to The Echo on the complaints data, Mr Rice called on the Government to honour their promise of establishing a dedicated funding stream to local authorities for the maintenance and repair of footpaths.

Mr Rice said: “Across the city, the footpaths are in a bad state. The number and detail of the complaints the council has received is evidence of that. Broken and cracked footpaths are causing huge accessibility issues, particularly for older people, people with disabilities, and parents with buggies.

“From the complaints lodged in May alone, the words ‘danger’ and ‘unsafe’ feature regularly in the complaints,” the Cork South-Central TD said. 

“The information released highlights how multiple people lodge complaints after someone has injured themselves falling. It shouldn’t take someone falling for something to be fixed.

“One of the complaints details a person’s experience tripping on an unsteady paving slab and breaking their arm, which required surgical intervention and rendered them unable to work for eight weeks.

“This complaint went on to say that they believed ‘the lack of maintenance and prompt repair of such hazards is unacceptable and demonstrates a failure in the duty of care owed by the city council to its residents and visitors’.

“I have to agree with them. People should be able to walk down the street without the fear of falling. The human cost of getting this wrong is too high,” Mr Rice said.

“Often, when I report the state of footpaths to the council, their response will often state that the specific area is not on the list for repairs for this year.

“It is clear that the council is not receiving enough funding from the Government for footpath repairs and maintenance.

“Earlier this year, Cork city councillors voted to approve a loan of €20m to be used for footpath repair and city-centre revitalisation. You have to question why the Government is not stepping in here.

“The programme for government committed to establishing a funding stream for a dedicated maintenance budget to each local authority to maintain active travel infrastructure. This includes footpaths.

“Despite this, when I have asked the minister for transport about the allocation of funding to councils for footpath repair, he responded that while his department provides funding to council’s through the active travel scheme for the provision of new footpaths, there is still no dedicated funding provided for the maintenance of footpaths.”

Mr Rice added that the National Transport Authority also confirmed to him that no money had been made available to them for the funding of maintenance activities, and that they had no information in relation to funding of footpath maintenance activities.

“This is unacceptable. The programme for government commitment about footpath maintenance has seemingly been forgotten about,” Mr Rice said.

“The minister has said that officials in his department are now working to identify ‘alternative funding streams which could be used for this purpose’ for next year,” said Mr Rice.

“This is simply not good enough. We have to have the ambition for Cork to be a healthy and accessible city. Core to that has to be active travel, like walking, but this isn’t possible without better basic infrastructure, like good footpaths. The people of Cork deserve better,” he added.

“The council needs to get these basics right, but to do that they must be given adequate government funding. I am calling on the minister for transport to honour his promise and urgently secure dedicated funding for footpath maintenance to councils.”