All About Cork: Northside 37th out of 40 regions in litter survey

Cork’s northside was ranked 37th out of 40 towns/cities across Ireland in the Irish Business Anti-Litter League survey, though inspectors noted improvement.

Gerry O’Sullivan Park got an A, with inspectors saying: “This lovely park environment was exceptionally freshly presented and maintained. There was a lovely map, highlighting the various features within. Planting, brightly painted seating, litter bins, etc, were all in very good condition. It was excellent with regards to litter: Well done to all concerned.”

Some areas did not fare so well. A property at Killala Gardens was marked D. The report said: “This boarded-up residence wasn’t just casually littered, but heavily dumped-upon, seemingly over a prolonged period of time. It needs immediate attention. It was one of the two most heavily littered sites surveyed in Cork North city.”

The other was the wasteground at the corner of Fairfield Meadows, also a grade D. The inspectors said: “The levels of dumping at this site were quite phenomenal — a mix of casually discarded small items and larger scale items — huge pieces of plastic, bags of rubbish, and other miscellaneous/indistinguishable items. This requires urgent attention.”

Blackpool Shopping Centre was given an A, and inspectors wrote: “This is an exceptionally freshly presented and maintained shopping centre environment, with all elements in very good condition (eg paving, litter bins, signage, shrubs/planted areas, etc). It was excellent with regards to litter.”

However, nearby, at Redforge Rd at Blackpool shopping district, inspectors gave a C and said: “This route presents poorly, with a heavy litter presence, primarily at the base of the hedges. Much of it was ‘long-lie’, indicating a lack of thorough cleaning for quite some time. Main items were plastic bags and sweet papers, with lower levels of other food-related litter.”

The car park at the public park adjacent to Blackstone Rovers FC scored a C+, with the report stating: “As well as the pronounced firework-related litter, there were heavy levels of coffee cups, fast-food wrapper, and sweet papers, with lower levels of plastic bags around the perimeter of the car park. It looks like measures are being taken to address dumping/access to the adjacent wasteground. Some fencing has been erected.”

The vacant property on the corner of Bride Valley and Upper Fairhill got a B, and inspectors said: “Overall, this site was much-improved compared to previous IBAL surveys. This time around, food-related items, particularly fast-food wrappers, were beginning to gather over the low wall of these shuttered premises.”

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Mother Jones Festival

The 15th annual Spirit of Mother Jones Festival will take place in and around the Shandon Historic Quarter this summer.

This year, the festival will be held from Thursday, July 23 until Saturday, July 25 and will again feature a series of speakers, as well as films, documentaries, singers, and musicians.

This festival celebrates the life of Mary Harris, born in Cork in 1837 and baptised at the North Cathedral, who went on to become known the world over as Mother Jones, the radical trade union and miners’ leader.

Organised by a voluntary committee, the festival remains open and free to all. In the past, the festival has welcomed participants from the United States, Mexico, Ukraine, the UK, Palestine, and Argentina.

Origami and guitar at library

Blackpool library is running several events in the coming weeks, including an origami workshop for children aged 7-12, with Sachiko Kobayashi.

Origami is the traditional Japanese craft of folding paper in to decorative shapes and figures. This workshop will take place on Saturday, January 24 at 2.30pm. Places are limited, so booking is essential. Please ring 021 4924937 or ask at the library desk to reserve a place.

Acoustic blues guitar classes will run on Saturdays from 2.15pm to 3.15pm, commencing January 24. Participants can learn the essentials of blues guitar with Michael Lynch. No booking is required.

Mr Lynch will also be running slow traditional music sessions on Saturdays at 11.30am.

If you can play a polka or two, drop into Blackpool library with your instrument and join in with the slow-session regulars. A spokesperson for the library said that all are welcome and if you just want to have a listen and a chat, that’s fine, too.

Shine a Light Hamper draw 

Mick Nugent and councillor Kenneth Collins would like to thank everyone who supported their annual Christmas Hamper Draw for Shine a Light Suicide & Mental Health Awareness Group at Hollyhill Shopping Centre before Christmas.

The draw raised €1,115 in total including donations from Alchemy Cafe & Bookshop on Barrack St. The funds will enable the charity to carry out its vital work across the City on suicide and mental health awareness and facilitating low cost counselling for those in need.

The winning ticket was number 125, belonging to Ellie Marie Nugent.

The charity can be contacted at 021419220, info@shinealightcork.ie or at Unit M, Northside For Business Campus, Ballyvolane, Cork T23 AVY.

Funding for rural villages 

Funding has been made available for several small areas in the outskirts of Cork city's north west ward, Blarney, Kerrypike, and Tower, as well as Upper Glanmire under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS) 2025.

Cork City Council has welcomed the announcement of €496,742 in funding from the Dept of Rural and Community Development to combat dereliction and breathe new life into rural towns and villages.

This funding is being made available through TVRS, which has funded many significant elements of infrastructure in communities along the Northern edge of the City since 2019.

Cork City Council secured funding for upgrading and tarmacking of carpark in O'Shea Park, the playing pitch of Blarney FC. The proposed works will include a new carpark surface, drainage works, lining and public lighting, with € 135,500 funding awarded.

In Kerry Pike, €159,352 will be made available for the completion of tarmacking of the carparks in Ballycannon Park and Community Centre, the installation of fencing and lighting for the ball wall and tennis court and the purchase of a lawnmower.

Tower has been allocated €121,050 for the upgrading and extension of the playground to accommodate the needs of children aged between 6 to 12 years who currently have no safe area to play.

Lord Mayor of Cork, councillor Fergal Dennehy, said: “All applications were prepared in partnership with local community groups and the City Council is looking forward to working with all stakeholders in the rollout of the projects.

“All are very positive developments and will further improve amenities and infrastructure for their communities, whilst connecting to the City Council’s broader implementation of its Climate Action Plan, Parks and Recreation and Cork Healthy Cities programmes”.

Delany’s GAA recruitment 

Delany’s GAA, located in Kilbarry, Dublin Hill, are looking to recruit boys, girls and men of all ages to join their growing club.

Whether you played before and have some experience or never played before and want to get involved, they would love to hear from you, a spokesperson for the club said.

They are also looking for coaches, people to help with fundraising etc, and their door is open to everyone. Please contact Ger on 0868243300 for more information.

Delany’s GAA was founded in 1949 with a clubhouse built in 1984. The Dublin Hill club was named after Jeremiah and Cornelius Delany, who were killed in their home in 1920 on the night of that was infamously named as The Burning of Cork.