Row halts plans for 17 homes on Cork city's northside

A dispute between Cork City Council and Uisce Éireann has left a housing charity out of pocket by €150,000 and resulted in the decision not to build 17 affordable homes on the city’s northside.

The homes, initially planned in 2019 for Knocknaheeny as part of the North West Quarter Regeneration (NWQR) scheme, did not go ahead because of delays in carrying out necessary ancillary works, the joint Oireachtas committee on housing heard last month.

Hugh Brennan, CEO of Ó Cualann Cohousing Alliance, an approved housing body (AHB) and registered charity, said a large number of “abnormal works” needed to be completed before the houses could be built.

Prolonged delays 

One of those works was the provision of water services by Uisce Éireann, which Cork City Council has said resulted in “prolonged delays [from] 2021 to 2023”.

Uisce Éireann said works “were completed in December 2022, following contract agreement with the local authority in February 2022”. 

Those delays ran into the period of construction hyper-inflation in the wake of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the AHB withdrew, leaving it out of pocket by a sum understood to be approximately €150,000.

Mr Brennan told the joint Oireachtas committee on housing that Ó Cualann had put “a huge amount of work” into the proposed 17 affordable homes in Knocknaheeny.

“We have taken the hit on that, which I don’t think is right either. I honestly believe the local authority should be at least sharing the costs on that,” he said.

A spokesperson for Cork City Council said the viability of the scheme was significantly impacted by prolonged delays from 2021 to 2023 in the diversion of services by Uisce Éireann.

“In 2024, the AHB confirmed that it was no longer in a position to progress the pilot.”

The council spokesperson said City Hall had advised the AHB that it would seek to recover the costs incurred by them through the Department of Housing. “In the interim, the council has secured [departmental] funding and obtained planning permission for the delivery of 14 social housing units on the site.”

Outside of our control

A spokesperson for Uisce Éireann laid out a timeline from its contract agreement with the council in February 2022 to completion of its works that December. 

“As with many complex urban projects, a number of factors contributed to the timelines involved, including elements outside of our control."

Thomas Gould, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, said “yet another setback” in the NWQR was “very disappointing”.

“Ó Cualann is a brilliant organisation which delivers truly affordable homes in communities,” he said. “We will be seeking a full account from Cork City Council about what happened here and how it will be prevented from happening again.”

The Department of Housing was asked for comment.