Taisce Corcaigh ‘disappointed’ at demolition of North Main Steet buildings

An Taisce Corcaigh have said they are “extremely disappointed” about the demolition of four North Main Street buildings.

On Monday, Cork City Council said it would begin demolishing four adjoining derelict buildings at 62-65 North Main Street, and that a tender process to begin redevelopment had been scrapped.

The buildings have been in council ownership since 2022, three years after a compulsory purchase order process was initiated following a partial collapse. The council then stepped in to carry out emergency works including steel structures to prop up the façade, but that steel is now corroded, a recent report by consultant engineers found. 

Timbers and masonry are also rotten, broken or loose, making the building “an immediate public-safety concern”, according to the engineers, who recommended immediate demolition.

A spokesperson for An Taisce Corcaigh said that the facades represent “the significant vernacular character” of the North Main Street Architectural Conservation Area in the medieval spine of Cork city, and are listed in the Buildings of Ireland – National Inventory of Architectural Heritage survey.

Significant gap

“Their demolition will leave a significant gap in this historic streetscape”, a spokesperson said.

They added that the buildings “have been allowed to deteriorate without adequately strong substantive action to require their former owners to maintain them properly”.

An Taisce Corcaigh was in contact with the council earlier this year and received assurances that the tendering “would lead to an early proposal for rejuvenation of this site”.

They have urged that demolition be confined to parts with an identified public safety risk, for archaeological fabric to be recorded and retained onsite, and for future rebuilding to be in a style consistent with the city’s old historic centre. 

Cork City Council said that a record will be prepared before demolition and used to help inform future development, which they remain “fully committed to”.