Cork Views: Time to spend, spend, spend on new light railway for Cork

Mention of Cork’s light rail plans is often met with a tut and an eye roll.

Many are cynical that ‘the crowd up in Dublin’ that is the government will ever drop €2-3 billion on 17 kilometres of a tram system connecting Ballincollig to Mahon Point.

But instead of dismissing it, we should be asking ourselves: Can Cork afford not to invest in public transport?

Nobody wants to waste their lives sitting in traffic listening to the local drive-time DJs announcing that traffic is “bumper to bumper” and “total gridlock”- I know fella, I’m sitting in it.

Getting people out of their cars and into rapid and efficient public transport is a priority for the city. Cork is growing, car numbers are rising, and our roads are already struggling to cope.

Project designs for the Cork Luas (the Cluas?) will be submitted for planning later this year, and I believe Corkonians should embrace such a project wholeheartedly. In fact, to do otherwise would be a colossal, missed opportunity.

A Colossal Missed Opportunity

That was the stark title of the latest report from the Climate Change Advisory Council, the independent body that assesses and gives feedback on Ireland’s climate action progress.

The report got plenty of press attention because it warns that Ireland faces between €8-26 billion in EU compliance fines by 2030 for failing to meet our emissions targets.

That’s money that could have transformed public transport systems, cut energy bills, and made homes cheaper to heat in Ireland - and Cork!

Instead, it will simply disappear -sent abroad to buy carbon credits from other countries because we dragged our feet.

We’ve been here before. Failing to foresee what’s coming down the tracks and then forking out loads of money to dig us out of a hole.

In the early 2010s, Ireland spent €41 billion bailing out the banks - a staggering sum, wasted due to poor planning, foresight, and oversight by the government.

We’re still dealing with the social and economic consequences of the financial collapse and bail-out today, with housing shortages, hospital overcrowding, and a generation locked out of homeownership.

The last of those bail-out repayments to Europe won’t be made until 2042.

Now, we’re staring down another massive, unnecessary bill.

The worst part? This was entirely preventable. But just like the banking crisis, the warning signs were ignored for too long. As Roy Keane has said, “fail to prepare, prepare to fail”.

But we can still largely avoid the higher end of fines if we move very fast.

Investing in public transport now isn’t simply good urban planning; it’s financial common sense.

Every euro spent improving Cork’s, and Ireland’s, public transport system is a euro we won’t have to pay in fines.

Pay for Progress? Or Pay for Fines?

The Climate Change Advisory Council strenuously recommends splurging on measures that will lower emissions (and therefore fines) quickly and will set Ireland on a sustainable footing.

So, €7 billion on upgrading Ireland’s national energy grid, €4 billion on lowering the cost of electric cars to €15,000 and ramping up the charging network, and €1 billion on planting trees and re-wetting peatlands are no-regret spends that will slash emissions and reduce fines to between €3 and €12 billion (still a shameful waste of taxpayers’ money).

Build It and They Will Come

The public are ready to get on board with climate action measures - if it makes sense beyond just lowering your carbon footprint.

Since the roll-out of new BusConnects routes in Dublin, passenger numbers in some areas have surged by 48%.

The introduction of half-price fares for young people also proved wildly successful, showing that when public transport is affordable and efficient, people will use it. The bonus side-effect is fewer transport emissions.

Other rich countries are able to cut emissions and keep their economies going.

The UK’s emissions fell by 3.6% in 2024, driven primarily by a massive reduction in coal use. UK emissions reached their lowest level since 1872!

The Germans managed to cut their emissions by 3.4% in 2024 and the country is on track to meet its 2030 climate targets.

Why not us?

Cork’s Wasted Chances

If you are a Cork GAA fan, you’ll be familiar with the phrase ‘wasted chances’ when it comes to Cork performances. Alas, we are not unfamiliar with major moments where we came within touching distance of success but fell short.

We saw it in last year’s All-Ireland hurling final, when a long-awaited victory slipped through our fingers in the dying minutes.

Outside the sporting arena we see it with the long-promised, still undelivered Events Centre, which was supposed to be a world-class 6,000-seater arena for major events but instead cost millions without delivering any physical progress.

When it comes to Cork’s light rail project, we simply must seize the opportunity and not waste the chance to have a light rail system like other successful European cities.

The choice is simple: we either embrace and implement efficient public transport, or we resign ourselves to longer commutes, congestion and a city choking on its own success.

We either pay for progress, or pay with wasted time and wasted fines.

Corkonians have an unshakeable pride in the city, but even with our rebel red tinted glasses on we can see that it can function better.

Cork is among 100 EU cities that is participating in the EU Mission for 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030.

It’s time to raise our ambition - not see climate action as a burden, but as an opportunity.

If we wait, we will end up paying billions for nothing, just as we did after the banking crisis.

If we act, we can build a city, and country that is cleaner, cheaper to live in, and easier to get around.

The choice is ours - but the bill is coming either way.