Lopsided growth is hurting Munster and is unfair

Imagine the scene: You’re the government official tasked with attracting foreign direct investment into the Cork and Limerick region. You collect a team of executives from a global US tech firm at Cork or Shannon Airport. They are interested in locating their European head office in the Munster region.

After exchanging pleasantries you begin your journey on the N20. The US representatives ask politely during the trip: “Is this a motorway?” You can only reply: “Not before 2030 it seems.”

In Cork City, the team ask about available accommodation and rent levels in the city. You explain there is an accommodation tightness in the city but some companies have been asking their employees to rent spare rooms to each other. Across the Cork region there are a series of critical and strategic infrastructure not yet started or which is on hold indefinitely. Projects such as the Dunkettle Interchange, the N28 road to Ringaskiddy, the N22 Macroom Bypass, the Northern Ring Road, Docklands bridges and various flood defence schemes.