We want to build a different city in Cork - Chamber CEO

'The lack of housing delivery is a real societal issue that needs to be solved and is proving a real drag on growth and economic development in the Cork region.' - Conor Healy, Chief Executive of Cork Chamber. Pic Darragh Kane

With a turbulent 2022 closing out, we can start looking forward to a 2023 that presents a myriad of opportunities for Cork – a year of opportunity.

Building a climate-neutral Cork city, delivering high-density high-quality housing in the city centre, investing in Port development so we can take full advantage of offshore wind and the new hydrogen economy, and continuing to deliver high levels of job creation and FDI are all crucial to delivering a future-fit Cork.

Thinking differently on how to deliver for Cork has to be key. We want to build a different city in Cork, a sustainable city, but 2023 has to be the year of delivery for Cork, across housing, transport and renewable energy.

Challenges abound to taking full advantage of these opportunities, but we have the ability to overcome these challenges once we have the will to deliver, and we select the right tools to combat these challenges.

Cork is really well-positioned for future growth but delivering on these key areas is central to the building of a sustainable city region with improving living standards for all as well as creating the enabling environment for continued economic growth, job creation and investment.

We built our success in the pharmaceutical sector over the decades on some key attractors, a huge serviced landbank with water and energy on IDA-owned lands, a world-leading business environment and welcoming enterprise agencies.

The missing piece of that jigsaw now is a new consolidated serviced landbank of scale that is ready to go for major new greenfield investment, and it is concerning that this is absent with no easy resolution in sight. We need to see the agencies with responsibility for this move quickly on this key enabler to new largescale investment if we want to continue the success of the life-sciences sector and the new wave of industries.

The fourth industrial revolution creates almost unlimited opportunities to grow and create new industries in Cork built on our massive renewable resources, particularly offshore wind, but with the energy crisis we are competing with a multitude of other countries for investment, so we have to create the best investment and enabling environment possible.

To make sure we reap the dividends in Cork of our renewable natural resources we need to see urgent government investment in Cork harbour and Port to take advantage of offshore wind development but also to make it an energy hub, from hydrogen to energy storage in the short, medium and long term. We are on the cusp of major change and we need to grasp the opportunity now We need our local political representatives to pick this up and run with it to make sure Cork port and harbour is the clear choice for offshore and new energy ventures.

2022 was a good year for Cork with a wide range of job announcements and investments across sectors including life-sciences, tech, professional and financial services. It shows that Cork continues to be the destination of choice for foreign direct and indigenous investment, but we cannot sit on our laurels with a turbulent global economic environment and the uncertainty that a war in Europe brings.

The lack of housing delivery is a real societal issue that needs to be solved and is proving a real drag on growth and economic development in the Cork region - delivery of that is a cornerstone to achieving a sustainable, vibrant, inclusive, diverse and attractive city region that we all want. We have to see high-density housing development at scale kicking off in Cork in 2023, particularly in our Docklands. Our political leaders need to make the policy decisions, and some will be difficult ones, to make sure that happens in 2023, otherwise, we risk damaging our economic investment model and society.

The opportunity is there in 2023 to really grasp what is a once-in-a-generation window for Cork to harness our natural resources and invest in sustainable housing and transport infrastructure to make Cork a magnet city of the future – the best place to live, work and invest. Let’s make sure we grasp this opportunity together in 2023.

Conor Heal is Chief Executive of Cork Chamber