As Cork City Council and the Office of Public Works draw up plans to erect controversial flood defences in the city centre, the Irish Examiner brings you an alternative view. All this week, we highlight the shortlisted entries to the Save Cork City competition to unlock the potential of Morrisson’s Island in the heart of the city centre and reimagine what its future might hold. Some are brave. Some are bold. But all are designed to spark debate. The overall winner will be revealed in the Irish Examiner next Monday.

The groundbreaking Diarmuid Gavin-backed Field of Dreams project for young adults with Down Syndrome is poised to become a reality.

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

Celebrity garden designer Diarmuid Gavin has agreed to work his magic on a farm project for adults with Down Syndrome which has just secured planning.

Operating profits at Irish project delivery company, PM Group surged by almost 25% to just shy of €9m with international markets and a number of strongly performing sectors domestically driving growth.

Exports by the country’s top 20 construction firms have eclipsed the €1bn mark, with demand for industrial construction services showing particularly strong growth.

Irish engineering and project management firm, PM Group yesterday reported turnover of €355.5m to the end of 2013, a significant increase on the €193m generated the previous year.

Pre-tax profits surged by nearly 300% at engineering firm PM Group last year, latest annual accounts filed by the Dublin and Cork-based company show.

An engineering company is to create 50 new jobs in Dublin and Cork.

Irish-owned international project management and engineering firm, PM Group, has announced the creation of 250 new jobs — 100 of which will be located at its operations in Dublin and Cork.

A legal action taken by an architecture company against the Minister for Health over unpaid fees has been settled out of court.

The Minister for Health, James Reilly, is due before the High Court today over an alleged unpaid debt in relation to a planned private medical centre.

Ireland’s burgeoning offshore oil and gas industry can have a hugely positive knock-on effect to support services companies here, Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte has said.

Pre-tax profits at PM Group — the Cork- and Dublin-based international engineering services and project management business — plummeted by over 71% last year to €2.1m, according to newly published accounts.

Dell Ireland has signed a €250,000 deal with engineering project management and architecture firm PM Group as part of its transition from a hardware company to a service provider.

Irish companies have signed deals worth €35m during the four-day trade push led by Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Engineering, architecture and project management company PM Group has been awarded a series of new project management and design contractswith a capital value of over €151m by clients in south-east Asia.

While emergency aid is vital, Irish companies must think strategically about their engagement with Africa if we are to solve the food crisis in the long term, argues Gorta’s Brian Hanratty

ENTERPRISE Ireland’s trade missions in 2012 will focus on the engineering and construction opportunities being created by soaring global demand for food.

IRISH engineering services and project management company PM Group shrugged off the effects of the economic crisis last year by posting a 5.5% rise in turnover and a marginal increase in annual pre-tax profits to €8.17 million, up from €7.9m in the previous year.

NEARLY 800 jobs were announced yesterday, with supermarket giant Tesco leading the way in creating the bulk of them as part of a €113 million expansion drive in the Irish market.

THE PM Group has beaten off stiff competition to win €10 million in EU-funded consultancy projects in the Balkans.

IRISH companies are missing out on opportunities in Russia, according to Enterprise Ireland’s “Man in Moscow”.

MALLOW will be the first area in the country to get a fully integrated primary healthcare centre involving a total investment of €25 million.

Leading project management consultancy the PM Group has announced the appointment of Kevin Kelly as Chairman of the Board.

IN a major jobs boost for Cork city, 210 jobs are to be created over the next six weeks in the construction of the new Cork Medical Centre.

AN inquiry into the €139 million commuter railway planned for Cork heard yesterday that it could carry up to four million passengers a year.