The State must invest in game-changing public transport projects in Cork to ensure the city can act as a counterbalance to development in the capital over the next 20 years, a planning expert has said.

The success of the Ireland 2040 strategy will depend on the extent to which Cork succeeds at an increasingly important national role, argues William Brady.

The President of University College Cork (UCC) has defended the right of academics to speak out against the Cork super-council plan.

Three planning experts have warned against merging Cork city and county councils, claiming that a single authority will be oversized, unwieldy, undemocratic and unworkable.

EARLIER this week the Smiddy report was published and — unsurprisingly — it supported the expressed views of Environment Minister Alan Kelly by recommending, by the narrowest possible margin, that Cork City and County Councils be amalgamated.

William Brady, Jonathan Hall, and Brendan O’Sullivan of UCC’s planning department raise serious concerns after reading the Smiddy report favouring the merger of Cork city and county councils

Cork needs to present itself no longer as one of Ireland’s provincial cities but as Ireland’s second city, writes William Brady

A unified super local authority in Cork would be a “disaster” for the region and would spell the end of local government in the county, one of Ireland’s longest serving local politicians warned.

An events centre in the heart of Cork City could play a major role in any strategy to revive the city centre, a planning expert has said.

THE announcement that Cork City Council is to invite submissions from development interests for the provision of a new events/convention centre in the city is a very welcome development for Cork, and promises something that is sorely missing from the city’s cultural, business, and entertainment offer.