Initiatives like the Irish Examiner ICMSA farming poll give hope for nature in Ireland. 

Eoin English reports on the latest developments from the Cork council merger plan.

The review of proposals to merge Cork city and county councils was “tainted”, with Government officials pushing for amalgamation, it has been claimed.

Cork City Council has moved to ease fears in areas affected by the proposed city boundary extension, insisting it will not lead to a hike in rates or insurance costs.

One of Munster’s largest business associations is prepared to take High Court action to block the proposed extension of Cork City boundary.

Cork county councillors may consider instructing the County Hall executive to mount a legal challenge to prevent full implementation of the Mackinnon report’s recommendations for the extension of the city boundary.

Furious city councillors have advised the man who chaired the shelved Cork council merger report to “get off the pitch” and let government get on with extending the city boundary.

The Mackinnon report’s recommendation of an extension of the Cork City boundary is “nothing more than an attempted rates and land grab”, residents in a Co Cork town have complained.

Considerable opposition to the proposed extension of Cork city’s boundary is expected to be aired at a meeting tonight, in Carrigtwohill.

Three former lords mayor of Cork have united with the current office holder to urge the Government to make the “brave political decisions” required to deliver the city’s first boundary extension in more than 50 years.

That old Irish joke, that the first item on any agenda is ‘the split’, has been superseded by the never-ending debate around the wisdom of amalgamating Cork city and county councils or of extending city boundaries to encompass growing dormitory towns and villages. 

The man who chaired the controversial and shelved Cork super-council report has branded the expert advisory group’s boundary extension report a “cobbled together work of fiction”.

The former head of Beamish and Crawford has called for the controversial Cork event centre project to be scrapped and retendered, writes Eoin English.

The former head of Beamish and Crawford has called for the controversial Cork event centre project to be scrapped and retendered.

Munster Blackwater's otter population is in good health and it's a great start to the year, says Donal Hickey.

The former head of Beamish and Crawford has become the latest person to voice public fears about the future of the stalled €53m Cork event centre project on the former brewery site.

Minister for Local Government Simon Coveney has announced a review of the controversial merger plan for Cork city and county councils in a bid to find a compromise.

More from the pages of the Cork Examiner this week 100 years ago

A local government expert has called for “open engagement” in a bid to build on common ground contained in the controversial Cork councils merger report.

Two key figures in the body which recommended a merger of Cork city and county councils have declined several invitations to appear before an Oireachtas committee.

The Cork Local Government Review (CLGR) committee has been invited to appear before a Dáil committee on environment and local government to discuss its controversial merger report which has split the region.

The head of an influential business association on the outskirts of Cork said his members still back a merger of the city and county councils, but only if the Government gives cast-iron guarantees about maintaining the city’s status.

Divisions look set to continue over the controversial proposal to merge Cork’s city and county councils — a plan to be brought to Cabinet tomorrow by Environment Minister Alan Kelly.

The debate over the future of Cork’s local authorities has escalated to a war of words between two organisations representing businesses in the city.

The former president of the Cork Business Association has broken ranks with the group to welcome the proposed merger of Cork’s city and county councils, which is now the focus of a major legal challenge.

The main author of a report recommending the amalgamation of two local authorities has hit back at academics who have criticised the merger plans.

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.

The first question one could reasonably ask upon glancing through the report recommending a merger of Cork City and County Councils is — Catherine Shanahan asks; will this actually ever happen?

THAT the report from a five-person committee asked to consider the amalgamation of Cork city and county councils submitted to Environment Minister Alan Kelly last week was adopted by the narrowest possible margin is not at all surprising. Indeed, any other outcome would have been entirely unexpected.

A landmark report recommending the merger of Cork city and county councils will be published today.

Cork’s most senior government minister has refused to say whether he favours a merger of the region’s two local authorities or a city boundary extension.

The chairman of a review group which is set to recommend a radical shakeup of Cork’s local government structures has insisted it will put forward the best model for the city and county as a whole.

18 lord mayor have set aside party politics to unite against a super council and to spark public debate, says Eoin English

A possible merger of Cork city and county council into a single, unified super-council is being considered as part of the landmark review of the region’s local government structures.

Group to issue recommendations on local government in September, says Eoin English

Midleton 0-20 Killeagh 2-8: The outcome was the one most predicted, but not with the ease expected from Midleton in this Cork senior hurling championship first-round game in Castlemartyr yesterday.

There is almost universal support for the creation of a much larger metropolitan Cork region, the consultant overseeing the review of the region’s local government structures has said.

A war of words has erupted between Cork city and county councils during the review of the region’s local government structures after city claims it has identified a €5m error in county figures.

Up to 90 submissions have been made to the group tasked with reviewing local government structures in Cork.

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.