Cork County Council wants compensation for the loss of a huge swathe of its territory to be paid by Cork City Council indefinitely and not just over a 10-year period, as recommended by the Mackinnon report.

“If this document was produced under British rule, it would have brought about revolution, and it should. This is a diktat we can’t accept.”

The new Lord Mayor of Cork says he is confident that a “fair compensation package” for the county council can be worked out to secure a city boundary extension.

That old Irish joke, that the first item on any agenda is ‘the split’, has been superseded by the never-ending debate around the wisdom of amalgamating Cork city and county councils or of extending city boundaries to encompass growing dormitory towns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 proposed changes to Cork City’s boundary have already hit serious problems with Cork County Council stating it is currently not in a position to accept it after raising a number of concerns.

A review into the proposed merger of Cork city and county councils has recommended both authorities be maintained and the city boundary be extended for the first time in more than 50 years.

The minister for local government has said he hopes to get political consensus on a new report he intends publishing within weeks which will shape the future of local government arrangements in Cork for the next 50 years.

The expert group charged with reviewing Cork’s local government will have access to all documents compiled by the committee that recommended the controversial merger of the city and county councils.

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.

A group fighting the amalgamation of local councils is urging Cork councillors to visit areas which have suffered after merging.

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 majority of Cork county councillors are in favour of the controversial merger of the city and county councils.

A TD has called on Environment Minister Alan Kelly to commission an independent expert review of the Cork council merger proposal.

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.

Cork delegates hoping to attract significant investment to the city at a major conference tomorrow are presenting a unified front despite harbouring fundamental disagreements on the best way to ensure the city’s economic prosperity.

One of Cork’s most established politicians, minister of state Kathleen Lynch, opposes the merger of Cork’s city and county councils.

An outspoken Cork city councillor wants City Hall to stop hosting Cork Chamber’s annual gala dinner given its support for the controversial super-council plan.

Business group Ibec has defended its U-turn on the Cork council merger plan.

The government is facing a constitutional challenge over the controversial Cork super-council plan following an historic midnight meeting of the city council.

The government is facing a constitutional challenge over the controversial Cork super-council plan following an historic midnight meeting of the city council.

The Government is set to face a constitutional challenge over the Cork super-council plan following a historic midnight meeting of the city council.

As Cork’s most senior minister warned “it would be a disaster” if the city and county councils did not merge into one local authority, a party colleague yesterday labelled Cork City Council a “failed entity”.

Cork City Council chief executive Ann Doherty outlines what she believes are myths being put forward by those in favour of a merger of the city and county councils.

SHOULD Environment Minister Alan Kelly bring proposals to advance the merger of Cork city and county councils to cabinet today, he will exacerbate a difficult and dangerously divided situation. Such a proposal would be premature and a slight to the idea of local democracy or accountability.

Cork City Council is set to proceed with an historic midnight meeting later to discuss mounting a High Court challenge against the controversial Cork super-council plan.

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 Cork Local Government Review Group has split opinion, but we should wait for the establishment of an implementation group before we decide on the outcomes, says Tim Lucey

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.

Senior Labour TD Ciarán Lynch has taken another apparent swipe at his party colleague Alan Kelly, saying the Department of Environment, over which Mr Kelly is minister, has done more to reduce the power of local government “than the British administration ever did in 800 years”.

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

A split has emerged in Labour over the proposal to merge Cork city and county councils, with a TD accusing Environment Minister Alan Kelly of rushing to accept the findings.

The vast majority of people living on the fringes of Cork City have backed experts who favour a boundary extension, a survey has found.

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.