CORK VIEWS

A collection of opinion and analysis articles from - and about - the Cork region by the Irish Examiner's editorial team and an ever growing band of contributors.

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Michael Moynihan
Michael Moynihan: Shame no longer exists as a tool to moderate people’s behaviour
Bell X1 review: With 'Good Bones' album on the way, Marquee gig feels like a carnival
S Bell X1 review: With 'Good Bones' album on the way, Marquee gig feels like a carnival
There's something about The Marquee that suits Bell X1 — intimate enough for the quieter songs, big enough to let the choruses fly

Fri, 19 Jun, 2026

FBL-WC-2026-MATCH17-FRA-SEN
Michael Moynihan: A guide to which World Cup team to support based on where you are in Cork
Depending on where you live in Cork, you can choose a country to support in the big FIFA tournament. Just hope that you don't get you know who...

Fri, 19 Jun, 2026

Imelda May review: Marquee mayhem as May invites Cork fans into her living room
S Imelda May review: Marquee mayhem as May invites Cork fans into her living room
The effect of seeing a stage full of domestic knick-knacks and worn-in furniture under warm lighting made the venue feel surprisingly homely

Fri, 12 Jun, 2026

Gareth O'Callaghan: I took the Leaving Cert again last week. Here's what I learned
Gareth O'Callaghan: I took the Leaving Cert again last week. Here's what I learned
After years of saying he'd do anything in the world rather than repeat the Leaving Cert, Gareth O'Callaghan takes on English Paper 1

Fri, 12 Jun, 2026

K-pop Forever! Tribute review: A happy assault on the senses as Live at the Marquee begins in Cork
S K-pop Forever! Tribute review: A happy assault on the senses as Live at the Marquee begins in Cork
Inspired by Netflix's 'K Pop Demon Hunters', this tribute show is like a triumphant pre-teen Electric Picnic, delighting an audience aged 6 and up — and their parents

Thu, 11 Jun, 2026

Michael Moynihan: Accessibility is possible in Cork City — just look at MacCurtain Street
Michael Moynihan: Accessibility is possible in Cork City — just look at MacCurtain Street
After Make Way Day, I started looking at parking around the city differently. According to the Cork Access Group, it's lost 10 disabled parking spaces in the past few years

Thu, 11 Jun, 2026

Letters to the Editor: Medical specialists back TD's call for generational ban on tobacco 
Letters to the Editor: Medical specialists back TD's call for generational ban on tobacco 
Cork North Central TD Colm Burke called on the health minister and the HSE to 'get serious' about smoking. Now, 14 public health medicine specialist registrars explain why he's right

Sat, 06 Jun, 2026

Michael Moynihan: Why Páirc Uí Chaoimh is the best sports stadium in the country, bar none
Michael Moynihan: Why Páirc Uí Chaoimh is the best sports stadium in the country, bar none
A full-on festival of celebration surrounding a game like Sunday’s Munster Senior Hurling Final is an obvious platform for showcasing the entire area and all it has to offer

Thu, 04 Jun, 2026

Ursula Shannon fought for the Bessborough babies — now we must continue
Ursula Shannon fought for the Bessborough babies — now we must continue
Trafficked as a baby and adopted from Bessborough, former Lady Mayoress Ursula Shannon fought for all the forgotten babies — we cannot allow them to be concreted over

Wed, 03 Jun, 2026

Ruti Lachs: Cork has so many precious memories of a vanished Jewish community
Ruti Lachs: Cork has so many precious memories of a vanished Jewish community
Cork's synagogue closed its doors in 2016, with a tiny number of Jewish people left in the city. Ruti Lachs set about gathering childhood memories of a vanished parallel city 

Mon, 01 Jun, 2026

David O'Mahony: Tracing family history requires a stubborn streak
David O'Mahony: Tracing family history requires a stubborn streak
I had forgotten, or perhaps not really thought, that emerging onto Pope’s Quay would put me facing Cornmarket St, where some unfinished business of family history remains.

Sat, 23 May, 2026

Podcast: The rise of Kneecap and what Cork audiences can expect from their live shows
Podcast: The rise of Kneecap and what Cork audiences can expect from their live shows
Eoghan O'Sullivan fills in for Mick Clifford and is joined by music journalist Dean Van Nguyen

 Listen | Thu, 21 May, 2026

 Listen |
'World’s smallest public statue' proposed for Cork mosquito linked to death of Oliver Cromwell
Michael Moynihan: Why Cork's tiny statue of the mosquito that bit Oliver Cromwell could be a masterstroke
The proposal by Cllr Oliver Moran just needs to avoid some of the issues besetting other public art like the Dublin Spire, the Sonia O'Sullivan statue in Cobh, and the Púca in Ennistymon 

Thu, 21 May, 2026

Ireland housing crisis: 'Home I was evicted from in Cork is now an AirBnB'
S Ireland housing crisis: 'Home I was evicted from in Cork is now an AirBnB'
For rural Ireland to have a future we must protect, and invest in, the people that call it home

Mon, 18 May, 2026

David O'Mahony: Perspective in art and life is a good thing
David O'Mahony: Perspective in art and life is a good thing
Given the proliferation of AI slop in the creative arts arena, the only way to stand out in a sea of mediocrity is to do so something that stands out

Sat, 16 May, 2026

Michael Moynihan: Why putting Cork City's library in the Counting House is a missed opportunity
Michael Moynihan: Why putting Cork City's library in the Counting House is a missed opportunity
Cork City Council had the chance to show true vision and ambition in providing a new state-of-the-art building for the new library

Wed, 13 May, 2026

Gardening - Woman enjoy relaxing in the garden
Catherine Conlon: The last bastion of urban silence is being shattered by drones
As drone deliveries increase across Cork City, public health doctor Catherine Conlon explains how constant noise pollution can affect our physical and mental health

Tue, 12 May, 2026

Harassment by online influencers requires legal change
Harassment by online influencers requires legal change
Ordinary people in Cork have been subjected to humiliation and degradation by an influencer using Meta's glasses - this needs urgent attention from policymakers, writes James O’Sullivan

Mon, 11 May, 2026

Gaining comfort from family
Letters to the Editor: We might have a romanticised view of Irish wakes and funerals
One reader found herself rethinking her attitude to funerals as she mourned her late mother

Sat, 09 May, 2026

Market Lane boss: Restaurants desperately waiting for the reduced Vat rate
S Market Lane boss: Restaurants desperately waiting for the reduced Vat rate
Restaurants have absorbed huge new costs imposed by Government as well as price increases from the wider economy, writes Conrad Howard of the Market Lane Group in Cork

Fri, 08 May, 2026

Michael Moynihan: We need a film tsar for Cork and I'm up for the task
Michael Moynihan: We need a film tsar for Cork and I'm up for the task
If it takes putting up with expensive meals, fine wines, luxury hotels, chauffeur-driven cars, first-class flights, openness to bribery and influence, and — yes! — shutting down the road by the airport to get Hollywood big shots to Cork, I am here and willing

Thu, 07 May, 2026

Lighten up: Cork World Book Fest brings city and country together   
Lighten up: Cork World Book Fest brings city and country together   
Like a sow hearing the rattle of a bucket in a faraway yard, when our Denis Lehane heard about Cork World Book Fest, he just knew he had to be there

Tue, 05 May, 2026

Michael Moynihan: Taskforce timelines are predictable — why can't we skip the boring bits?
S Michael Moynihan: Taskforce timelines are predictable — why can't we skip the boring bits?
Maybe emulating the Dublin City Taskforce isn’t the greatest idea for Cork after all, writes Michael Moynihan

Thu, 30 Apr, 2026

Michael Moynihan: Cork's status as a Unesco learning city — twice — is unmatched anywhere
Michael Moynihan: Cork's status as a Unesco learning city — twice — is unmatched anywhere
The Lifelong Learning Festival has been a boost to Cork’s reputation around the world, writes Michael Moynihan

Thu, 23 Apr, 2026

Cork Luas: Mixed reaction after publication of preferred route for €2.5bn transport network
Cork Luas: Mixed reaction after publication of preferred route for €2.5bn transport network
Local politicians broadly welcome preferred route — but raise issues including funding, further disruption on MacCurtain St, and the absence of routes to the Northside and Cork Airport

Mon, 20 Apr, 2026

Irish Examiner view: Say hello to your ancestors as 1926 Irish census goes online
Irish Examiner view: Say hello to your ancestors as 1926 Irish census goes online
We're just a click away from meeting our great grandparents in Ireland's 1926 census — and it's all free of charge

Sun, 19 Apr, 2026

Midleton-Youghal greenway bus route sought by council
Midleton-Youghal greenway bus route sought by council
Amid the long-term campaign to reopen the Cork-Youghal railway, a rapid bus corridor is being proposed as an interim solution for East Cork traffic gridlock

Sun, 19 Apr, 2026

Iranians in Ireland: ‘Iran has been there for 1,000 years. This will pass’
Iranians in Ireland: ‘Iran has been there for 1,000 years. This will pass’
Cork-based voices share harrowing accounts of war, repression, displacement and the global consequences of escalating conflict in Iran

Sat, 18 Apr, 2026

Letters to the Editor: Waste disposal should never have been privatised
Letters to the Editor: Waste disposal should never have been privatised
A reader says illegal dumping crisis would never have arisen but for the decision many years ago to abdicate a statutory function — the collection and disposal of domestic and commercial waste

Fri, 17 Apr, 2026

Michael Moynihan: Lost in a haze of event centre logic, I have some helpful ideas
Michael Moynihan: Lost in a haze of event centre logic, I have some helpful ideas
After this week's development, Michael Moynihan has some suggestions for the Cork City Council Project Development Board

Thu, 16 Apr, 2026

Cork events centre may become 'a big empty room' 
Cork events centre may become 'a big empty room' 
Everyman Theatre CEO raises concerns over the scale of the events centre planned for Cork

Mon, 13 Apr, 2026

FILE PHOTO An Bord Pleanala has refused planning permission for a 179-unit apartment development on the site of the Bessborough
If you want to object to building over Bessborough, you have one week
There is also no time to waste in pursuing the effective investigations into deaths and disappearances that should have happened many decades ago, and that families are still requesting

Fri, 10 Apr, 2026

Michael Moynihan: Luas routes need common sense and proper future-proofing 
Michael Moynihan: Luas routes need common sense and proper future-proofing 
Proposals to bulldoze houses in mature, long-established residential areas and sports clubs central to their community while leaving Cork Airport out of the plan are misguided and will cause a great deal of outrage

Thu, 09 Apr, 2026

Congestion Charging Begins In London
Don't let what's happened in London replicate itself in Cork
The streets are our own — except when they aren’t, writes Allan Prosser

Tue, 07 Apr, 2026

Michael Moynihan: Cork taskforce welcome but action on its recommendations will be the real struggle
S Michael Moynihan: Cork taskforce welcome but action on its recommendations will be the real struggle
If the Cork City Futures Group wants to show citizens it means business it could do a lot worse than pick a fight with State agencies responsible for our appalling infrastructure, transport, and water quality issues

Thu, 02 Apr, 2026

Irish Examiner view: Cork stories show we're all being held back by deficient infrastructure
Irish Examiner view: Cork stories show we're all being held back by deficient infrastructure
Sean O'Riordan's reports from Midleton, Youghal, Carrigtwohill, Kiskeam, and Carrignavar reflect a national malaise that is holding back prosperity and progress

Sat, 28 Mar, 2026

Mick Clifford: Cork TD Ken O’Flynn riding high on the wave of unapologetic anti-immigrant populism
Mick Clifford: Cork TD Ken O’Flynn riding high on the wave of unapologetic anti-immigrant populism
Ken O’Flynn’s rhetoric, controversies, and political evolution highlight tensions around immigration, misinformation, and the rise of populist narratives, writes Mick Clifford

Thu, 26 Mar, 2026

Oxford Street pedestrianisation
Michael Moynihan: Even this column won't stoop to 'Corkmaxxing' — it's beneath us
A city trying to establish itself as a home for cutting-edge industry needs to move past the knee-jerk nickname or slogan

Thu, 26 Mar, 2026

'We never leave them alone': Meet the Cork search and recovery group helping families find closure
'We never leave them alone': Meet the Cork search and recovery group helping families find closure
Inside Cork’s missing persons search team on the River Lee, where volunteers work tirelessly to recover the missing and support families

Fri, 20 Mar, 2026

UK-Ireland summit
S Michael Moynihan: How Keir Starmer's Cork hop compares to other fabled visits by British PMs
While Keir and Micheál may have had their differences over the Cork football championship, it was nothing compared to other, ahem, state visits to the real capital in the past

Thu, 19 Mar, 2026

Reflections of a blow-in after 25 years living in Cork
Reflections of a blow-in after 25 years living in Cork
Ahead of St Patrick's Day, Vittorio Buffacchi reflects on his two and half decades living in Cork and the connection between identity and place

Sat, 14 Mar, 2026

Future Cork: There is immense potential in Cork if the city turns toward the river
Future Cork: There is immense potential in Cork if the city turns toward the river
Monika Jain argues Cork should reclaim its River Lee waterfront and streets to create healthier, more vibrant public spaces

Fri, 13 Mar, 2026

Irish Examiner view: Stryker cyberattack shows how easily we are caught in the crossfire
Irish Examiner view: Stryker cyberattack shows how easily we are caught in the crossfire
Wars that begin thousands of kilometres away can now reach directly into offices, factories, and hospitals through the digital networks on which modern economies depend

Fri, 13 Mar, 2026

Irish Examiner view: No, minister — Cork's traffic gridlock is even worse than New York's
Irish Examiner view: No, minister — Cork's traffic gridlock is even worse than New York's
A reader suggests that junior minister Jerry Buttimer may have made an apt comparison, but the situation is far worse than he stated

Mon, 09 Mar, 2026

Experts and voters agree that green space in cities has major health benefits 
Experts and voters agree that green space in cities has major health benefits 
More walking and cycling infrastructure, a congestion charge, and space for nature are key to unlocking Cork's potential — and our health 

Mon, 09 Mar, 2026

The Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast: Paving over Bessborough's missing babies
The Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast: Paving over Bessborough's missing babies
Survivors and relatives express anger after planning permission granted for apartments on site linked to hundreds of infant deaths

 Listen | Fri, 06 Mar, 2026

 Listen |
Jennifer Horgan: We've replaced Church oppression with the canon of the car
S Jennifer Horgan: We've replaced Church oppression with the canon of the car
From a distance we now see the grip the Catholic Church one had on our lives, few people can see we are part of a similarly oppressive system today — the  car culture we protect that is taking and destroying lives

Fri, 06 Mar, 2026

Michael Moynihan: The prospect of building on Bessborough babies' bones should anger us all
S Michael Moynihan: The prospect of building on Bessborough babies' bones should anger us all
If we can’t get angry about the prospect of diggers unearthing the bones and skulls of dead babies in order to build apartments, what is there to be angry about?

Thu, 05 Mar, 2026

The Smiths, Rolling Stones, Damon Albarn...  Eight great gigs at the Savoy in Cork through the years
The Smiths, Rolling Stones, Damon Albarn...  Eight great gigs at the Savoy in Cork through the years
With the Savoy in Cork recently re-opened, Des O'Driscoll trawls through the annals to look back at some of the greatest gigs at the venue through the decades 

Tue, 03 Mar, 2026

Bessborough planning decision shocking for mother and baby home survivors 
Bessborough planning decision shocking for mother and baby home survivors 
The Bessborough Mother and Baby Home Support Group and Labour Party councillor Peter Horgan say they intend to appeal Cork City Council’s decision to grant planning, writes Donal O'Keeffe

Tue, 03 Mar, 2026

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