Several strategic investment projects worth almost €500m will transform Cork City and generate thousands of jobs over the next few years, the city’s business leaders were told last night.

Slick operator the Kerry-based men’s fashion retailer Paraffin has taken a prominent unit on Cork City’s Princes Street via agents Lisney, while Savills have found a Wexford-based ice-cream maker for a unit at the corner of Cook Street and Oliver Plunkett Street.