That old Irish joke, that the first item on any agenda is ‘the split’, has been superseded by the never-ending debate around the wisdom of amalgamating Cork city and county councils or of extending city boundaries to encompass growing dormitory towns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 Lord Mayor of Cork will tonight formally propose that Cork City Council approve the expert advisory report recommending a boundary extension, claiming it is “fundamental” to the future of the city.

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.