A deal is finally on the cards to deliver the first extension of Cork’s city boundary in 50 years.

Cork’s city councillors have rejected an invitation from the county for their chief executives to engage in “bilateral meetings” on the contentious city boundary extension issue.

Local Government Minister Eoghan Murphy has been given until Monday to appoint an independent mediator to sort out the row over Cork City’s boundary extension, or face High Court action to prevent it.

The two biggest business lobby groups in Cork have united to call for ministerial intervention to deliver a swift resolution to the city boundary standoff.

Local Government Minister Eoghan Murphy has rejected claims senior civil servants pushed a pro-merger agenda during the controversial 2015 review of Cork’s local government structures.

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.

Kerry football legend Pat Spillane has ‘red-carded’ the Mackinnon recommendations for a major boundary extension of Cork City, but said the county council will have to cede more territory than it’s currently offering.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has criticised “scaremongering” over the contentious Cork city boundary extension issue and has urged the two local authorities to “engage constructively” with the group set up to implement it.

Cork county councillors have insisted that their staff are kept constantly updated on any transfers to City Hall they may face as a result of the city’s proposed boundary extension.

A formal proposal by Cork County Council to extend the city boundary would leave it with a revenue deficit of €8.6m annually, considerably less than a near €50m per year loss if the Mackinnon report recommendations are implemented.

Cork’s county councillors have been accused of abusing a provision of the 1991 Local Government Act to stall the extension of the city boundary.

Cork City Council is poised to go on a PR offensive amid ongoing controversy over the city boundary extension.

A new map proposed by Cork City Council for its boundary extension has gone even further east than the Mackinnon report suggested, drawing widespread criticism from people living in Carrigtwohill, who say it is now patently obvious that the boundary extension is nothing more than a money grab.

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

A veteran Cork City councillor has accused the county council of a Trojan horse-style ‘stroke’ designed to delay and frustrate the implementation of a city boundary extension.

There are differing views between residents and businesses in Little Island about the performance of the county council, but not when it comes to Glounthaune.

A former lord mayor of Cork has launched a scathing attack on some outspoken opponents of the city boundary extension, accusing them of damaging the region’s reputation and likening some to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

Cork County Council is seeking legal advice to prevent the Mackinnon report’s recommendation to massively extend the city boundary.

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An overwhelming majority of Cork’s 22 senators and TDs oppose the recommendations of the Mackinnon report to extend the city’s boundary.

THE row over the extension of Cork city’s boundary, and how that evolution might have an impact on Cork County Council’s income, has not yet assumed what might be called Stormont-grade intransigence, but today’s poll, showing that a majority of Cork’s Oireachtas representatives oppose the Mackinnon proposals, suggests that it may.

The Taoiseach and two government ministers have been warned they face a grassroots revolt over controversial plans to extend Cork’s city boundary.

The war of words between two local authorities over a boundary extension intensified yesterday when the mayor of one council outlined a number of reasons why people would be better off in his jurisdiction.

A network representing 120 community and voluntary groups in Cork City has given full backing to a boundary extension — unlike its county counterpart.

The Lord Mayor of Cork City has accused the county of “attempts to whip up unnecessary fear in communities” in an increasingly bitter row over plans to extend the city boundary.

An organisation representing 900 community and voluntary organisations in Co Cork is lobbying TDs and senators in an effort to scrap a major boundary extension to Cork City, which it says will be a “complete disaster” for rural communities if it goes ahead.

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.

Cork county councillors are concerned that losing major revenue-generating areas as part of the proposed city boundary extension will leave them short of money to provide services, especially in peripheral areas.

The need to protect Cork’s ability to compete globally is at the heart of the Mackinnon report, claims City Hall.

The first draft of an enlarged Cork City to drive the region’s growth for the next half century should emerge within weeks.

The Mayor of Co Cork has launched a further attack on the Mackinnon report into the city’s boundary extension, describing it as ill-conceived” and “more reminiscent of a child’s scribble on a map rather than a logical, considered conclusion”.

The Mayor of the County of Cork, Declan Hurley, says he is disappointed “by the obvious lack of adequate assessment and consideration” given by City Hall to the County Hall’s offer and solution to extending the city boundary.

Cork’s city councillors have rejected an offer from the county council to cede land because it “runs contrary” to the larger city boundary extension recommended by an expert group.

Securing a significant extension of Cork’s city boundary is now of national importance, a city councillor warned last night as they rejected a land offer from the county.

Local Government Minister Eoghan Murphy has remained tight-lipped on a surprise offer from Cork County Council to cede land to the city.

Data justifying the scale of the proposed Cork City boundary extension has emerged ahead of a crunch meeting on an alternative boundary suggestion.

Cork City councillors are due to hold a special meeting next Monday to discuss the latest fall-out from the Mackinnon report on the city boundary extension.

Cork county councillors are seeking urgent clarification from the minister responsible for the expansion of Cork City’s boundary amid fears the body overseeing its implementation considers the Mackinnon report to be written in stone.

Cork County Council would immediately relinquish commercial rates and local property tax (LPT) worth in excess of €16m per year if its revised plan for the city council boundary extension is accepted by the Implementation Oversight Group.

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.

Muintir na Tíre is planning to organise meetings in small towns and villages in Co Cork to outline its fears that rural communities will suffer if the Mackinnon report is implemented.

Authors of a report on the proposed extension of Cork City’s boundary ignored a request from Cork County Council to recommend the creation of a governing body which would oversee all strategic planning for the whole region.