City manager defends officials after garden row

CORK’S city manager launched a defence of his officials last night after criticism from celebrity garden designer Diarmuid Gavin about how they handled his “flying garden” project.

Tim Lucey accepted that issues had arisen between Cork City Council and Gavin over payments to fund the construction of his Avatar-inspired garden, which won a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show.

But he said his officials’ primary concern was to ensure accountability in relation to the spending of public money.