‘Incinerator could undermine city’s tourism potential’

Cork’s position as a growing centre for tourism could be undermined if the proposed incinerator for the harbour gets the go-ahead, it was claimed yesterday.

Clair McSweeney, the manager at Blackrock Castle, said figures for 2014 showed a 25% increase in overseas visitor numbers to Cork, a trend she said could be threatened by the waste- to-energy facility.

She also referred to the launch last January of the Cork Tourism Strategy Taskforce, ‘Growing Tourism in Cork’ — A Collective Strategy’, which she said was a targeted five-year plan for increasing domestic and international visitor numbers to 2.8m, with an associated increase in spend in the local economy of €865m.