Review of Cork council merger report published by UCC

University College Cork has published online the expert review which criticised the statutory Smiddy report recommending the merger of Cork city and county councils.

It published the Bovaird review in full on its website yesterday just days after the Irish Examiner revealed how it had identified several flaws in the Cork Local Government Review Group’s (CLGR) 2015 merger report.

The UCC-commissioned Bovaird review said the CLGR’s minority report — authored by two UCC academics and which called for a significant extension of the city boundary — was much better substantiated by its arguments and the evidence.