Flood protection works to begin by end of 2023

Flooding at Fr Mathew Quay in Cork City. Picture Denis Minihane

Long-delayed multi-million upgrade works to an historic Cork City quay, which will also provide flood protection to 300 city-centre properties, should get underway before the end of next year.

That was the prediction from Cork City Council after the Supreme Court unanimously rejected Save Cork City’s (SCC) appeal against An Bord Pleanala’s 2020 grant of planning for its Morrison’s Island public realm and flood defence scheme.

In a statement, the council said now that the scheme’s planning approval has been “fully and finally determined”, it expects the project will go to tender in the second quarter of 2023 with works expected to commence before the end of 2023.

Council chief executive, Ann Doherty, said it will transform this part of the city.

“The area has so much more to offer and Cork City Council intends to unlock that potential. It provides an opportunity for broader revitalisation and regeneration of the whole area,” she said.

SCC said the ruling was disappointing and it urged the council to make a compromise to include a heritage-led response to the scheme “that demonstrates gentility and not brutality to the urban landscape”. 

The plans expect to protect approximately 300 city-centre properties. Picture: Andy Gibson

It is taking advice on what have been “considerable” legal costs and said it it would prefer “friendly dialogue and compromise” to any future legal action but it did not rule out further legal action.

It also said in questioning the proposed flood defences for Cork, it has highlighted many issues such as the safety of the proposal, the technical workability, the economics and even the response to a heritage landscape in relation to the identity and economy of the city.

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“We will continue with this campaign and hope that open dialogue on the issue of the flood defences may now happen as it hasn’t before,” it said.

But the president of the Cork Business Association Kevin Herlihy said it’s time to get on with the work.

“We welcome this decision with open arms. It is long overdue," he said.

I have seen the damage and the carnage flooding has caused in the city over the years.

“I am happy with and have confidence in the research done by the experts in the city council and the OPW and believe this scheme can only be a good thing.

“Hopefully they will drive on with the work and deliver it as quickly as possible.” 

The project involves the delivery of upgraded public realm and landscaping along a 500-metre stretch of the River Lee along Morrison’s Quay and Fr Mathew Quay between Parliament Bridge and Parnell Bridge. 

The upgraded streetscape will incorporate a wide riverside promenade, an improved setting for Holy Trinity Church, a plaza at the eastern end of the South Mall and a redesigned Trinity Bridge crossing to Union Quay.

Changes will also be made to traffic movements, car parking will be vastly reduced, and additional bicycle parking will be provided.

The scheme also includes changes to the surface water drainage system and remedial works to the existing quay walls, which will be refurbished, repaired, cleaned and re-pointed in-situ.