New Cork City Council chief targets homes, light rail and cultural revival on South Main Street

Valerie O'Sullivan, Cork City’s new chief executive, sets out plans for housing, light rail, and a vibrant cultural revival downtown

An artist's impression of the Cork South Docks proposal.

A new cultural quarter on South Main St, optimism around delivering homes for 25,000 people in the docklands, and a belief that the Counting House would be "fantastic as a library" are some of the key targets of the new head of Cork City Council.

In her first comprehensive interview as the local authority’s second female chief executive, Valerie O’Sullivan said: "There’s a window of opportunity that exists for Cork now to do things and to do them right, and we have to walk through it.