'There was no escape from the terrible racket': Cork people complain to council about city's buskers

One person begged the council to get a performer off the street, saying they had to cut a work meeting short because of the noise and adding: 'It’s shocking and embarrassing, and I can’t run my business like this.'

Blaring "truly horrific" music, a tin whistle playing the same few notes over and over again, and performing in the middle of the night are among 50 complaints made about busking in Cork over recent months.

Street preachers using loudspeakers calling for corporal punishment for children also form part of complaints about abusive, offensive, and obscene buskers made to Cork City Council in the last 18 months.

However, fewer than one in four fines issued to them have been paid, data released to the Irish Examiner through Freedom of Information reveals.

Almost half were about performing outside of designated times; 15 said the music was too loud, while there were smaller numbers of complaints about offensive performances and buskers performing for more than two hours.

Busking bylaws introduced in May 2024 set out a requirement to have a permit, as well as rules around when, where, and for how long people can play.

However, many complainants took issue with enforcement, with one person saying they had emailed numerous times about the same person and asking: “How many times is he allowed to break the rules before any action is taken?” 

“It appears no one is implementing the regulations; it is like hitting your head off a wall," one said.

Another person begged the council to get a performer off the street, saying they had to cut a work meeting short because of the noise and adding: “It’s shocking and embarrassing, and I can’t run my business like this.”

Abuse by buskers was also detailed — one person wrote that a busker was playing way too loudly, and when their coworker “approached him and politely explained the disruption it is causing to our business, he was quite abusive to him and has since turned the volume up even higher”.

Another said they witnessed an elderly lady being abused by a busker because she asked him to turn down the volume, adding they were working in a medical facility and struggling to hear patients.

One reported busking happening until 1.30am, another said a busker was “playing the same few notes over and over on a tin whistle”, and another said someone was “playing very badly and loudly out of time”.

According to one complaint, an individual was playing “extremely loud (dare I say terrible!) music at full blast — no matter what side street we walked down, there was no escape from the terrible racket.” 

They said busking could be great, but this “was truly horrific”.

The complaints were redacted to avoid identifying individual performers, but there were many complaints about buskers outside Brown Thomas, including one saying they were “visually tacky and cheap”.

One described an act at this location as “noise pollution”, while another said they “should have the licence revoked — they stay way past the two-hour limit, their speakers are far too loud, and they cause an obstruction by taking up more than their fair share of the footpath”.

Another complained about a “deeply concerning” group of street preachers, saying they were using amplification so should be subject to busking bylaws and need a permit.

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“They spread harmful misinformation about the LGBT+ community, advocated for corporal punishment of children (which is illegal in Ireland), and declared that all other religions, particularly Islam, are ‘false religions built by the devil’.” 

Further information provided to the Irish Examiner shows the council has issued 13 fixed payment notices from the start of 2025 to midway through 2026, but just three had been paid.

One had been appealed and payment was still awaited for two issued this year, but there were also five instances of court appearances for non-payment, with a further two due next month.

The council had also issued two written notices and one permit revocation letter.

The data shows a significant ramp-up of inspections this year, with 149 conducted as of July, and 155 for all of last year.