Cork council merger plan disregards evidence of what works

William Brady, Jonathan Hall, and Brendan O’Sullivan of UCC’s planning department raise serious concerns after reading the Smiddy report favouring the merger of Cork city and county councils

UCC’s Centre for Planning Education and Research has followed the issue of local government reform in Cork for many years, and we have been actively engaged on this subject long before the minister appointed the Cork Local Government Committee Review Group. We specialise in the areas of urban, regional and rural planning, city- regions, local government reform, regeneration and economic development, and are in a position to comment on the most recent developments as objective and dispassionate observers.

Our agenda is very simple — to use evidence as a basis for good decision-making in public policy, and to use this to consider what is best for Cork.