Looking ahead to Cork beyond 2022

Cork is evolving and, with new infrastructure, can embark on a rapid growth trajectory says developer Brian O’Callaghan

Brian O'Callaghan: 'The tide is turning for Cork city’s docks.' Picture: Larry Cummins

During the preparation of our recent planning application, we discovered that in 1780, Cork Corporation devised proposals to reclaim 230 acres of what is now the South Docks, to develop a new town centre. The area at the time was marshland and annotated as “dry at hours ebb”, indicating it flooded twice daily at high tide. By 1841, the area had been reclaimed from the river and formed part of the large City Park which subsequently became Cork Racecourse.

The wonderful book by Miriam Nyhan Are you still Below recalls when Henry Ford visited Cork in 1912. He was so concerned by the level of poverty and deprivation that he decided to ‘bring industry to Cork’ and acquired the racecourse from Cork Corporation for £500. There was considerable opposition to the sale at the time and it is to Cork Corporation’s credit that the objections were overcome as Fords went on to create over 2,000 jobs. I often think this may have been the precursor to Ireland’s very successful transition from an agrarian economy to the highly educated open economy we know today, all built on attracting international foreign direct investment.