The Friday View 05/06
Cork City Council's shiny new book has dropped, one of the oldest pubs in the city closes its doors, another Corkman shows up in the Premier League and TFI bikes land on Washington Street
Our City is Changing Booklet: The city is changing, according to a 27-page booklet delivered to homes across the city by the council. The foreword by Lord Mayor Kieran McCarthy claims that up to €2.5 billion euro is being invested in the city in the next five years, as part of a wider €10 billion investment over ten years. On the next page, Council Chief Executive Ann Doherty claims that the city will be increasing its population by 150,000 people by 2040. This, Doherty says, “presents huge opportunities; to capitalise on being a city of scale by attracting larger inflows of foreign direct and indigenous investment.” Grand so, a population of nearly 400,000. But I live with my parents, where am I going to live?
Well, according to this booklet, the current Cork City Development Plan will support the development of 20,000 homes, with Cork’s planning policy centred around locating housing close to public transport and services in Blackpool, Ballyvolane, Ballincollig, Blarney, Glanmire and Grange. Meanwhile, there are 5,000 social and affordable homes on course to be delivered, with 650 new homes being built as part of the Northwest Quarter Regeneration scheme in Knocknaheeny.
But look at what is being built around the city. Most of the new developments that are currently being built or have gone to planning are on the environs of Cork city, with many concentrated in Ballyvolane, as well as an area that may be unfamiliar to many- Castletreasure.
This area of Douglas is seeing another level of new, sprawling construction. Located around Carr’s Hill and Maryborough Hill, the area will see the new M28 pass through it in a few years and is home to numerous sites with developers dying to throw houses on them. Cairn Homes are currently building 472 homes along the Carrigaline Road, while Glenveagh has plans to build 442 homes at Maryborough Ridge. In addition to this, in the past two weeks, Murnane O’Shea have applied for permission to build 263 houses and 317 apartments in the area, with the decision due later.
Meanwhile a site adjoining both Cairn and Murnane O’Shea’s sites has gone on the market. The area does have a cycle route passing through it that connects it to Douglas Village. However, the addition of much needed housing going to present major pressure in a suburb that is already blighted by traffic. BusConnects is having about as much success as Cork City FC were last year in the top flight. Sure there are buses rolling in and out of Douglas, but they too have to content with lines of traffic, and the likelihood of more.
Another major aspect to the booklet is improvement of public transport in the city, and this is where the biggest claim comes in: “17km of light rail system will run from Mahon Point in the east of the city and on to Ballincollig in the west, with 25 stops including Kent Station.” The booklet does not expand on this, but provides thorough numbers for Busconnects: a 53% increase in bus services, new services for Upper Glanmire, Waterfall and Kerry Pike, and two 24 hour services.
Other highlights included in the booklet are the massive focus on the docklands, which it claims is Ireland’s “largest and most ambitious regeneration project” (it has been for the past twenty years). This part is actually mostly pictures, but there will, apparently, be three new bridges.
Another substantial aspect to the booklet is the creation of new, high quality streetscapes, with a focus on the ‘Grand Parade Quarter’ and Morrison’s Island. There will be a new city library, and a €61 million investment in improving South Main Street, Tobin Street, Tuckey Street, and Crosse’s Green. Meanwhile, on Morrison’s Island, a large flood protection scheme will include protection from tidal flooding. Hopefully they won’t become tar-patched due to lack of maintenance, like has happened in other areas of the city, needing repair down the line.
-KMC
News in Brief
TFI bikes coming to Washington St: The TFI tent was erected this week on the western end of Washington St, below the old Kino cinema, where workers were installing a row of new TFI bikes for a new station there. They should be up and running very soon. Also, you might have seen works ferrying bikes between stations around the city on a mobile bike unit. Good to see.
Barbarella Closes: Barrack Street pub Barbarella, formerly known as The Gateway, permanently closed its doors on Sunday. It was until recently a sister pub of Barbarossa, and a part of the Mutual Enterprises group, which owns the Brog, Voodoo Rooms and the Alibi, but was taken over by Liam O’Shea and John Browne of The Hyde Out on Douglas Street before Christmas.
Alchemy and Other Cork Businesses Protest 9% Vat rate:Staying on Barrack Street, Alchemy Coffee and Bookstore has joined a national campaign, along with other small Cork businesses, to reduce the VAT rate to 9%. The VAT 9 Now Campaign, started by Budd’s Restaurant in Ballydehob, includes Wildflour in Inishannon, Wazzy Woo, Pike Deli, Revel, and Camus Farmfield Kitchen in Clonakilty, Wild + Tame in Kinsale, and Organico and West Wine Bar and Cafe in Bantry. This group is lobbying to reduce the VAT rate, in order “to enable businesses to stay open.”
Riverstown FC take over FAI centre of excellence site: For years, there were plans for an FAI Centre of Excellence in Brooklodge, Glanmire, until it was confirmed to have been shelved in 2023. Now, the site is being taken over from the city council by local soccer club Riverstown FC. Local councillor for the Cobh Electoral Area, Anthony Barry, told RedFM News that he was “definitely not happy to see that area of land laying idle, and not being made available for public use for that length of time.”
A Corkman on the Brighton bench: Another Corkman is coming through the academy ranks in England. As Brighton and Hove Albion played out a nil-all drawn against Brentford on Wednesday, Carrigaline striker Mark O’Mahony sat on the bench, waiting for his chance behind Joao Pedro. Golden boy Evan Ferguson did not feature on the lineup.
Out+About
Lord Mayor Kieran McCarthy’s book, Cork in 50 Buildings, is presented as an exhibition at St. Peter’s. Following its launch last night, the exhibition, which documents the history of the city through key buildings, runs through the month of April. You can buy the book online here.
Time, date, place: 10am-5pm, Monday-Saturday, Thursday April 4-Tuesday April 30, St. Peter’s, North Main Street, Cork.
Jasmine Wood is a composer, producer and multidisciplinary artist originally from Portland, Oregon and now based in Dublin. Creating a sound that ranges from indie-rock and shoegaze to electronic, experimental and modern-classical music, she plays in Plugd on Saturday night. She is supported by Mantua, an experimental musical project by Elaine Malone. Tickets and information here.
Time, date, place: 8pm, Saturday April 6, Plugd, Cornmarket Street, Cork.
The Mauritanian is an exhibition at the Laneway Gallery by artist Jay Y Diagana. Through portraits, it captures the likeness of Mauritanians without depicting specific people, embodying the country’s diversity, persistence, and culture, while also being an exploration of the artist’s own identity.
Alongside it is In Addis Ababa, a photo exhibition by GM Spiers. Put together from several journeys to the Kidane Mehret Children’s Home in the Ethiopian capital in 2009, the pictures intend to give a glimpse of everyday life in the city of Addis Ababa. Both exhibitions run until May. More information here.
Time, date, place: Thursday April 4-Tuesday April 30, Laneway Gallery, Shandon Street, Cork.
The Guilteens are a four-piece band from Cork city consisting of vocalist Finn Sedas, bassist Tomás O’Brien, guitarist and trumpeter Cathal Nally and drummer Shane Murphy. They gig at Prim’s Bookshop this Sunday, with support from local musician and performance artist, Niall Cuddy, who uses a heady mix of live loops, spoken word and performance art. Tickets and information here.
Time, date, place: 7:30pm, Sunday April 7, Prim’s Bookshop, Main Street, Kinsale.
Sarah Hickey is a Cork-based artist who's known for her ethereal music. She has just released the third single, ‘Take A Minute’, and plays at the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh tonight. This is her second time playing in the Sirius Arts Centre. More information here, tickets are available here.
Time, date, place: 8pm, Friday April 8, Sirius Arts Centre, Westbourne Place, Cobh.
A Fool's Errand is an epic poem by writer Dermot Healy. Featuring the recordings of 49 of Healy’s family, friends and colleagues, this celebration of his seminal epic poem is narrated by Lalor Roddy, and features three musicians and a painter: Emer Mayock on flute and uilleann pipes, Nick Roth on soprano saxophone and whistle, Donal Siggins on bouzouki and live electronics, and Diarmuid Delargy doing live painting.
Time, date, place: 8pm, Saturday April 6, Triskel Arts Centre, Tobin Street, Cork.
This week on T+D:
On Tuesday, we profiled local election candidate and Workers Party member Rachel Hurley Roche. She’s running in the local elections on June 7.
On Wednesday, JJ wrote about his visit to Civic Trust House on Pope’s Quay, an architectural gem and a vital space for arts organisations and artists too. That piece here.
And on Thursday, Megan Zerbane made her T+D debit with a review of Sister Act at the Opera House which finished up tomorrow. You can read that review here.
That’s it for this week’s Friday View.
Any tips, news or events you’d like to share with Tripe+Drisheen, you can contact us via at tripeanddrisheen@substack.com. We are always happy to speak to people off the record in the first instance, and we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity. Get in touch. Have a lovely weekend.
Finally, a reminder: For Lifelong Learning Fest this year, team T+D is holding a talk about trees in the inimitable Callanan’s on George’s Quay on Friday, April 12. It’s free in and all are welcome. Start time 5:15pm (apologies to the people who compiled the official programme but we had to bring forward the start time). You can view the full catalogue of free events for Lifelong Learning Fest here. It runs from April 10 through to April 17.
