The Government is investing a “gamechanger” €405 million in the regeneration of Cork, representing the biggest public sector investment in the city in the State's history.
The revamp of the Cork Docklands has been given a massive cash injection with the announcement that the Government plans to invest over €350 million in the area, with a further €46 million allocated to a facelift of the Grand Parade Quarter.
The regeneration of Mallow town in the county has been granted over €4 million in funds, with €817,500 also set aside for works on the Passage West-Ringaskiddy-Carrigaline Harbour Cluster.
Speaking at the Cork Docklands this morning, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the funding was a “gamechanger” for the city and county and would aid its development into a “magnet for further growth”.
“It is a very good day for Cork,” Mr Martin said. “This is the allocation of very significant funding. It really will be transformative. It is flesh on the bone of the plan.
“As someone who has traversed up and down the Marina and Docklands since I was a young person, I now see what was once an industrial heartland of the city in the Ford and Dunlops era, I now see this becoming a very vibrant quarter again in the next decade,” he added.
Cycleways, libraries and bridges
Mr Martin said the investment was about making Cork city and county better places in which to work, live, visit and invest.
The Government funding will help transform recreational, residential and commercial areas in the Docklands, and improve connectivity by financing cycleways, walkways and the Eastern Gateway Bridge.
“The investment will transform the Grand Parade with over €50m for a new public library, a new central plaza and boardwalk to facilitate cultural and recreational activities – making it one of the most attractive features in the centre of our city,” Mr Martin said.
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O'Brien said the investment also underpinned the strategy of creating strong regional cities outside Dublin, with significant funding for Mallow town centre regeneration, Passage West, Ringaskiddy and Carrigaline Harbour.
The regeneration projects are being funded under ‘Call 2’ of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF). The URDF part-funds projects aimed at enhancing urban areas to make them more attractive places in which to live, work, visit and invest.
Counterbalance to Dublin
Cork City Council and Cork County Council will receive the funding for the projects.
Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Joe Kavanagh, said the potential of Cork’s Docklands has been long recognised.
“But today we see that ambition eventually being backed by solid investment,” he said.
“The Cork City Docklands regeneration will provide jobs and homes to tens of thousands of people and make Cork a world class city to live and work in — supporting the Government’s ambition to develop the city as a true counterbalance to Dublin.
“It is heartening to see further regeneration in the very heart of the medieval city — alongside the old city walls at the Grand Parade Quarter.”
Cork City Council CEO, Ann Doherty, said the Cork City Docklands was in many ways a case study in sustainable compact living and working.
“Here we are creating a new quarter that is built for the future: a place where people want to live, work and play — because of its job opportunities, community, green spaces and reliable public transport,” she said.
This latest announcement builds on considerable private investment evident in Cork City Docklands including Navigation Square, Penrose Dock and Horgan’s Quay, along with plans submitted to develop the Port of Cork site to include a hotel and a maritime museum.
Furthermore, Glenveagh Homes has submitted plans to develop over 1,000 residential units in the former Ford Distribution Site.
