Lord Mayor, I’m a firm believer that in the public service and in terms of work ethic there are  the good, the bad and the ugly.

And if you find the good, a public representative is lucky and it is those public servant employees that should be nurtured, encouraged and inspired.

I think in this economic climate, Irish society has been over harsh on the public servant. There are many who really enjoy their job making a difference and they should be encouraged to develop their talents and not hindered by cuts, cuts, cuts.

I also think in that light, there is way too much emphasis on rebuilding the economy and too little emphasis on rebuilding society after the crash. We are also turning into a society of worriers and of apathy. I happened to be in Germany recently and the headline of one of their national newspapers read that “Ireland has lost its self confidence”.

And so when I look at the danger that this city will lose five community wardens whose job brief encompasses building a sense of confidence in our communities, I am completely appalled and annoyed.

Their work ethic reveals the work of not just five people but probably that of 20 people

One reads in this report of bonfire nights events, clean-ups summer camps, walking groups, summer fun days, voluntary emergency services exhibitions, supporting local youth cafes, patrol of estates, calling to people and businesses, home visits, overseeing the probation and welfare graffiti,painting schemes, local schools work, Muga mornings, driving the community buses and so much more

….and we as a Council are happy to blasé accept that there is no funding there to secure their jobs

They are probably doing the work of 20 or more people, what we get for E.200,0000 their collective wages, we reap dividends in moving the areas they pursue work in …

 I’d like to call upon this Council to write to the relevant minister, bring him to Cork and show him what work is going on and what he is getting in return for these community wardens.

If we don’t secure these jobs, this city will have to pay more to clean up the growing worry and apathy inherent in Irish society.

 Lord Mayor,

There are many positives items in this progress report. A lot of work has been done – housing, roads, environment, planning. Many of the directorates have benefitted in particular by a driven and talented director and engineers with a genuine interest in not only their job but also the city and region. It’s not an easy job to head up such large units and credit is due to them.

However, there are darker economic roads ahead that will require much more thinking outside of the box and steady, positive and energetic leadership.

I still think that as a place and region, Cork should fight for more of its share nationally.

The Cork Area Strategic Plan of 2001, ten years ago was commissioned to provide a framework to enable Cork to become a leading European City-Region- globally competitive, socially inclusive and culturally enriched.

I think in a local context, the Council is doing well but in the that aura of European significance, I’m not too sure; I feel we’re not doing enough to secure it.

CASP calls for building upon Cork’s many assets and remarkable strengths. It speaks about its people, environment, transport infrastructure, world class industries and educational establishments. But I still think we’re under selling ourselves.

CASP talks about an additional 19,000 new jobs in the city by 2020 but in 2011 26, 249 are unemployed. CASP talks about reversing population decline in the city centre by creating hubs like the docklands – but where are we now with docklands.

CASP talks about a region interconnected, a city with county nodal points – with a strong proper transport infrastructure plus socially and culturally strong… at the heart of which is a strong and modern European city

CASP talks about a vision for Cork as one of 3 counter magnets to Dublin – to create a southern functional area – its sees the city as an engine for growth through docklands and from 2013 to 2020 that the Docklands would be built.

Lord Mayor, with all those statements, one can argue work done for each one but what has changed is the economic variations.

So moving forward the big question is how can this city move forward in light of the present economic circumstance and become a regional gateway city?

How can this city continue or enhance the idea of innovation in every aspect of its evolution?

How can this city become that strong core for the region? One can now travel on a motorway to Cahir in over an hour and sure if there is a flyer up there saying that there are 100 festival days in the city, I’d be surprised. The city should be ambitious enough to target new markets

Plus there is a strong need to review CASP and build a new future plan where the economic variable and not aimlessly wander on to 2014 and 2020 to the end of the development plan and CASP respectively.

Lord Mayor,

It’s difficult to find comfort in these seasonal economic monitor reports – now a type of doomsday record of the Irish economy’s state – one would like to think that one is bouncing off the bottom of the recession barrel but looking at the figure of 444,299 people signing on the live register, 26, 249 of those in metropolitan Cork; there are years ahead of us in rebuilding the Irish economy plus to bring it back to a sustainable state that even the letters IMF don’t appear in a report such as this.

It would be remiss of us when on such fever infested topic without mentioning the recent Nyberg report, which was very eye opening

Finnish banking expert Peter Nyberg stated that the main reason for the financial crash was the unhindered expansion of the property bubble financed by the banks.

It said the problems causing the crisis were the result of domestic Irish decisions, rather than international factors.

The main conclusion of the report was that the Financial Regulator did not have the bottle to bring Anglo Irish Bank to book over risky lending and stop other banks jumping on the bandwagon.

The inquiry into the cause of the country’s banking crisis has found authorities, including the Central Bank, did not understand the dangers of a property boom.

And it found the cause and scale of the €70bn meltdown was homegrown, while worldwide recession has made it worse.

It also shattered claims, put by the last government, that the collapse of the US bank Lehman Brothers sparked the Irish crisis; that events were already put in motion.

He said the top bank executives paid little attention to risks they were taking through shockingly large lending and chasing Anglo’s growth rates.

The report finds Irish authorities “had the data required to arouse suspicion about trends in the property and financial markets” – but either failed to understand it, or weren’t able to evaluate and analyse the implications correctly.

He says the real problem with the financial regulator was not a lack of powers but a lack of scepticism and the appetite to prosecute challenges.

It is my personal feeling that those findings are pathetic and appalling and never again should such financial responsibility lie with such reckless individuals.

We as Irish people have spent the last ten years obsessed with making money; and even now after the fall, we are still obsessed with money but this time paying it back.

Just three final comments Lord Mayor, the celebration of new retailers in the city centre, , Kuytuchi, Tommy Hilfiger, Emobile, Tour America, Edinburgh Woollen Mills is somewhat justified and sometimes not…they are creating local jobs but most of their revenue is exported plus also they continue to add to the general erosion of the City’s unique and native retailing shops. It’s important that we promote equally international and native retailing experiences, otherwise we’ll just have a city centre of shops which you can find anywhere in the world.

Secondly it’s terrible to see the fall in tourism numbers, a drop of 13 per cent, total overseas visitor numbers fell by 15 per cent, arrivals from mainland Europe fell by 17 per cent. Failte Ireland need to be asked questions about this…

On a positive note, it’s great to see exports up by 18 per cent in the last quarter of 2010. I would like to thank those individuals who are out there in the world, pushing for a better result for Ireland

Lord Mayor, it’s too easy to dismiss such a document – this economic report – we should write to the new government asking for the proposed plan forward for all the difficulties presented within this document. There are no instant solutions but there must be a sustainable plan forged to move forward…

Kieran’s Motions and Question to the City Manager, Cork City Council Meeting, 26 April 2011

Motions:

That the carpark at the pier head in Blackrock be tarmacademed due to its unsightly and rough appearance (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

Following up on my previous motion in September 2009, that a review take place of traffic and pedestrian safety at the  junction of several exits onto the Douglas Road, namely Rhodaville, Briar Rose and the Ardfallen complex and that the appropriate traffic & pedestrian safety measures be carried out (Cllr. K. McCarthy)

Question to the Manager:

To ask the manager to give a breakdown of the income and expenditure for the recent St. Patrick’s Day Festival? (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)