Kieran’s Comments/ Speech,

Re: Cornmarket Street Redevelopment,

Council Chamber, 9 November 2009

This is a significant proposal that will ultimately change the layout of one of Cork’s main streets.

Lord Mayor here we have another historic street, A street with the same vintage as Opera lane, formerly Faulkners Lane

Cornmarket Street began its life as a canal, arched over in the 1760s. The original  cornmarket was placed there circa 1720 and an elaborate structure put there and still there, part of which is occupied by Loft Carpet Shop, cleaned up and looking shiny whilst the other half has vegetation and blackened limestone

These all sit next to the an image of the Cork Coat of Arms, one of the towers on the coat of arms, Queen’s Castle was discovered at the intersection with Cornmarket Street with Castle Street during the Cork Main Drainage.

Intermix that with institutions such as Musgraves, St. Paul’s Church, the Bridewell, oral histories and one gets a cocktail of nostalgia dating back 500 years. So I feel whatever we do needs to be sensitively done in terms of enhancing the memories of the street, which are still quite present in the Cork psyche. Of all the streets in Cork, the memory bank of this street is held in high esteem by citizens. The right message needs to be sent out here and the right expertise employed that this cultural heritage and asset is not lost but harnessed for the good of the city.

I’m also conscious that it’s still a living street for business, one that has seen its fair share of dereliction and anti-social behaviour. Representations made to myself by the Cornmarket Street Business Association highlight a number of valid concerns

Firstly, at present there is a serious anti-social issue in Daltons Avenue / Paul’s Avenue in the vicinity of Corporation Buildings, spilling out on to Cornmarket Street ongoing on a daily basis.  Large groups of people are gathering in the areas day and night in on-street drinking binges,

Debris consisting of beer cans, bottles, wine bottles, vodka bottles human feces and huge amounts of litter are there for anyone to see.

Secondly, Gardai have communicated with City Council outlining their considerable difficulties with having this canopy on the street. They have outlined their lack of resources to police and control such activities.

Thirdly, there is the issue of parking. There are at present approx’ 40 legal pay Parking spaces together with 2 loading bays and 4 disabled spaces on the Street. Under this proposal it is envisaged that all parking would be removed.

Fourthly, there is a also a call to regulate the type of goods sold on the street, with a view to eliminating, where possible the sale of counterfeit items and, where possible to  prohibit any  items to be sold by casual traders which undermine the existing businesses of Rate-paying / tax compliant, employing shopkeepers / retailers. There is no economic benefit either to the coffers of the City Council or to the economy of the greater city in this proposal.

There are also a number of other concerns that the permanent traders have on the street. Where with regard to the city manager’s request, I would like that further consultation especially with the business community on that street take place. This seems to be another situation where communication between Council and the business community is blurred and needs more partnership and co-operation. I would like to get the manager’s thoughts and views on that.