3 . A NEW ERA FOR CORK DOCKLANDS
Current render of the planned development at Kennedy Quay in Cork’s South Docklands.
Spanning the North and South Docklands from the Lower Glanmire road to Blackrock Marina, the Cork Docklands project will grow the heart of Cork City and provide homes for 22,500 residents and up to 25,000 jobs in a location where all amenities and services are easily accessible and car dependency is greatly reduced. Active streets, community infrastructure, sports facilities and new schools will enable vibrant communities and families to thrive.
infrastructure will transform the Docklands from an underutilised area of Cork City to a place of choice to live, work and invest. The Cork Docklands Delivery Office has been jointly established as a partnership between Cork City Council and the Land Development Agency to advance the development of Cork Docklands. It co-ordinates the overall implementation strategy and maps out programmes for investment in enabling infrastructure, housing, public transport, health, education, culture, tourism and community.
will be created in the area for the community as a result of this expansion.
Cork Docklands is Ireland’s largest and most ambitious regeneration project.
The regeneration is underway, supported by the Government of Ireland, under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF). A proposed €500m+ investment in enabling
“From the age of 17, for near on 30 years, I worked on and off at the docks. Every morning, we’d walk down to the ‘corner’ or the ‘store’ as it was later known and stand for work with the foremen picking out who they wanted. It was bloody hard and often dirty, dusty work, sometimes unloading 300 or 400 tonnes of butter or digging out coal but with a bucket, but it was one of the best jobs in the city at the time. There were 600 or 700 dockers working down there at one stage and so many characters. Everyone had a nickname. There was Timmy Tan, the Gentleman Docker, the Donkeys Ears, to name a few. I made friends for life. With all the planned redevelopment, one of my aims now is to make sure that us dockers are recognised in some way. When we saw the plans for Kennedy Quay, we were blown away. We thought it was outstanding especially the Odlums building as that red brick is iconic. You can’t stand in the way of progress but we need something down there to remember all the former workers. It was a way of life that’s gone now and that deserves recognition”
LIAM CORCORAN
former Cork Docker, says the future Cork Docklands workers will shape the city like their predecessors did.
9
Powered by FlippingBook