[Leading Cork to take its place as a World Class City] __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Town and Village Scheme Cork City Council had successful grants from the Department of Community and Rural Affairs in 2019 and 2020 and were awarded a further €200,000 for Blarney and Upper Glanmire for 2021. Projects for Blarney and Tower were fully completed by 31 December 2021. Expenditure has commenced on the Upper Glanmire and other Blarney projects with full completion due by the end of August 2022. These projects have involved significant enhancements to Blarney with a new interpretative signage and wayfinding scheme and an overall village health check and further works to the Blarney Fen. In Upper Glanmire, the project involved the construction of an innovative geodesic dome in an existing community garden, improved accessibility to the community association grounds, a rain-harvesting system for the community association building, road safety measures and landscaping improvements to the village. Local Enterprise Office The first virtual Local Enterprise Week took place in March 2021 with circa five hundred participants. A new initiate launched during this week was the Green for Micro which aims to help prepare small businesses for the low carbon, more resource efficient economy of the future. Figures of 2021 include: • 2 ,108 attendees on training courses. • 236 trading online vouchers approved (Second highest year for TOV applications. Average of 40 before COVID-19). • 201 clients attending one to one business advice clinics. • 16 schools supported as part of its Schools Enterprise Programmes . • 23 Green for Micro applications . Reimagining Cork Continues Following on from the successful launch of the programme in 2020, Cork City Council continued to develop the Reimaging Cork initiative. In 2021 in the city centre seventeen streets were permanently pedestrianised and improvement works were
conducted to enhance the surfaces of the streets. Cork City Council approved 207 outdoor dining grants (funded by Fáilte Ireland) for hospitality businesses including restaurants, cafés, pubs, and hotels. The City Council invested € 1.3 million in funding under Fáilte Ireland’s Weatherproofing & Dining Enhancement Scheme for five city centre streets which bolstered the city’s growing reputation as a destination for outdoor dining and hospitality and improve the vibrancy of the city centre experience for residents and tourists. Architects were engaged to design streetscapes, providing a unique
identity to each street and an improved city centre experience and new bespoke weatherproofing infrastructure – including parasols, awnings, windbreaks, heaters, festoon lighting and purpose-built planters – and these were installed at Princes Street, Caroline Street, Beasley Street and Union Quay in 2021. With similar infrastructure to be installed on Pembroke Street in the first quarter of 2022 this will enable winter and summer outdoor dining. In 2021, tens of thousands of visitors to the city availed of the weatherproof dining facilities at restaurants and bars on Princes Street.
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