Do the government give a sh*t about Cork?

The Failed God

We hear in the news this morning that once again Dublin gains at the expense of Cork. Our new airport, just staring out free from the restrictive shackles of Dublin airport is to be saddled with €100 million of a debt.
Personally i am sick to death of turning on the radio and listening to some jackeen dub whining on about how bad their public transport, and transport system in general is. I would love to invite them to cork and ask them to survive without a car for a week. We have a third world public transport system that is poorly funded and even more poorly run, anytime i (reluctantly) visit dublin I personally find, their public transport (while not to the same standard as other european countries) work, and works well.
The first bit of competition that came to our public bus market was quickly stifled out of that market. Skylink started out on the elusive airport to city route as it saw an opening in the market due to the inadequate service that existed at the time. What is bus eireanns answer to this?, double the number of buses it sends to the airport route(at the expense of other routes in the city).
Maybe im just ranting here but i think personally, that us Corkonions pay the same rate of tax as else where and would like to ask why our road tax etc is being spent on clearing up Dublins mistakes (€600 million to buy the west link toll , THEIR mistake). If cork was to get a €600 million injection in transport i believe it would set us up for a good decade at least. A light rail system should be built linking the the two large residential hubbs of ballincollig and carrigaline with stops in bishopstown, ucc, town, douglas, etc.., regardless of whether it is an economically viable business opportunity. It would make commuting to work without a car a viable alternative.
Recently the government announced a new transport plan (transport 21 i think it was), it was played up to be an innovative and advantageous development for cork. I think ye will all find that there is not one new plan in it for cork, the cork to midelton line (old),the motor way to Dublin(old).
Anyway i think il leave it at that, sorry for raving but i just wish out tax was spent on improving out quality of life rather than elsewhere. Goddam sell out cork politicians... Really starting to bealive in this peoples republic lark.

LivingDeadGirl

E-mail somebody?

MLM

I couldn't agree more. However overinvesting in Dublin at the expense of other parts of the country is going to ruin Dublin in the long run. Dublin needs to grow at a more manageable pace and the best way to do that is by diverting investment elsewhere. Dublin already suffers from chronic congestion and what is proposed in Transport 21 is really only playing catch up. Sooner rather than later investors will realize that a badly planned over-congested city is not worth the hassle and look elsewhere, no matter how much money a Government promises. Balanced regional development is needed.

Stark

The Failed God wrote:

Personally i am sick to death of turning on the radio and listening to some jackeen dub whining on about how bad their public transport, and transport system in general is. I would love to invite them to cork and ask them to survive without a car for a week. We have a third world public transport system that is poorly funded and even more poorly run, anytime i (reluctantly) visit dublin I personally find, their public transport (while not to the same standard as other european countries) work, and works well.

Actually the service from Dublin Bus varies hugely. I've often stood at a bus stop where 3 routes pass and waited for 45 mins, despite the buses being scheduled to run every 20 mins. If the service was even 33% reliable, I would only need to wait 20 mins. It's still better than the Cork bus service though (Oh No. 8, the laugh from my love you thieved).

As you move further from the city centre, the bus service deteriorates even more. Then it becomes a huge problem, due to Dublin's urban sprawl. In Cork, I always had the option of walking when I gave up on the bus service. It could take me 45 mins to an hour depending on where I was going to/from but it was still doable. In Dublin, you could be talking about a 4 hour walk, not so doable. If you live in a poorly service suburb and you don't have a car, you're ****ed.

The Failed God wrote:

Maybe im just ranting here but i think personally, that us Corkonions pay the same rate of tax as else where and would like to ask why our road tax etc is being spent on clearing up Dublins mistakes (€600 million to buy the west link toll , THEIR mistake).

To be fair, Cork has some very nice roads. Public transport is absolute ****, but I'm not sure if road tax is supposed to go on the likes of light rail (I could be wrong though). The 600 million west link toll buyout will be recapped in barrier free tolling afaik. The Westlink toll bridge doesn't just affect Dublin. It's a major expense for trucks both in terms of the actual toll and delays incurred by the toll. That has the knock-on effect of making goods more expensive countrywide.

Rebeller

The primary reason for Cork's backwardness and lack of modern development is the insular, closed-club nature of those hallowed gombeen businessmen who control all aspects of the city's economic life.

Corruption is rife in Cork local politics with the welfare of very narrow vested interests being promoted at the expense of the city's citizenry. This is a prime example of what I'm talking about.

The quality of our local and national representatives are dire with a couple of notable exceptions. Only we are to blame for that. How in God's name does Billy Kelleher get re-elected every time? If a rabid dog stood for election would we vote for him?

Cork is a backward city run by visionless backward people voted in by a small-minded visionless electorate. The so called capital of the "rebel" county is a paradigm of conformist, conservative, mafia style corporate clientalism. O Callaghan with his Soviet era concrete monstrosities blighting the rundown cityscape and the Crosbie brothers with their all-encompassing Dickensian stranglehold of the city act to ensure that the city of Terence Macsweeney and Frank O' Conner remains the parochial backwater it has been for so many years.

An election is coming people. Let's clear out the cobwebs and vote in some new blood with new ideas.

mentalson

excellent post Rebeller. although I am from Cork the tolerance that the citizens show towards the blatant corruption that takes place in the City and the backhanders from developers is something that has annoyed me for many years.

fastrac

Here Here.The same builders are handed planning for small towns without a thought for future problems. Local business stop commercial development to keep the competition out. We all end up stuck in the car for hours while the developers golf and sail their way across the globe. Dont buy the scare stories before the election. There has to be a better way

run_Forrest_run

Rebeller wrote:

Cork is a backward city run by visionless backward people voted in by a small-minded visionless electorate. The so called capital of the "rebel" county is a paradigm of conformist, conservative, mafia style corporate clientalism. O Callaghan with his Soviet era concrete monstrosities blighting the rundown cityscape and the Crosbie brothers with their all-encompassing Dickensian stranglehold of the city act to ensure that the city of Terence Macsweeney and Frank O' Conner remains the parochial backwater it has been for so many years.

An election is coming people. Let's clear out the cobwebs and vote in some new blood with new ideas.

spot on Rebeller..as the man said, the people need to get their heads out of their their asses and vote. no point in moaning afterwards.

bill_ashmount

MLM wrote:

I couldn't agree more. However overinvesting in Dublin at the expense of other parts of the country is going to ruin Dublin in the long run. Dublin needs to grow at a more manageable pace and the best way to do that is by diverting investment elsewhere. Dublin already suffers from chronic congestion and what is proposed in Transport 21 is really only playing catch up. Sooner rather than later investors will realize that a badly planned over-congested city is not worth the hassle and look elsewhere, no matter how much money a Government promises. Balanced regional development is needed.

Agree 100%.

shnaek

Rebeller wrote:

The primary reason for Cork's backwardness and lack of modern development is the insular, closed-club nature of those hallowed gombeen businessmen who control all aspects of the city's economic life.

Corruption is rife in Cork local politics with the welfare of very narrow vested interests being promoted at the expense of the city's citizenry. This is a prime example of what I'm talking about.

The quality of our local and national representatives are dire with a couple of notable exceptions. Only we are to blame for that. How in God's name does Billy Kelleher get re-elected every time? If a rabid dog stood for election would we vote for him?

Cork is a backward city run by visionless backward people voted in by a small-minded visionless electorate. The so called capital of the "rebel" county is a paradigm of conformist, conservative, mafia style corporate clientalism. O Callaghan with his Soviet era concrete monstrosities blighting the rundown cityscape and the Crosbie brothers with their all-encompassing Dickensian stranglehold of the city act to ensure that the city of Terence Macsweeney and Frank O' Conner remains the parochial backwater it has been for so many years.

An election is coming people. Let's clear out the cobwebs and vote in some new blood with new ideas.

Hear hear. Excellent post. Cork has the capacity to be one of the best cities in Europe. It also has the capacity to be ****. Wonder will apathy win out in the end?

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

The Failed God

On a large scale the do a awful lot of good but one bone i would have to pick with some of them is that i believe they to some extent are destroying the soul of the city. The bodega for instance (not my favourtite watering hole by a long shot but), a very nice late bar right in the heart of the coal quay. The coal quay is set for a regeneration and personally id rather see more late bar/live music venues in the city rather than some random mass produced chain store like tx maxx. The bodega is architecturally a stunning building and i just hope that aspect isnt ruined in the future.
The city planners (or whoever zones these areas) should be promoting culturally benifical estiblishments if the are looking at renewing and regenerating these areas of the city.

StandnDeliver

drove up baracks street last night it was like beriut with all the craters in the road,its a disgrace.im sick of these councillors taking the piss with there so called business trips where they bring their families, the only guy i have actively seen doing anything about this mindless corruption is Mick Barry,he actually seems to speak out about it.
so yes the general election should be interesting,i am also digusted at the billboards around the city of the p.ds with big adverts and also in the echo big adverts for ff a full page they arent cheap.thats where the money is going.

Balmed Out

to be fair to be fair all problems revolving around bad planning and corruption are equally as bad in dublin if not worse. Look at the port tunnel. What annoys me is in the dail when they mention dublins population its 1.1 or 1 million which is figure for the metropolitan area not the city which is 450,000. Then they mention cork its 126,ooo instead of the quater of a million of the urban area. Why the double standard at government level. Planning budgets etc will never be fair while they continue to think cork is the same size as galway. Also good point earlier about that railway i think the government has now announced it on 4 different occasions.