Thursday 14 November 2024
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Press Release by County Mayor in response to Minister Coveney’s Comments on PJ Coogan’s Opinion Line 96FM

Press Release by County Mayor in response to Minister Coveney’s Comments on PJ Coogan’s Opinion Line 96FM

Press Release by County Mayor in response to Minister Coveney’s Comments on PJ Coogan’s Opinion Line 96FM on 17th August 2017 – County Mayor warmly welcomes Ministers commitment.

The Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr. Declan Hurley, has responded to Minister Simon Coveney’s Comments on PJ Coogan’s Opinion Line 96FM on 17th August 2017.

The Mayor commented:

I very much welcome the comments made in recent days by Minister Coveney, implying that the Mackinnon Report is far from set in stone. The Minister expressed his desire to see both the City Council and County Council working together to agree a boundary.

Minister Coveney clearly indicated that the Implementation group that have been tasked with looking at the detail of the boundary change proposed by Mackinnon, will take into account the very real concerns that have been expressed in recent weeks by various organisations, communities and individuals and will come to a final, mutual agreement by the end of September when a more appropriate but different boundary line will emerge that will be mutually beneficial to both City and County, and not kill off the County Council as the Mackinnon boundary would do.

I am particularly pleased by the fact that he is urging all concerned to be willing to facilitate and agree the necessary changes required to better address the challenges facing Cork.

The Mayor continued:

For example we have an accelerating housing crisis in Cork, so what solution does the Mackinnon Report suggest??. Well… housing applicants in Ballincollig, Blarney, Glanmire and Carrigtwohill will now be added to the City Council’s housing list. Existing city housing applicants will now be pitted against County housing applicants for social housing services in those areas. All of this will delay the timely provision of much needed housing for young families. This is not a solution…..this just creates more problems! So yes we need proper solutions and Mackinnon will not deliver them. The time has come where we need to firmly kick the Mackinnon report into touch before it creates even more problems for the people of Cork.

Common sense and reason need to prevail here and as far as I am concerned neither is evident in the Mackinnon report particularly where it suggests a boundary extension for Cork which would be physically two and a half times that of Dublin City. We need a practical workable solution that can address Cork’s real problems.

Finally, I would like to compliment the communities and people on the ground that have seen through this report for what it is and, in true Cork tradition, have rebelled against it to seek a fair solution for all. They are assured of my support.