Author: cbaadmin

The deadline for entries for the Better Building Awards is approaching fast and the good spell of weather
provides a great opportunity to photograph properties and enter them into one or more of the numerous
categories.

The closing date for entries is Wednesday September 13th and entries are open to all buildings in the Cork city
and in the greater Cork area and to all previous winners should they wish to enter again. It is free to enter and
nominations can be made by companies, organisations and notably by individuals, who believe a building
reflects well on the city scape. The categories for the awards are:

City Living – New for 2023
Climate Resilience – New for 2023
Retail
Heritage and Conservation
Café/Restaurant
Pub Front
Commercial Business Frontage
Tourism, Arts and Accommodation
New Development
Judges Choice

The judging panel for the Cork Better Buildings Awards brings a wealth of experience from local business and
retail, urban regeneration, heritage conservation and planning.

Lawrence Owens is a past President of the Cork Business Association and is well known in Cork as the long
serving General Manager of Roches Stores and Debenhams. He has spearheaded many campaigns on behalf
of local businesses and his retail experience brings a depth of understanding of the challenges faced by retail
businesses.
Shane Clarke is best known for his role as CEO of the Nano Nagle Centre a position he held for 6 years. He
now heads up his own Garden-City-Culture consultancy, focusing on urban design, urban management, green
infrastructure and nature-based solutions.
Ashleigh Murray is the Conservation Officer for Cork City Council. She previously worked with London firm
Donald Insall Associates, where she was the Heritage Advisor working on client accounts such as Parliamentary
Estates, Crown Estates and the National Trust.
Gwen Jordan is Senior Planner with Cork City Council. She is an expert in urban and rural planning and has
developed successful planning policy projects relating to urban regeneration and residential strategy.

Lawrence Owens said,
“The maintenance of properties and the visual aesthetics of buildings has a huge impact on the health of the
city and the community environment and this is something that we as judges are all passionate about.”
Nominations should be made via the CBA website cbaawards.ie/betterbuildings and should include an
image(s) of the building along with any other supporting material. There is no entry fee.
The judging process can take up to six weeks, as our illustrious panel of judges will independently assess all the
entries before announcing the winners on November 17 th , at an Awards luncheon in The Dean Hotel.

Cork’s most delicious week returns this August for a feast of fun with almost 100 tasty events and experiences to saviour

Cork City will be transformed into one big food festival for 5 days of feasting and fun this August 16th-20th for Cork on a Fork Fest.

Mouths will water at the flavour-packed festival programme just launched, which includes almost 100 food events and unique experiences.

Whether you want to taste your way through the city on a food trail, take part in unique culinary experiences at a pop up event, learn a new skill at a talk or workshop, enjoy live entertainment, or feast on the finest local food, there will be plenty to see, do and devour.

The festival was established in 2022 by Cork City Council as a celebration of dining and nightlife in Cork City and the incredible produce found in the Cork region.

Sheena's Boutique in Oliver Plunkett Street Cork i sdelighed to announce that the Marie Keating Foundation Mobile Unit will be present at their store on Friday August 18th from 10.30am-4pm.

A special seminar will take place in the boutique at 1pm and everyone is welcome to attend.

A Community Celebration of Food - fringe festival takes place on Saturday 19th August at various community garden locations and it's all FREE!

Community gardens throughout Cork City will open up to the public on Saturday 19th August during Cork on a Fork Festival in partnership with Cork Food Policy Council, to celebrate the wealth of community food and growing initiatives. 

Everyone is invited to explore with tours, workshops, talks, demos and tastings in various community garden locations throughout the city and suburbs and it’s all free to enjoy!  

Cork Food Policy Council is a partnership that has been formed to work towards the achievement of a fairer, healthier, more secure and sustainable food system within the city and throughout the region.  The group will also host a fascinating 2-hour conference, Feeding Cork the sustainable and healthy way, moderated by Irish Examiner food writer Joe MacNamee, to open the festival .

Community Gardens set to host free Cork on a Fork Fringe events (on the 19th August) include; The Army Veteran’s Community Garden on the Old Youghal road, Togher Community Garden at Clashduv Park, Douglas Community Herb Garden which is on Church Road in Douglas, Murphys Farm Community Garden in Curaheen, the Community Garden in South Parish located at Pairc Eoin, Ballinlough Community Garden and St. Luke’s Community Garden.

Events will include cookery workshops, garden tours and scavenger hunts, a herbal medicine making demo, farm to form cook ups, a sound bath session and nature talks about growing your own and beekeeping! It promises to be an unmissable day of fun and discovery for all the community. 

Also, on the Thursday of the festival, 17th August, Knocknaheeny Holyhill Community Garden will host their Annual Community Summer Day from 1pm-4pm during which time people can pick produce from the garden, listen to live music, sample their delicious verbena drink and lots, lots more.

No pre-booking is required for these events and all are free.

Cork on a Fork Fest takes place next week from 16^th-20^th August and will see the city transformed into one big food festival. The flavour-packed festival programme includes more than 100 free and ticketed food events, including tasting trails throughout the city, cooking demos, masterclasses, street events, bite size talks, symposiums, unique dining experiences and specials to appeal to all tastes, interests and ages. 

Whether you want to taste your way through the city on a food trail, take part in unique culinary experiences at a pop-up event, learn a new skill at a talk or workshop, enjoy live entertainment at a street event, or feast on the finest local food, there will be plenty to see, do and devour. With some events close to capacity or already sold out, it’s time to make a booking to avoid disappointment. 

Cork on a Fork Festival is a Cork City Council festival, supported by local hospitality businesses, Fáilte Ireland, Ireland’s Ancient East, the Wild Atlantic Way Pure Cork, Cork Business Association, Cork Airport, Atlantic Clinical Trials, and media partners the Irish Examiner and RedFM. 

The full programme can be found on www.corkonaforkfest.ie or follow @corkonaforkfest for live updates.

-Ends-

Full details of all Community Celebration Events taking place on the 19th:

Veggies for Vet’s

Location: Army Veteran’s Community Garden, Camp Field, Old Youghal Road, Opposite the Barracks.

Time: 11am – 3pm Saturday 19^th August (arrive anytime between these hours- call Paddy to gain entry 0869249719)

Description: Guided tours and talk about this new garden established for army veterans, learn all about what we do and how we assist members of the forces.

No pre-booking required, Free.

Amaranth- an ancient superfood rediscovered

Location: Togher community garden, Clashduv Park, Clashduv Road, Togher.

Time: 11am

Description: A practical cookery workshop exploring amaranth’s nutritional culinary values. Maybel Hernandez who is growing the plant at Togher community garden will host a cookery demo on how to use this wonder grain.

No pre booking required, Free.

• Herb Garden Workshop

Location: Douglas Community Herb Garden, Church Road, Douglas.

Meet outside Douglas Community Centre, located inside gates by entrance of park.

Time: 11am to 1pm

Description: Exploration of our herb garden with a medicine making demonstration led by botanist Jo Goodyear

No pre booking required, Free.

• Farm to Fork

Location: Murphys Farm Community Garden, Curaheen -follow signposts for Bishoptown Tennis Club, behind club.

Time: 2pm to 3.30pm (bring your own water)

Description: Welcome to our farm to fork cookup, using vegetables directly from our garden. Led by our guest chef JJ from MTU who will cook a stir fry and vegetarian burgers on site. Also get a guided tour of our wonderful vegetable and flower gardens.

No pre booking required, Free.

• Discover a hidden garden in South Parish

Location: Páirc Eoin, St. John’s Park, Off Quaker Road, South Parish.  (Go right down to the end through the gap.)

Time: 2pm

Description: Join us for a tour of this lovely space, visit our tree nursery, dye garden, medicinal bed and hear about what we are doing to support nature and community in this public space.

No pre booking required, Free.

• Scavenger Hunt

Location: Ballinlough Community Garden, adjacent to the Gus Healy swimming pool Ballinlough.

Time: 3pm

Come explore the flowers, vegetables and creatures that inhabit our garden, fun for all the family

No pre booking required, Free.

•  A Garden Dream

Location:St. Luke’s Community Garden, Ballyhooley Road

Time: 4pm-8pm

Description: Come join us for a magical evening, a tour of the garden and talk by beekeeper Kate Manning, Rosie Healy (The kitchen fairy) will prepare a bohemian feast with healthy treats and refreshments and to end a 40 minute sound bath from Naoise from Golden Space.

No pre booking required, Free.

And another event which takes place on the earlier date on 16th August

Annual Community Summer Day

Location: Knocknaheeny Holyhill Community Garden, Hollyville, Harbour View Road, Knocknaheeny, Cork. (Behind Apple Green Services)

Time: 1pm- 4pm Thursday 16^th August

Description: Enjoy picking produce from our garden, live music, sample our delicious verbena drink and lots, lots more. All are welcome

No pre-booking required, Free.

Nominate a Building

Cork's Better Buildings Awards 2023 which are organised by CBA with the support of Cork City Council, are now open for nominations with two new categories announced - City Living and Climate Resiliance.

The awards recognise the efforts of developers, landlords and tenants to present properties across the entire city to their absolute best.

The two new categories are a City Living Award, to recognise the efforts of those building residential units in Cork city centre and a Climate Resilience Award to celebrate owners who have gone above and beyond in ensuring that their buildings meet and exceed expectations for sustainability and green energy usage.

Last year saw a surge in the number of entries across the board and the organisers expect an even greater response this year.  Kevin Herlihy, President of Cork Business Association said,
"We had over fifty nominations last year and it was clear from the response that the awards, which focus on the best examples of the city’s built environment, mean a great deal."

Last year’s winners came from a variety of sectors and each entry was judged by a panel of experts in heritage, planning and placemaking.  As well as large scale projects, the judging panel will focus on maintenance and good housekeeping, such as cleaning, painting and planting.  The Awards are open to all city businesses from Ballincollig to Blarney, Glanmire to Douglas as well as the city centre.

D'Arcy O’Neill, of Darcy’s Hair Salon was a recipient of an award in 2022 and was delighted that his hard work in keeping his premises looking so well was being acknowledged. “We were thrilled to be recognised for the hard work we put in to presenting our business to its absolute best.  Our shop front is our first introduction to our customers and it is vitally important that what you see on the outside reflects what you will experience when you walk through our doors.”

There is no entry fee and nominations can be made by companies, organisations and notably by individuals, who believe a building reflects well on the city scape.    The categories for the awards are:

• City Living - New for 2023
• Best Retail Front
• Best Cafe/Restaurant
• Best Commercial Business
• Best New Development
• Climate Resilience - New for 2023
• Heritage & Conservation
• Best Pub Front
• Best Tourism or Arts Building

Nominate a Building

CBA is delighted to have presented its Pre-Budget 2024 Submission to the Department of Finance. In the submission, CBA has suggested various proposals for some of the many challenging issues that currently affect businesses across all sectors, in Cork and beyond.

Suggestions and recommendations have been made in the areas of housing, taxation & costs of doing business.

CBA believes that these proposals are credible and workable solutions that if implemented would improve the commercial environment and help to address the current (and some future) issues that are most challenging for businesses in Cork today.

Read CBA Submission

Cork Business Association, is delighted to welcome Ann Doherty, Chief Executive of Cork City Council as keynote speaker at the CBA Breakfast Briefing on May 31st 2023.

A full Irish breakfast will be prepared and served by the award-winning team at The Metropole Hotel, during which you can network with other leading business owners and managers.

Then together with an expert panel of commentators, we will explore how to maximise Cork’s future economic potential and take away some thoughts on how we can all play our part in ensuring the best possible outcome for Cork in the short, medium and long-term. The panel will include:

Fearghal Reidy, Director of Strategic & Economic Development, Cork City Council

Clara O’Neill, Director, Butler O’Neill Total Planning Solutions

Brian O’Callaghan, Managing Director O’Callaghan Properties

The session will be moderated by Shane Clarke, Operations Director at The VQ.

Tickets priced at Euro 30 for CBA Members and Euro 35 for Non Members. This event is expected to sell out quickly, so click here to secure your tickets today.

Buy Tickets

CBA held its AGM on Thursday April 20th and during the meeting Trigon Hotels Managing Director Aaron Mansworth was appointed as Vice President of Cork Business Association.

Aaron is a native of Cobh and has the hospitality industry in his blood!! He is a graduate of the world-renowned Shannon College of Hotel Management and after working a few years in hotels in the USA, including at one of New York's finest hotels, The Waldorf Astoria, Aaron return to Ireland. He worked in a number of Cork hotels since 2009. including as General Manager of Cork International Hotel and then more recently as Managing Director of the Trigon Hotels, operating The Metropole Hotel, Cork International Hotel and Cork Airport Hotel.

Aaron has been a member of the CBA Executive Committee for many years and is also an active member of the Cork Branch of the Irish Hotels Federation and a member of the National IHF management committee. He is also an regular contributor on a number of tourism and hospitality forums and committees and is always focused on improving Cork's tourism offer.

CBA President Kevin Herlihy welcomed the appointment saying "Aaron is a real asset to CBA. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience not just of the tourism sector but of business and commercial life in general. I am delighted that he has agreed to serve as CBA Vice-President and I look forward to sharing the workload with him".

On accepting the appointment, Aaron said "I am very honored to be selected by my peers on the CBA Executive Committee to serve as Vice-President. The organisation works very hard on behalf of its members, engaging with multiple stakeholders to ensure that Cork remains a vibrant city in which to operate as a business. I am delighted to lend further effort to this process and look forward to helping to shape the organisation as together we face the current challenges with optimism and resilience."

Cybercrime is on the increase and local Gardai have shared this Cybersecurity Outlook for 2022 with CBA and have asked CBA in turn, to share the document with all members so that Cork businesses can arm themselves with the most up-to-date information and advice to help ensure that they are not the victims of cybercrime in 2022.

• Cybercrime has cost the world as staggering $6 Trillion in 2021
• Cyberattacks increased by nearly 80% due to employees working from home.
• Remote work prompted by the pandemic has increased ransomware attacks by 93%

This important reference document has some tips that can help organisations secure their networks from impending threats in 2022.

Organisations need to be proactive rather than reactive to security incidents.

Employer Briefing

Learn more about this innovative 2 year, level 6 programme that builds the knowledge, skills and competencies to excel as a retail supervisor.

Launching in Cork this September.

Join the Employer Information Webinar for apprenticeship insights, programme content and delivery.

Tuesday April 26th 12.00 - 1.00pm Online

Email to register: swadmin@regionalskills.ie

Skills in Focus include

• Professional Selling
• Communications and CX
• Retail IT
• Safety, Health, Welfare & Legal Issues
• Finance and Decision Making
• Omni Channel Marketing
• Retail Sector Specific Electives