Month: June 2017

Cork Airport Proudly Flying High After Winning ACI Europe Best Airport Award

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Cork Airport has come out on top at a prestigious aviation awards ceremony in Paris last night. The airport has been named Airport Council International (ACI) Best Airport in Europe (under 5 million passengers) at the 27th Airports Council International (ACI) Europe General Assembly, Congress and Exhibition, which was attended by over 400 Aviation Chief Executives and industry leaders.

 

The Awards recognise excellence and achievement across a variety of airport disciplines. Shortlisted airports were assessed by a panel of aviation expert judges and key institutional stakeholders. Winners were announced as part of the proceedings of the Gala Dinner at the 27th ACI EUROPE General Assembly, Congress and Exhibition 2017 in Paris.

 

Speaking after the ceremony, Niall MacCarthy, Cork Airport’s Managing Director said: “We are very proud and delighted to win the top prize as Europe’s Best Airport in our category. Cork Airport's business turnaround strategy has been recognised and endorsed by our leadership peers in the European airport industry. "

 

“The entire team at Cork Airport works extremely hard to ensure we maintain outstanding levels of customer service every single day of the year. We strive to make the passenger experience better than any other competitor airport and one that our passengers will tell their friends and family about. "

 

Cork Airport’s win of the Award is accredited to the airport’s ambitious and determined drive for route expansion and growth whilst maintaining world class friendliness and service levels. Cork Airport was the only Irish airport shortlisted in its competitive category.

 

Cork Airport’s successes in the past 18 months have been widely reported in terms of new routes across its growing network. Tonight’s win will add further excitement ahead of the historic inaugural transatlantic service, which takes off on 1st July. The airport’s leading efforts to secure the Norwegian route to Boston/ Providence were also acknowledged earlier in the year when Kevin Cullinane, Head of Communications accepted the impressive EuroPAward at a ceremony in Brussels.

 

Cullinane commented: “Winning awards, such as the ACI Europe Best Airport, acknowledges and reinforces the hard work and excellent results that the team at Cork Airport is achieving by international industry leaders. We will experience continued passenger growth again this year, up a further 5% on 2016, and we are continuing to deliver new routes for passengers from the South of Ireland. We will certainly take the opportunity to celebrate tonight’s win but our main focus is to ensure our new routes, particularly our transatlantic services with both WOW air and Norwegian are a success”.

 

The ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards are presented to airports for excellence and achievement across a whole range of disciplines including:

  • Retail
  • Community Relations
  • Facilities
  • Customer Service/Passenger & Airlines
  • Security
  • Environmental Awareness
  • Operations

CBA Welcomes and Predominantly Supports the Report of the Expert Advisory Group on Local Government Arrangements in Cork

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On Friday last Minister Simon Coveney launched the report of the Expert Advisory Group on Local Government Arrangements in Cork. Whilst this is a very detailed report running to over 116 pages. The headline aspects were that the report recommended. Simon Coveney TD, minister for Housing, Planning, Community & Local Government, speaking at the launch of the Cork Local Government report of the experts advisory group at the Clayton Hotel, Silver Springs, Cork. Picture: David Keane.

 That Cork shall continue to have two local independent authorities Cork City Council & Cork County Council.

 

That the boundary of Cork City Council shall extend to include Ballincollig, Carrigrohane, Blarney, Glanmire, Carrigtwohill,& Cork Airport. involving approximately 225,000 population based on 2016 Census figures.

An overview of the proposed new city boundary.

The establishment of A "Cork Economic Development and Planning Board" with equal representation from both the City and County,as well as business representatives shall be established to oversee the preparation and implementation of a statutory "Cork Metropolitan Area Plan"

A financial reciprocation payment,based on principles outlined in the report shall be made by Cork City Council to Cork County Council arising from the boundary change,taking into consideration loss of revenue and reduced expenditure on the part of Cork County Council.

Cork City Council would see its numbers increase from 31 to 39, while Cork County Council would increase to 56, despite reducing in size. An implementation group including the chief executives of both councils will be established to assess the recommendations and begin the process of making the changes.

The Cork Business Association broadly supports the proposals as they very much reflect the position advocated by the CBA in our 2015 submission to the CLGR and in commentary on the issue since.

The CBA have been consistently saying that the status quo cant be allowed to continue and we now believe a suitable framework exits to effect this much needed change for both the City and County. It is now imperative that clear implementation timelines are established and it is our view that 2019 should be the agreed deadline. We include below extracts from the CBA submission to the Cork Local Government Review in March of 2015 which underlines how much this Expert Group Report of 2017 endorses our key recommendations.

 

It is the view of the Cork Business Association that there is a forceful argument for the creation of a strong and viable metropolitan unit (Cork Metropolitan Area) with sufficient population and economic capacity to function as a high-profile mid-sized European city, supporting, and supported by a strong and vigorous County. Some of the key benefits of a Metropolitan Cork are the following

 

Give Cork a European scale Metropolitan area with critical mass

 

Provide an effective counter-weight to Dublin for the South of Ireland

 

More representative & democratic local government

 

Provide the necessary focus when addressing key stakeholders issues

 

Achieve a sustainable local government funding regime

 

Provide a strong Metropolitan area and a strong County

 

Effective transport, land-use, housing & economic plan

 

 

 

The Cork Business Association is of the view that the boundary extension is essential, irrespective of a merger between the two local authorities or not. What we do not wish to see is a piece meal approach and a politically expedient extension agreed. One that Cork County Council can live with in relation to a rate base loss, and one that Cork City Council will accept as additional revenue. The extension of the City boundary must be realistic both from a commercial and social perspective, it must deliver a City of scale and provide a long term solution. We must be in the position when attracting foreign direct investment, business and tourism to assure those with whom we interact that it is indeed a city of scale.

 

it is the view of the Cork Business Association that an amalgamation would not serve the best interests of Cork or its people. The very real concern is that the end result would be an organisation that is multi layered, more bureaucratic and crucially more removed from the concerns of the individual and of business.

Cork Airport has made it even easier for you to tick things off your bucket list

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You can now fly to any to the following bucket list locations direct from Cork Airport.

Some are even quicker to get to than the time it takes to travel to Dublin!

You don’t even have to worry about parking. Book online and park at Cork Airport for less than €5 a day*.

1. Swim in Iceland’s Blue Lagoon

 

Iceland’s Blue Lagoon was recently voted the number one bucket-list travel experience by travel guru’s Contiki.

The milky blue pool is famous for its mineral-enriched bathing water right in the middle of breath-taking mountain views.

And for those of you still unsure, the water self-cleanses every 40 hours.

Flights from Cork Airport to Iceland are available all year-round.

2. Eat in one of the world’s BEST restaurants

Girona - El Celler de Can Roca; global Chef’s Choice 2016.

The planners among you need to know the three brothers who run the world-beating El Celler de Can Roca restaurant take bookings 11 months in advance, with a new month available for booking at midnight on the first day of every month.

Flights from Cork Airport to Girona are available from June 3 - August 29

3. Surfing in Cornwall

Here’s a chap surfing in Fistral, in Newquay. It’s warmer than the west of Ireland you

know.

Flights from Cork Airport to Cornwall are available from May 6 - September 23.

4. Stay on a houseboat in Amsterdam

Who doesn't love the beautiful canals of Amsterdam?

Now, instead of cycling past them you can enjoy them fully by renting your own houseboat.

Flights from Cork Airport to Amsterdam are available all year-round.

5. Attending an Opera in Salzburg

If there was anywhere more appropriate to dress up to the nines and head to the Opera, it’s in Mozart’s birthplace of Salzburg.

The city is also the gateway to the ’Five Regions’ of the Ski Amadé resort - made up of 28 villages that offer skiing heaven for skiers of all abilities.

Learn to ski - tick.

Flights from Cork Airport to Salzburg are available from December 26 - March 12.

6. Walking the Camino de Santiago, Spain

People walk the Camino de Santiago for many different reasons: religious, adventurous, spiritual or exercise.

The Camino can mean very different things to different people but there is one thing that binds all Camino pilgrims together: it is a very unique experience, a walking holiday like no other.

There are many starting points on the pilgrim route and all easily reached by flying direct to Madrid from Cork Airport.

Did you know that some trails on the Camino de Santiago run right through the Running of the Bulls course?

That’s another tick.

Flights from Cork Airport to Madrid are available from June 3rd - Sept 9th

7. Say cheers at Oktoberfest, Munich

Simply the world’s biggest party, need we say anymore?

Flights from Cork Airport to Munich are available all year-round.

8. Lift your spirits at Bristol’s Hot Air Balloon Festival.

The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta is Europe’s largest annual meeting of hot air balloons, attracting over 150 Hot Air Balloons from across the globe.

The Fiesta truly is a sight that can only be seen in Bristol.

Just like something straight out of a Disney movie.

Flights from Cork Airport to Bristol are available all year-round.

9. Dancing on the streets at the Notting Hill Carnival

70 stages, 10 steel pan bands, 40 static sound systems, thousands of feathers and over a million people - the Notting Hill Carnival is the largest street festival in Europe.

The colourful festival takes place annually on the August bank holiday weekend and traditionally celebrates the Caribbean culture.

Fun fact: It is tradition to smother melted chocolate on each other on the Sunday.

Flights from Cork Airport to London are available all year-round.

 

 

Original: http://www.irishexaminer.com/sponsored-content/cork-airport-has-made-it-even-easier-for-you-to-tick-things-off-your-bucket-list-451898.html 

Metropole hotel in Cork to get sibling in €50m revamp

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In all, the two linked hotels will have 400 bedrooms, making “The Met” the city’s largest guest complex.

Planning permission is to be sought within days for large-scale refurbishment and replacement/demolition of 20th-century wings at the Metropole on MacCurtain St, and running back to St Patrick’s Quay.

All of the original 1897 Victorian/Edwardian Arthur Hill design sections on MacCurtain St, which date to 1897 and 1910, will be retained and enhanced.

The major shake-up and sizeable spend is planned by owners Trigon Hotels Ltd, which bought the Metropole in 2015 for €5m. It acquired the adjacent PJ O’Hea garage site across the narrow Harley St for €1.35m — to be the site for the new M hotel.

The two hotels will be linked above Harley St by two elevated bridges, one at roof/sixth-floor level. Features include an internal winter garden or atrium and a rooftop function room.

Independently, Cork City Council is to build a pedestrian bridge from Merchants Quay to Harley St as part of a major traffic circulation shake-up. It will arrive at the back door of the new sibling hotels, which will also have shops under an arcade on St Patrick’s Quay and shop fronts on MacCurtain St.

This is fantastic news for the Victorian Quarter and Cork City alike.

Other hotels are planned for Cork City, including at Parnell Place, Horgan’s Quay, and Sullivan’s Quay.

Patrick Street northbound to shut for two months

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Picture: Eddie O'Hare

 

Patrick Street is to close to all northbound traffic for July and August for major resurfacing and maintenance work.

The lane closure will coincide with the permanent reversal of traffic on Castle Street.

It will be the first significant change to Cork's traffic flow as part of the long-term City Centre Movement Strategy (CCMS).

The strategy will eventually see private cars removed from Patrick Street and MacCurtain Street reverting back to two-way traffic.

 

The northbound lane closure will commence next Tuesday and continue until early September. All northbound traffic including buses and taxis will be diverted from Patrick Street to the quays and the South Mall.

Three bus routes will be affected. The closure is required for resurfacing work to take place on the road and repairs to the stonework at the pedestrian crossings.

The maintenance work was scheduled for last year but was delayed as preparatory work was due to take place this year for the CCMS and it was decided to carry out all work at the same time to minimise disruption.

 

Cork City Council said the resurfacing work is taking place during the summer months when traffic volumes are reduced.

The northbound traffic was chosen for diversion as there are more options for traffic through the South Mall and along the quays and there are fewer bus routes travelling in a northbound direction.

Taxi ranks and loading bays will remain available to traffic on one side of the street, depending on the progress of the works.

When the resurfacing work is complete, traffic on Patrick Street will resume as normal. The plan to ban private cars from the street will not come into effect until next year.

 

In advance of the changes to Patrick Street, nearby Castle Street will see the permanent reversal of traffic.

It means cars cannot enter the street from Daunt Square but will instead enter from North Main Street before turning onto Cornmarket Street. That change is likely to come into effect later this week but is dependent on the weather as new road lining must be carried out in dry conditions.

CBA Agrees OPW Flood Plan Best Option For Our City

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We are reproducing this article in full which appeared in Tuesday's  June 6th Evening Echo. It is a succinct yet comprehensive analysis of the issue and responds logically and factually to some of the disinformation that is being brought into the public domain on the subject.

I THINK it is important to put a balanced, logical and factual counter argument to the article written in the Evening Echo by Colette Sheridan on May 31 (‘Our lovely Lee should be in full view, not hidden behind wall’.)

Many people who have suffered flooding in this country are beginning to see flood schemes delivered by the OPW do and have worked. I would ask the question, what would have happened to the towns of Mallow, Fermoy and Clonmel with the severe flooding of December, 2015, if these schemes hadn’t been delivered?

I don’t subscribe to the viewpoint that the OPW wish to erect concrete walls all over our beautiful city and destroy Cork’s heritage. I believe we need to examine their track record and I would remind objectors that not only is the OPW the lead agency with responsibility for flood protection, but it is the agency with responsibility for the protection and maintenance of historical sites such as the Rock of Cashel, Dungarvan Castle and many others of national importance, ranging from Phoenix Park in Dublin to the Dolmen in the Burren.

I find it hard to believe an agency which has statutory responsibility for so much of our national heritage would wish to destroy Cork city’s heritage or ignore our links with the Lee.

We as a society need to help people who are victims of flooding. ‘Save Cork City’ campaigners have a lot of passion for their cause but have shown very little compassion for flooded communities. I have huge reservations with the inaccuracies in their argument and the facts as they present them.

First, the proposed flood protection scheme for Cork city will not hide the Lee behind walls. Merchants Quay, Lapps Quay, Albert Quay, Terrence McSweeney Quay and George’s Quay all have proposed railings atop of a flood protection wall which is 600mm or 2ft high. At NO stage will the public not be able to view the Lee.

I too have often sat outside the Electric Bar on South Mall and enjoyed a pint or two while gazing into our lovely Lee. This will not change. In fact, under the new proposal by the OPW, they have cleverly created a bench which will increase seating and improve the public realm in this part of our city. This bench is the so-called flood wall and it protects this part of our city from flooding. There is a break in it where a hydraulic flood barrier is buried underground so the public can walk straight out on to the boardwalk. The photo above illustrates this. Indeed, there are montages/pictures available and I would encourage all members of the public to view them. They show an accurate picture of what the city will be before and after and can be viewed athttp://www.lowerleefrs.ie. A picture paints a thousand words...

There is one part of Cork city where there will be a wall built and this is the North Mall. We will still be able to look over this wall as its height will be similar to that of the wall at Grenville Place. It will be 1200mm or 4ft and not the 7ft/10ft wall that is shown on the Facebook page of ‘Save Cork City’.

We have to be pragmatic and protect this area from river flooding. Have we forgotten the Mercy Hospital which was flooded in 2009?

The argument a tidal barrier is a possibility is a pure pipedream. Cork has the second largest harbour in the world. We have special areas of conservation, shipping and industrial development to consider, which I believe would not be compatible with a tidal barrier, never mind the cost.

The OPW argue that a tidal barrier could cost as much as half a billion, which is more than the total €440million national budget for flood schemes over the next five years. The budget allocated for Cork city is €140million. Where would the money come from? Even if it were financially viable, it would not prevent incidences of river flooding like those of 2009.

The proposal to ‘farm the flood’ upstream is also deeply flawed. We would have to compensate hundreds of farmers and even if it were possible to flood their lands, this concept was studied internationally and deemed unworkable in large catchments.

Perhaps the most significant study was undertaken in the UK, carried out between 2004-2012 by an international flood risk consortium made up of Imperial College London, Swansea University, University of Nottingham, Newcastle University, Queen Mary University, University of Victoria Wellington, Bangor University and University of Saskatchewan. Their key finding was “at the catchment scale any benefits to flood risk management from local scale mitigation measures are likely to be small”. Therefore, this argument doesn’t work.

The argument that the Cork city flood scheme will be similar to the Cork main drainage is not true.

Firstly, let us not forget we had a Victorian sewage system in our city which wasn’t fit for purpose. “The smell on Patrick’s Bridge is wicked, how does Father Mathew stick it?”

Now, despite the people who wax on lyrically about our beloved Lee, we can now swim in it! The annual swim has been reinstated and our link with the Lee reunited. We will not have to dig up our streets again, despite the pictures on the ‘Save Cork City’ campaigners’ Facebook page. If there was to be large scale disruption, do people really believe that Cork Chamber of Commerce and the Cork Business Association would give their support to the flood scheme?

The objective of the flood scheme for Cork city is positive. To stop our city flooding. The commitment to the €140million funding was not easy to get, considering this country is in huge debt with so many pressures on the national purse. Indeed, €20million of this is to be spent on the reinstatement of our historical quay walls which are in a state of collapse in some parts of our city. There are many other communities across the country rightly lobbying for their flood scheme. We now need to move ahead and embrace this huge and hard won investment in Cork.

We have a beautiful city! Nobody wishes or wants to destroy our heritage. We need to be practical and pragmatic. Cork city cannot reach its full potential with the constant threat of flooding.

I am convinced sanity will prevail. I would like to thank the vast majority of our city councillors for voting for a flood scheme which will protect our homes and businesses and hopefully lead to flood insurance being made available to all.

Another swinging success!

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Paul Hayes Painters - Overall Winners

Source: Billy McGill

As you may know, the annual President’s Cup Golf Tournament took place on Thursday 25th May at Cork Golf Club, Little Island.  This is a great event that offers CBA members a networking opportunity; conversing with like-minded individuals in a fun yet competitive environment.

The weather was on our side yet again this year and the participating teams showed some great skills and talent on the course. Congratulations again to all the winners on the day! The round of golf was followed by a delicious meal prepared by the team at Cork Golf Club who looked after us so well on the day.

We’d like to take this opportunity to extend our thanks to Philip Gillivan and Carmel McCarthy for all their hard work in organising this great event, and to everyone else to helped ensure the President’s Cup 2017 was a great success.

Thank you also to everyone who took part on May 25th, and for your continued support of the Cork Business Association. And thank you to all the event sponsors who contributed so generously and all the staff at Cork Golf Club.