April 2025
Hi, there! — Welcome to the thirty-seventh edition of my monthly newsletter to keep you up to date on my work for Cork City North East.
This month, we have motions on remembering those who have died on our streets, security on the Old Youghal Road, passive surveillance in the city centre, and locating a skate park in the North East ward — as well as questions on the design of signalised junctions and plans for Blackpool Men’s Shed.
I’ve also included updates on the proposed route for the Cork Luas, defunding of the tenant-in-situ scheme, and a public consultation on election posters.
As ever, if there’s anything you want to get in touch about, feel welcome to email me any time at email@oliver.ie. I’d love to hear from you, even if it’s just to let me know your thoughts on this newsletter.
Please remember too to share this newsletter with your friends and neighbours in the ward.
Many thanks!
Oliver
p.s. You can use this link to easily read and share all my monthly newsletters ... oliver.ie/newsletter
Motions and notions
Each councillor can submit up to four motions each month to Cork City Council and ask two formal questions of the Chief Executive. One of these questions is asked at the Local Area Committee and must be about local operational matters.
Before the deadline each month, I meet with my local group, the Cork City North Greens, and we agree motions and questions for the month ahead. We call this our “motions and notions” meeting :-)
If you have ideas or suggestions for a motion, or have a question you want asked, just let me know!
Or join the Cork City North Greens ... my.greenparty.ie
Questions
“To ask the Chief Executive if it is a requirement to locate a traffic light across a junction from an motorist, in addition to the traffic light on the motorist’s side of the junction; and if removing (or not providing) this traffic light would discourage motorists from ‘creeping’ over the stop line, since they would be unable to see the traffic signal if they did?”
I will also ask the following question at the next meeting of the North East ward Local Area Committee:
“To ask the Chief Executive for the status of the provision of a water and sewage connection to Blackpool Men’s Shed, which is currently absent and is impacting the participation of older men in the area?”
Motions
“That Cork City Council, in conjunction with the various stakeholders, would consider the placement of a suitable memorial in remembrance of the individuals who sadly have passed away on the streets of Cork from homelessness, addiction and other causes. Such a memorial could be a sculpture, artwork or other suitable remembrance project.” (Joint motion with Dr. John Sheehan.)
“That Cork City Council will liaise with relevant bodies regarding security on the confined section of the Old Youghal Road between Collin’s Barracks and Lansdowne Court, including the security of parked vehicles.”
“That Cork City Council will report on policy to enhance passive surveillance in the city centre, particularly Patrick’s Street, through over-the-shop accommodation and nighttime economy measures like cafés, restaurants and bars.”
“That Cork City Council will locate a skate park at Tinker’s Cross Park and encourage it as an Olympic sport.”
Contributions
At April’s meeting of Cork City Council, I made spoken contributions on:
You can watch back my previous contributions in the chamber on YouTube and share these with the link oliver.ie/videos.
What’s happening?
Cork Luas route
This month, Cork City Council hosted the launch of the proposed route for the Cork Luas. A public consultation on the route will be open until Monday, 9 June.
The route will travel from Ballincollig, past MTU and CUH, to UCC and Patrick’s Street. From there, it will go north of the river and along MacCurtain Street, connecting with Kent Station. After that, it will return south of the river, through the proposed South Docks redevelopment, Ballintemple and Ballinlough, before ending at Mahon.
The route is essentially what was proposed in the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (CMATS). However, there’s answers needed on why the number of passenger journeys predicted dropped so significantly since CMATS was drafted.
It was predicted that 46m passengers a year would use the service, now that’s just 16m. If that’s due to inefficiencies in the planned route, sharing road space with private traffic or a reduction in frequency, then that has to be addressed in the consultation that’s now open.
That’s said, the route is good news. Connecting with Kent Station is strategically vital to knit the commuter rail and Luas together. The idea before, that the Luas wouldn’t pass through Patrick Street or come northside to MacCurtain Street, was a non-runner for Cork.
What everyone is asking now is ‘when’. The outline I was given is that a second public consultation could happen in 2026 and a railway order sought in 2027. Construction would then take five-to-six years.
There may be cold water on that timeline, but it’s the kind of pace we need.
Cork is an EU Mission City to be climate neutral by 2030. As well as all of the advantages that come with ambition, we need this for Cork to be the social and economic engine of the state outside of Dublin.
Detailed maps as well as information on how to give your input are on the website www.luascork.ie.
Tenant-in-situ scheme
At April’s meeting of Cork City Council, officials informed councillors that national budget allocations for housing, “will be insufficient to adequately cover current commitments from 2024 into 2025.”
The announcement affects the purchase of houses for people facing eviction, people with disabilities and to tackle vacancy.
Officials confirmed that:
“After reviewing the current programme and financial commitments carried over from 2024, we have determined that the allocated funding has been exhausted. The refurbishment programme for tenant-in-situ properties to bring them up to lettable standards will be required to be reduced or terminated. The Council’s private rightsizing initiative will not progress any further in 2025. ... Any new acquisition of second-hand properties for special needs, such as Housing First, homeless prevention, or accommodation for persons with a disability, will not therefore proceed within the acquisitions programme in 2025.”
A special meeting has been called for Cork City Council for Tuesday, 29 March to address the issue.
I have also been working with my colleagues in the Oireacthas to call on the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to make an urgent statement in relation to the matter.
The tenant-in-situ scheme was a demand of the Green Party before we would agree to the lifting of the eviction ban. Now, I don’t think there has ever been a change in commitment by a new government so quickly and so disastrously ever before.
Last year, the scheme accounted for more than a third of people taken out of homelessness in Cork. Eighty-seven adults and 100 children that would otherwise have nowhere to go were able to stay in their homes because of the scheme.
Eviction notices have already increased by 47% in the first quarter of 2025. Already, we have 39 new households placed in emergency accommodation because of evictions and 33 more for which evictions are imminent.
You will be able to follow the special meeting on Tuesday either in person at City Hall at 5:30pm or by watching the live stream on the Cork City Council YouTube channel.
Election posters
This month, the Electoral Committion, an Coimisiún Toghcháin, has launched a public consultation on the use of election posters.
Most people loathe them, but the evidence is that election posters serve a crucial purpose. Their visibility let’s people know of upcoming elections. However, in my opinion, the current use of election posters has become excessive.
In the last election, I used 200 posters, a lot of them nearly 10 years old, designed to last. However, I’ve seen other candidates use thousands of posters each election, which is simply unsustainable.
The sheer number of posters causes visual pollution, cluttering our streets and public spaces. The impact of producing and disposing of these posters is also a concern that many people mention.
One solution is for designated locations for temporary billboards during election periods. These billboards would provide equal space for all candidates, ensuring fairness while reducing the environmental and visual impact.
Whatever your view, you can now make your voice heard. The deadline for submissions is Friday, 9 May and can be made through the Electoral Commission website.
In the news…
Call for council to adopt tougher stance on owners of vacant commercial properties
Green Party councillor, Oliver Moran, said that there is a contradiction between what different parts of Cork City Council are doing when it comes to vacant buildings.
Echo, Thursday, 17 April
Tuckey Street trees bring green boost to city centre
Green Party councillor, Oliver Moran, said: “The new trees strategy includes actions for incorporating more trees in neighbourhoods with the lowest canopy cover.”
Cork Independent, Wednesday, 9 April
100s of new TFI rental E-Bikes coming to Cork, Limerick and Waterford
Cork city councillor, Oliver Moran, said it was a ‘nice surprise’ to see the shiny new e-bikes at the launch of the new Marina Promenade.
Cork Beo, Saturday, 5 April
Keep in touch
Thanks for reading! Please feel welcome to share this newsletter and invite other people you know to subscribe. If you can, please consider making a donation to my political activities in the ward.
You can also keep up to date with my activities on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Mastodon and TikTok. And don’t forget, you can email me any time at email@oliver.ie.
Have a great month!
