February 2026
Hi, there! — Welcome to the forty-eight 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 the design of new satellite navigation warning signs, the definition of neighbourhoods in the city, flood and severe weather warning systems, and the idea of a “billboard tax” — as well as questions on Traveller accommodation and sediment pollution in the Glen River Park.
I’ve also included updates on a public consultation on restricting day-to-day drone operations in the city to enable food delivery by drone, placing a focus on the potential of Bell’s Field, and experiences from the delays to the rollout of bus priority measures.
As always, please feel welcome to get in touch by email any time at email@oliver.ie. I would love to hear your thoughts or comments on this newsletter, or local issues I should know about.
Please remember to share this newsletter with your friends and neighbours in the ward as well.
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 for Cork City Council’s policy with regards to day-to-day maintenance on Traveller-specific accommodation sites; if this is happening as normal at all sites; and, if not, what steps are being taken to ensure that day-to-day maintenance happens at Traveller-specific accommodation sites as with any other tenants of Cork City Council?”
I will also ask the following question at the next meeting of the North East ward Local Area Committee:
“To ask the Chief Executive if monitoring is taking place of sediment deposits and other river pollution at the Glen River Park; in particular in relation to runoff into the river that residents suspect is related to upstream construction work?”
Motions
“That Cork City Council will invite ideas for the design a traffic sign or other means to advise motorists and hauliers not to follow satellite navigation systems when it directs them towards certain unsuitable streets; and will pilot the use of signage for this purpose in the city.”
“That Cork City Council will invite the Cork City Public Participation Network to review and comment on the boundaries of the neighbourhoods described in the 2025 Neighbourhood Profiles.”
“That Cork City Council will review the Cork City Alerts system and invite comment from the public on the operation of the flood and severe weather warning system in the city, and suggestions for other warnings to include (e.g. air quality).”
“That Cork City Council will investigate the potential for the operation of a ‘billboard tax’ in the city, for example by requiring the payment of development contributions by outdoor advertisers, and limiting the term of the grant of planning permission.”
Spoken contributions
At this month’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?
Drone restrictions in the city
This month, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) announced plans to restrict airspace to local drone operators across much of the city, including much of the North East ward.
This is to facilitate a new commercial operator that intends to use drones to make takeaway deliveries. The new restrictions will come into force today, to allow for testing of drone-based deliveries by the company in parts of the city.
The company will be operating beyond their visual line of sight, with the consequence that all other operators will lose access to the skies they have now. That includes commercial photographers, engineers, and tradespeople, and volunteer search and rescue teams.
The areas affected include Tivoli, Mayfield, Ballyvolane, and Blackpool.
I’m working closely with local providers and have raised the issue at Cork City Council.
It’s an evolving situation, and there are ideas emerging, some with potential to put Cork at the forefront of the industry in terms of the sharing of airspace. We need to see how that advances and that all partners involved, including the IAA, will step up to that challenge.
One of the things that this crisis has highlighted is how far and how quickly drone use in the day-to-day life of a city has advanced. They are now used in everything from wedding photography to civil engineering to search and rescue.
There’s a role too for Cork City Council to step forward in supporting that.
We don’t currently reference drones in our development plan, either in planning regulations or in supporting STEM and community uses, such as flight parks. If we can all evolve quickly to meet that challenge, there are opportunities, but that has to be for everyone and in the common good.
A public consultation on the new restrictions on other operators is open now until Saturday, 14 March at iaa.ie/consultation.
Reinvesting in Bell’s Field
This month, Cork City Council debated a joint motion I put forward with Noel O’Flynn on the idea of holding an international competition to redevelop Bell’s Field.
Bell’s Field is iconic to Cork. Whenever you see a travel programme or TV report from the city, inevitably it’s from that view, overlooking the natural hills and valleys of the city. Something I find magical is that you can set foot in the same view painted by John Butts in ‘A View of Cork from Audley Place’ nearly 300 years ago.
It’s no distance from the city centre too, just a 10-minute walk, but it needs love. The steps are worn, Lady’s Well is inaccessible, the Fever Hospital Steps are rough concrete blocks, and the park itself is basic.
That’s not talking it down either. The fact that it can be all of those things, and still shine like a gem, shows the diamond in the rough that it is.
The area has been something that has been on my agenda since a resident of Audely Place showed me a 2007 plan to invest in the area. There’s lots in that that can still be done at low cost, but when we were at the opening of the new plaza at Grand Parade, we had the thought that if an international competition can be held for there, why not Bell’s Field?
The Park’s Department is now looking at a landscaping plan for Bell’s Field. I don’t want the pursuit of a larger plan to get in the way of that because I think every practical measure will help.
The motion and the report to it that were agreed at this month’s meeting, I think, will help put a new attention on the area. Attention that it deserves, while we build momentum towards something big.
Delays to BusConnects
This month, the National Transport Authority has confirmed to me that changes to national legislation are needed before it can proceed with plans for BusConnects in the city.
The stated reason for this is because the National Transport Authority (NTA) was originally established as the Dublin Transport Authority, with powers in the Greater Dublin Area. A change in the law is now required to allow the NTA to implement BusConnects outside of Dublin.
Unfortunately, there seems to be no end in sight to delivering the new bus network in the city.
Cork City Council is ready, residents are on board, and employers are saying it’s affecting their businesses. Even now, Bus Éireann has the required number of drivers and mechanics identified.
Housing is being objected to because of the lack of public transport, and for ordinary commuters, it can’t come soon enough.
Surely, the need for new legislation, if it’s needed, was known about long ahead of now?
Personally, I don’t think this bill is necessary. We already have a roads authority in the city capable of bringing BusConnects forward to planning. It’s Cork City Council. The NTA may be the lead agency in designing BusConnects, but if a barrier now to delivering the infrastructure is new legislation, there’s no need for it. We can just get on with it.
It’s one more example of the current government talking big on streamlining infrastructure projects. In fact, they themselves are the delay. In this case, completely artificially. Everyone in the city is crying out for BusConnects to start. So, let’s just do it, if they’re willing to get out of the way.
In the news…
‘Cork is an anagram of rock’
Green Party councillor, Oliver Moran said. “Cork has a great history of music and you can see that heritage whenever you walk down Oliver Plunkett Street.”
Cork Independent, Thursday, 12 February
Should all motoring offences be punished or is there room for discretion?
Green Party councillor, Oliver Moran, discusses attitudes to road traffic offences with PJ Coogan following a meeting of the Local Community Safety Partnership.
Cork’s 96fm, Tuesday, 10 February
House building in the Cork city area slowed by 67% in 2025
“From the moment the new government came into office, there’s been nothing but distraction from delivery of housing,” said Green Party councillor, Oliver Moran.
Irish Independent, Tuesday, 3 February
Keep in touch
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Have a great month!
