Boundary row ‘not good for the image'

THE ongoing debate taking place in Cork city and county regarding whether there will be an extension to the boundary, has been raised in the Seanad by Fine Gael Senator Tim Lombard.

The issue has rumbled on over the past four or five years and there have been three or four reports expressing different views, he said. 

‘It has been very unhelpful to Cork and its development. The issue needs to be sorted out and a conclusion reached one way or another because, unfortunately, the continuous debate and commentary on whether there should be one local authority, whether it should be a large city or what is to happen to the region of Cork has taken away from its development.’

There is, he said, a need to move forward and have clarity. 

‘The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Murphy, needs to move swiftly to ensure that whatever decision he makes is made in the next few weeks,’ he said. 

‘We cannot have another situation where Councils write letters and send section 29s to each other or that mayors continue to have public spats. It is not good for the region, the local authorities or the image of local government in Cork. The region is not developing because all we are really doing is tearing each other apart and the knock-on effect is that the communities we serve are not being served because it is a power game at the moment.’