Council meeting marks 50th year of iconic County Hall

A SPECIAL meeting of Cork County Council was held last week, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the opening of County Hall. 

Cllr Seamus McGrath, leader of Fianna Fáil in the chamber, said the building ‘has stood the test of time, even with all the bad weather.’

‘It is a significant milestone and I want to congratulate everyone in the Council. I want to pay tribute to all the staff who have worked here over the past 50 years and also to all the former councillors – 50 years is a long time and we faced many problems, but we’ve had success too,’ said Cllr McGrath. 

Cllr Kevin Murphy (FG) re-iterated what Cllr McGrath said, and added that it’s an iconic building that has stood the test of time.

‘This building, which was Cork tallest building, is part and parcel of Cork and the overall visual aspect of the building has improved too,’ said Cllr Murphy. 

Cllr Melissa Mullane (SF) said their party was proud to be part of this historic day while Cllr Kevin Conway (Ind) said some of the people who constructed the building were related to him and he would hear stories about its construction on a daily basis. It had gathered its own folklore, he said.

As the longest serving councillor in the chamber, Midleton-based Cllr Noel Collins recalled that prior to its construction, council offices were ‘scattered all over the city and that the completion of this building brought all of Cork County Council under one roof’. 

However, Cllr Collins sounded a note about the proposed boundary extension and said he was worried about the future of the building, as over 200 staff are to be transferred to Cork City Council, in what he described as a ‘land grab’.

‘While on the subject of the boundary extension I want to highlight the fact that people are not being given an opportunity to vote on whether to stay or move,’ added Cllr Collins.