Limerick Twenty Thirty and ISIF announce partnership to develop One Opera Square

Limerick Twenty Thirty (LTT) and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), part of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) announced the creation of a unique joint venture partnership to finance the development of the One Opera Square project in Limerick city centre.

This announcement was boosted by confirmation that LTT has appointed John Sisk & Son for the design and construction of the circa 10,000 square metre Opera Square site-wide basement and the six-storey One Opera Square office building. Works on the project have commenced and will be completed in January 2025.

The LTT and ISIF joint venture of €80m is the largest direct commitment by ISIF to date under its €500m investment programme for five regional cities –Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford – announced last summer. The programme is a cornerstone of ISIF’s new investment strategy that will result in major investment being targeted to each city in the form of new places to work, places to live and enabling investments resulting in the regeneration of regional city centres.

One Opera Square will be developed over six flexible-use floors located at the corner of Michael Street and Ellen Street, in Limerick city centre. The wider Opera Square development is a 3.7-acre landmark commercial development that will be significant for both the region and national context, reflecting Limerick’s status as a leading city in sustainability and innovation. It will encourage additional people to work in the city of Limerick, boosting its status as a vibrant place to work and delivering significant economic benefit.

Mayor visits social housing developments in Charleville

Mayor of the County of Cork Cllr Danny Collins visited four social housing developments in Charleville that will provide 64 new homes. The developments consist of a Cork County Council Turnkey Development at Foxglove Close providing 12 units with a completion date of September 2023, and three schemes undertaken in partnership between the council and approved housing bodies Charleville Sheltered Housing Services (nine units at Church View, Love Lane due December 2023), Tuath Housing (34 units at Cedar Court, Rathgoggin North available in two phases, 11 in October 2023, and 23 in August 2024) and Peter McVerry Trust, which recently completed the refurbishment of the old Christian Brothers school, delivering nine homes. The council and its approved housing body partners delivered 552 housing units in 2022 under the Government’s Housing for All Programme. A similar figure is anticipated for this year.

The remains of a medieval church and graveyard in the North Cork village of Dromtarriffe have been uncovered and restored with the support of Cork County Council’s Community Monuments Fund. The ancient Parish Church was in use as a place of worship up until July 1651 when it was burned by Cromwellian soldiers with the loss of 24 lives in the fire, evidence of which is still visible in the shattered stonework today. Following two years of careful conservation works overseen by Cork County Council’s Kanturk Mallow Municipal District, the remaining structures have been uncovered and restored, safeguarding this important historic structure into the future.

Cork County Council has announced funding of nearly €145,000 through its Arts Grants Scheme 2023. There has been a sharp rise (over 33%) in applications to the scheme this year, indicating that arts and cultural activity has finally returned to pre-pandemic levels. The scheme is designed to support events, activities and new initiatives that enhance public access to the arts and support cultural development in all eight of the county’s Municipal Districts.

County Cork schools embark on Climate Literacy Course

Cork County Council has teamed up with social enterprise Education for Sustainability to deliver a ten-week climate literacy course to eight secondary schools in the county. The weekly interactive course sessions are fun and solution focused, encouraging students to learn through game-based activities.

€1.8M for Cork community and voluntary sector

Cork County Council announced support to the value of over €1.8m to support local communities in 2023. The Council’s Community Fund Scheme provides financial support to a range of groups and organisations across the county annually. The scheme is administered locally by the eight Municipal Districts and provides financial assistance to a range of community, sporting, and voluntary organisations under three distinctive fund types: The Capital Fund, Community Contract, and Amenity Fund.

The Climate Literacy programme encourages students to connect the dots between the environment and their everyday lives by providing workshops, teacher training, teaching resources and lesson plans. Topics covered include climate change, sustainable development, climate justice, plastic pollution, fast fashion, biodiversity loss, sustainable transport, food, soil and taking action.

Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Danny Collins says, “Education is the key to change and our young people are serious about the environment, they can drive real change when it comes to environmental matters and sustainability.”

The participating schools are Bandon Grammar, Carrigaline Community School, CBS Midleton, Edmund Rice College Carrigaline, Scoil Mhuire Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh, St Mary’s Charleville, St Mary’s Midleton and Kinsale Community School.

Funded by Cork County Council, the course is delivered by Education for Sustainability, a non-profit social enterprise working to increase climate literacy and foster behaviour change in Ireland.