Championing Cork in a tumultuous 2022

At the beginning of this year, as lockdown and two years of uncertainty ended, Irish society re-emerged economically strong and post-Covid gave the Chamber the opportunity to get out in person, reconnect and build relationships important to our advocacy work. This stability was short-lived as the invasion of Ukraine and energy crisis sent shockwaves through the Irish and global economy. Despite this, business sentiment is largely positive and thanks to the resilience and adaptability of the business community, Cork continues to stand as one of the most attractive locations for talent and investment. As we look forward to 2023, we offer a round-up of our public affairs activity throughout the year.

CLIMATE ACTION

Climate action and the transition to a sustainable, net-zero society is central to the future development of Cork. This year saw Cork city selected, under Horizon EU’s ambitious SmartCities Mission Programme to be one of Europe’s 100 climate neutral cities by 2030. Cork and the other chosen cities will act as pilot cities to accelerate innovation and investment in climate programmes, to enable other European cities to follow suit by 2050.

The designation is a big opportunity for Cork to lead on climate action, leveraging EU and government expertise and funds to boost our city’s reputation globally as one of Europe’s leading climate-neutral and smart cities. The Chamber is taking a central supporting role for Cork to meet that target, as it will position Cork as a world-leading sustainable city to live, work, study, do business and invest in.

This will require every moving part in our society to work together towards a common goal. Fortunately, we have faced crisis together before as the COVID-19 pandemic showed the strength we have as a collaborative community.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.” The EU mission has put Cork on a clear path to 2030, one we are determined the City region will deliver on.

HOUSING

Housing is the number one issue for our members. Thus, it has been our top advocacy focus across the year from our budget submission to meeting with the highest levels of government. The development of high-quality, high-density, affordable apartments on brownfield sites is critical to meeting our climate goals and ensuring an attractive liveable city for all. It is clear that government’s Housing for All strategy will not deliver on the targets set out.

To address this, Cork Chamber drew attention to the innovative proposals and European best practice measures included in our two apartment viability reports, including the Vienna style housing model that has been recognised internationally for its success.

Following a joint meeting with the Ministers for Housing and Public Expenditure & Reform, there is a now a clear focus within the housing department to better understand the challenges we face in Cork and identify the necessary measures to activate Cork city centre development sites with planning permissions.

We can expect over the coming years that high density development and affordable housing schemes will commence and become more accessible as the Land Development Agency will be implementing in part the Vienna-style housing model we put forward and affordable housing bodies have been given access to lower cost finance through government intervention.

While we still have some ways to go and challenges to face along the road, we will continue to relentlessly lobby and advocate on this issue at the highest levels of government and work with the private sector to unlock the much needed provision of housing and apartments in Cork.

ENERGY

The war in Ukraine sent shockwaves globally, as energy security and prices came to the forefront of Irish businesses concerns. Our Q1 and Q3 quarterly Economic Trends surveys both found that the rising cost of energy was affecting business profitability and growth. However, opportunity can be found in crisis and this particular one is key to directing our minds on the transition to renewable energy while ensuring the security of energy supplies.

While the invasion of Ukraine may have fanned the flames of this crisis, this fire had already been sparked by the state’s failure to plan for growing power demand from industry and ensuring our security of supply. We made clear in a submission to the CRU that penalising large energy users for powering their growing businesses, due to a failure of the regulatory authorities, is simply unacceptable. Rather, incentives should be used to shift demand away from peak times.

In our submission on the National Energy Security Review, we highlighted that as we continue the transition to a renewable energy system, a range of short, medium and long-term measures are needed to secure our supply. A temporary floating liquified natural gas terminal that could be future proofed for hydrogen use would go some way to putting this fire to rest.

At the same time, we must still be preparing for a zero-carbon energy future. We have and will continue to push government to accelerate activity, both regulatory and permitting and port investments, so that Cork and Ireland can take full advantage of its energy potential as a global hub for offshore wind, hydrogen and renewable energy.

REGIONAL, NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT

We have seen great progress in Cork’s public transport network in 2022, with wins from Irish Rail in support of sustainable commuting and the electrification of the rail network, one of the oldest rail rolling stocks nationally. This triumph is one of the quickest ways to decarbonise our transport system and get people out of their cars.

In tandem with this, the NTA has been advancing Bus Connects Cork with the public consultation phase kicking off. The delivery of Bus Connects is essential to delivering a sustainable 15-minute city and improving the efficiency and attractiveness of public transport in the city, giving people a real choice in how they move about our region. While this process is far from over and challenges will be faced along the way, we will continue to encourage that the NTA work with local communities to co-create a balanced multi modal and active travel focused sustainable transport network.

The Chamber has also been working closely with Cork Airport to lobby at the highest levels of government to secure increased funding and investment to better incentivise airlines in developing routes from Cork. Expanding the route offering and improving the accessibility of our city region is central to remaining competitive on the global stage and attracting talent, investment and tourism. Our members’ regional, national and international connectivity will continue to be a key priority of the Chamber into 2023.

QUALITY OF LIFE INFRASTRUCTURE

The COVID-19 pandemic changed how people view their lives, careers and the places they choose to live in. There is great economic, social and environmental value in creating vibrant, green public spaces and amenities that provide a setting for community life, thus ensuring that Cork remains a competitive and quality of life-oriented location for attracting and retaining talent and investment.

The re-imagining of the Marina Park and Promenade, which the Chamber has supported, and development of the docklands will contribute to creating this eco-system and enhancing the quality of life for those living, working and visiting Cork.

With quality of life now being one of the leading factors for talent choosing to relocate around the world, we must be constantly progressing and re-envisioning our shared spaces to continually nurture and create these communities for our current and future citizens and visitors.