4 minute read
OFFICIAL OPENING OF HAULBOWLINE ISLAND RECREATIONAL AMENITY
The Haulbowline Island Recreational Amenity in the heart of Cork Harbour was officially opened by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Gillian Coughlan, Minister for Defence Simon Coveney and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath.
In the largest project of its kind to date in Ireland, the Haul-bowline Remediation by Cork County Council has trans-formed the former East Tip site into a 22-acre Peopleʼs Park in the middle of Cork Harbour.
Haulbowline, home to the headquarters of the Irish Naval Service, was also formerly the location of Irelandʼs only steelworks from 1939 until its closure in 2001. 650,000 cu-bic metres of by-products from the steel production was deposited here over a 40-year period.
The extensive remediation of the site saw the delivery onto the island of over 15,000 HGV loads of material, 47,000 tonnes of rock armour material to protect the shoreline, 180,000 tonnes of subsoil and 37,000 tonnes of topsoil, transforming the site into the scenic landscaped recrea-tional amenity it is today.
Complete with 4kms of fully accessible pathways, a 1 km jogging circuit, playing pitches and seating areas that lend themselves to remarkable views of the harbour and wildlife observation, the island has hundreds of native tree mixes and plants to promote biodiversity.
The Taoiseach added, “The development of the harbour as a tourist amenity will provide immense dividends, in terms of employment and leisure, to both the local community and visitors from far and wide.”
Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Gillian Coughlan, con-gratulated the project team, saying, “The remediation of the East Tip was always going to be challenging. Cork County Council, with funding from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and in collaboration with a range of stakeholders, including local residents, have risen to that challenge with phenomenal success. The multi-awardwinning project is widely regarded as a model of best prac-tice, and the result today is a great amenity for local com-munities and a valuable asset for the entire Cork Harbour region.”
Minister for Defence Simon Coveney added that “Today, marks a real turning point in the story of the Island's reme-diation to an area of real civic worth to the Community and also as a suitable home to our Naval service.”
Minister Coveney concluded by thanking in particular the officials of Cork County Council and the Department of Ag-riculture, Food and Marine for their successful stewardship of this development developed at a cost of some €25m.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath said, “The opening today has been a long time in the making and I want to acknowledge all the hard work in-volved in delivering this valuable amenity which has already proven to be so popular since it opened to the public. This Park is another step towards the fulfilment of the immense potential of the harbour area as a tourist and amenity hub, and will complement the tourist attractions such as Spike Island and at Camden Fort Meagher.”
Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Tim Lucey, com-mented, “A huge undertaking, this remediation project is of national and international importance. Its remarkable suc-cess clearly demonstrates the importance of collaboration and public engagement. Cork County Council has received great support throughout the project from stakeholders and residents and with that Haulbowline East Tip has been completely transformed from a disused wasteland into a remarkable asset for the Cork Harbour Economy.”
With the return to schools and the workplace in full flow, as well as broader investment by central government and the EU in key infrastructural schemes and the Housing for All plan, it looks like the next few years will see a major uplift in activity across the economy.
A key aspect in ensuring that this activity runs smoothly is communication – between colleagues, suppliers, intra-governmental bodies, and dispersed teams. The post pandemic work environment no longer sees all aspects of activities hosed in County Halls or depots, but from anywhere. With Central Government encouraging remote working for office-based staff as ways of breathing life into regional towns as well as the needs of teams on project sites, connectivity is vital to ensure the smooth day to day running of activities. IP Telecom have developed a number of solutions to ensure seamless connectivity across industries from manufacturing and general business to not-for profit bodies, governmental, education and construction sectors. Our solutions encompass a fully integrated solution allowing phone extensions to become a single contact point (calls flowing to deskphone, laptops and mobiles simultaneously – and all internal calls counting as zero rated), which then integrate with the software you already use. Calling (internal or external) can be made through collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams, or CRM tools like Salesforce all via your phone system. And not just these but literally hundreds of applications can be integrated, allowing for better connectivity, reporting and the cost savings and futureproofing that comes with the IP Telecom Phone Solution. Active since 2010, with over 5,000 businesses and agencies with over 100,000 endpoints on our dedicated built for business network - IP Telecom are Irelandʼs Business Communications Network.
Find out more at www.iptelecom.ie
“PleasedtobeassociatedwiththeLiberty SquareEnhancementProject“ •PavingSolutions •ResinBond&Resin bondedsystem •ExternalCladding •RetainingWallSystems
over30Yearsin Business
Blackcastle, Two-Mile-Borris,Thurles,Co.Tipperary. Phone:050444208 Email:info@premierpaving.ie
Hartecastaredelightedtohavesuppliedtheseating fortheLibertySquareEnhancementProject,Thurles workingwithAecomandDavidWalshCivil Engineering.
Highperformancestreetfurnitureproductsin contemporarydesignsthatmeettodayʼs demandsonthemodernurbanspace!
