Cork's joint city-county committee meets for first time in years

A Joint Cork City and County Committee met for the first time in seven years at County Hall. Eighteen elected members attended, with nine representatives from Cork City Council and nine from Cork County Council. The meeting covered matters of mutual interest, including a presentation on greenways and a progress report on the M28 motorway. Meetings will occur twice per year, hosted on a rotating basis by the two councils. The chair role will alternate between the Lord Mayor of Cork and the Mayor of County Cork, with the next meeting scheduled for October. The committee is intended to strengthen strategic cooperation and support regional development. Representatives emphasized collaboration on tourism, transport, and economic activity, including commuter rail projects spanning both jurisdictions.

"The re-established Joint Cork City and County Committee met at County Hall last week, bringing together 18 elected members - nine from each local authority - to discuss matters of mutual interest. The meeting included a presentation on greenways and a progress report on the M28 motorway. Joint Committee meetings will take place twice a year and will be hosted on a rotating basis by the two councils. The chair's role will rotate between the Lord Mayor of Cork and the Mayor of County Cork. The next meeting is scheduled for October."

"The two councils said the joint committee "reflects a shared commitment between both local authorities to enhance strategic cooperation and support the continued development of the Cork region." Cllr Peter Horgan, one of the city representatives on the committee, told the Irish Independent he believes the body offers an opportunity to have "a one voice approach coming from the city and county of Cork on certain issues.""

""I think there should be more collaboration between the city and county and I think there will be going forward across different issues. There are areas like tourism, transport, economic activity, there should be collaboration between the city and county on those. If you can both work together and both bring a kind of a common theme to issues, it just makes sense," he said."

"Cllr Horgan said transport is one of the key issues that needs closer cooperation between the two local authorities. "If you look at the work of the Cork commuter rail programme, that's a project that crosses the two, from Mallow across into the city, Blackpool, Blarney, out to Little Island, Midleton.""

Read at Irish Independent