Thomil's Random Ramblings

There’s something rotten in the state of Cork! For years, the supposed “City Rising” has been trapped in a downward spiral. Yes, new and impressive buildings have sprung up along Albert Quay and around Kent Station, I work in one of them, however behind that glossy veneer, the city has been slowly falling apart. The streets are pockmarked with potholes that more often than not border on craters, pavement stones are loose and waiting to trip up unsuspecting pedestrians. What should be sweeping urban plazas are desolate wastes, dotted with black asphalt scars where trees used to be. Entire streets have been reduced to looking like a war zone, with crumbling shells of buildings held up by rusting steel beams, ready to crush passers-by. That’s if you can walk down those streets in the first placed without being run over by cars, lorries and delivery vans criss-crossing every which way, ignoring red lights and using narrow laneways as rat runs. Even they can count themselves lucky if they’r...

A dedicated greenway from Inniscarra Dam all the way to Crosshaven, with grade separated bi-directional infrastructure all the way? Cork Cycling Campaign, you are a bold one! Dated Star Wars references aside, the plan brought forward by the intrepid guys & girls over at Cork Cycling Campaign looks seriously impressive. The Lee 2 Sea Greenway (L2S) will start at Inniscarra Dam, and follow the bank of the River Lee through Ballincollig into the City Centre, and then along the old railway line from Marina Park to Mahon and Rochestown, before hugging the shore to Ringaskiddy, before cutting across to Carrigaline and finally to Crosshaven. The plan aims to integrate existing infrastructure, such as the pathways in Ballincollig Regional Park, or along the Mardyke, as much as possible, while at the same time tying all of these landmarks together. It reads very well, and shows the type of ambition and optimism that is all too often missing in this city, where people still seem to be...