Ireland South European Parliamentary Candidate Deirdre Clune has called on the Taoiseach to ensure we have a proper strategy going forward to develop Cork as a second economic powerhouse.
“In 15 years’ time projected population rates in Ireland will hit 5 million people. Two thirds of those people will go to Dublin leading to congestion and unbalanced economic growth in a recovering economy. Cork delivers one third of our national industrial output but does not get the same level of investment that Dublin does. Rebalancing of investment away from Dublin and down to Cork would ensure that we have two vibrant cities and more balanced economic growth in the country”
“We have to address the issue of excess growth in Dublin verses the rest of the country. Just under 40% of Irelands population live in the greater Dublin area. This is a dangerous trend for the future economic growth of the country as a whole. This is a failure of successive governments to properly plan for dispersed economic growth. We are too skewed towards Dublin. Cork is perfectly poised to become a powerhouse of job creation, culture and growth. We need a new policy that focuses on improvements in infrastructure and investment in Cork, to allow us to equal Dublin in output, population and economic success”
“The population of Dublin is close on 6 times that of Cork. Countries with a strong second tier city tend to perform better economically. This is a fact! Cork is a vibrant confident City and County. There is a wealth of creative and capable potential entrepreneurs in Cork that have business ideas they’d like to put to the test. I shall be bringing my case to the Taoiseach that we need to refocus on a strategic plan that sees the development of Cork as a second viable city as a priority. We need strong representatives in Europe to ensure that Cork achieves its full potential”
“Cork has a strong entrepreneurship culture and a strong identity. I trust the Taoiseach will listen to my concerns and ensure we begin a proper debate about sustainable and proper planning to ensure that Dublin doesn’t leave the rest of Ireland and Cork behind”
