Cork Metropolitan Area
Networks of Settlements
• Location of the State’s second largest metropolitan area and city (Cork City and Suburbs and Cork Metropolitan Area); • Location of Cork City Docklands and Tivoli, significant urban regeneration areas of scale and transformative projects for the Region; • Potential transformative transport investment through the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (CMATS) which includes a potential new Light Rail Corridor. Refer to Chapter 6 Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Investment Priorities and Cork MASP Objective 8 for specific details and objectives.
• The RSES promotes strengthening and growing the Cork Metropolitan Area and harnessing the potential for greater collaboration and combined strengths of our three cities and metropolitan areas to drive our Region’s growth, as a counterbalance to the greater Dublin area; • In addition to Cork City, there is a strong urban structure with twelve settlements greater than 5,000 population; • Four Key Towns identified in the RSES including Mallow, Clonakilty, Tralee and Killarney. Refer to Chapter 3 Key Towns for further specific details and objectives; • Network of settlements driving sub regional growth across rural hinterlands with shared assets, strengths and opportunities for collaborative partnerships. Refer to Chapter 3 of the RSES for examples including Kerry Hub and Knowledge Triangle, North Kerry/West Limerick/Shannon Estuary, North Cork Agri-Food Network, West Cork Marine Network, Cork Ring Network; • CorkCountyboundary townshavepotential for social and economic initiatives to drive sub regional growth in shared hinterlands. Examples include Charleville sharing hinterlands with Co. Limerick, Mitchelstown sharing hinterlands with Co. Tipperary, Youghal sharing hinterlands with Co. Waterford and Bantry sharing hinterlands with Co. Kerry.
Refer to the Cork MASP for strategic housing and economic locations in the Cork Metropolitan Area.
Cork Harbour (within the Cork Metropolitan Area) • Europe’s largest natural harbour in Cork, with significant multi-sectoral strengths across port, industry, recreation, tourism, heritage, the marine economy balanced with protection and enhancement of the ecology and natural heritage of the harbour. There are opportunities to support the role of the Cork Harbour area as a special driver for the Region through an integrated framework plan initiative. Refer to Chapter 4 Marine and Coastal Assets and Growing the Blue Economy and Cork MASP Objective 3 Cork Harbour for specific details and objectives.
Education and Research
The RSES promotes Cork’s as a Learning City in the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities and supports the spread of such initiative’s region wide. • Higher Education Institutes of University College Cork, Cork Institute of Technology and Tralee Institute of Technology (both merging as the Munster Technological Institute); • The SW Regional Skills Forum, actions driven through the SW Regional Enterprise Plan and Educational and Training Boards are further enterprise, training and skills development assets in the SW; • Strength of the agriculture sector, research and development led by centres of international innovation such as Teagasc Moorepark Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre Fermoy; • Examples in Kerry of creative design, innovation and enterprise centres include Tom Crean Business Centre, Service Design and Innovation I-Hub Killorglin, Skellig Centre for Research and Innovation (an outreach campus of UCC), Dingle Creativity and Innovation Hub, Sneem Enterprise Centre, Kenmare Innovation Centre and Killarney Technology Innovation Centre; • Refer to Chapter 4 for rural innovation, Chapter 7 for a Learning Region, skills and talent and the Cork MASP for further specific details and objectives.
Ports and Marine
• Tier 1 Port of Cork (within the Cork Metropolitan Area); • Cork regional ports and harbours include Cobh, Rushbroke Dry Dock facilities, Kinsale, Bantry, Castletownberehaven, Youghal, Baltimore, Ballycotton, Union Hall and Schull; • Kerry regional ports and harbours include Tralee- Fenit, Daingean Úi Chúis; • Refer to Chapter 4 Marine and Coastal Assets and Growing the Blue Economy, Chapter 6 Our Region’s Strategic Port and Harbour Assets and Cork MASP Objective 13 Port of Cork for specific details and objectives.
Air Connectivity
• Cork Airport (within the Cork Metropolitan Area); • Kerry Airport; • Refer to Chapter 6Airports and CorkMASPObjective 14 Cork Airport for specific details and objectives.
Southern Regional Assembly | RSES
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