Pedestrianisation and cycling facilities to 're-imagine' Cork city

​Fourteen streets are to be pedestrianised and €2 million is being invested in cycling infrastructure as part of a plan to help businesses in Cork city recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Street furniture and outdoor dining facilities for around 1,000 people are also being provided under the plan, which is being sponsored by Cork City Council.

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​The council says the plan represents an acceleration of its aim to make the city centre more people friendly, as well as building a more sustainable future for residents and businesses and for those who visit Cork.

The plan is aimed at helping people like Richard and Máiread Jacob reopen their businesses, as lockdown restrictions are relaxed.

The Jacobs have been running Idaho café on Caroline Street in Cork for the past 19 years. Richard works front-of-house, while Máiread is the café's chef. They employ four other people. 

Richard describes Idaho as a village café in a city centre setting - much of what they serve they grow themselves at their home in north Cork.

​In early March, a week before lockdown restrictions were imposed, they decided that it was no longer safe to keep the café open and they closed voluntarily.

They remained closed for the next four months.

When they reopened three weeks ago, so much had changed. Idaho used to seat 32 people; now its capacity has been reduced to a dozen customers at any one time.

That fundamentally changed the business model and, after almost two decades of trading, threatened Idaho's viability.

Cork City Council arrived with a lifeline, granting free street furniture licences to Idaho and to dozens of hotels, restaurants, bars, wine bars, cafes and take-aways, to create an al fresco dining experience on many newly pedestrianised streets in the city centre.

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