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Displaying items by tag: Plans New Bridge Link

The coastal town of Cobh on Great Island, Cork Harbour, is after years of waiting, to see plans finally drawn up to build a €100m new road to the town and to replace the only road bridge into the area in order to provide security of movement.

Plans are also being advanced to complete the northern relief road in Midleton and work will get underway next month on the construction of the western relief road in Carrigaline.

The coastal town of Cobh on Great Island in Cork HarbourThe coastal town of Cobh on Great Island in Cork Harbour Photo: Bob Bateman

The population of Cobh (see ship story) and Great Island is more than 13,000 people, and can only be accessed via Belvelly Bridge, which has been subject to closure in the past due to tidal flooding and fallen trees. (See, other Afloat story on the redevelopment of nearby Marino Point)

 Belvelly BridgeCobh's Belvelly Bridge Photo: Bob Bateman

Today, two ferries the “Glenbrook” and the “Carrigaloe” service the River Lee connecting the communities on both sides of the harbour between Cobh and Cork. The ferries can carry 200 passengers and 27 cars. The crossing from Glenbrook to Carrigaloe takes 5 minutesCross river ferries -  two ferries the “Glenbrook” and the “Carrigaloe” service the River Lee connecting the communities on both sides of the harbour between Cobh and Cork. The ferries can carry 200 passengers and 27 cars. The crossing from Glenbrook to Carrigaloe takes 5 minutes Photo: Bob Bateman

Pádraig Barrett, the county council's director of roads, said a tender for a design brief for the upgrading of the R624 into Cobh will be advertised shortly and it is expected the plans will be completed within the next two years.

It is envisaged that the project will be broken up into sections, but the bridge replacement will be given priority.

Cobh could not be accessed by road until the bridge was constructed in 1803.

For further details, Irish Examiner reports on the plans.

Published in Coastal Notes

The Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) Information

The creation of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) began in a very low key way in the autumn of 2002 with an exploratory meeting between Denis Kiely, Jim Donegan and Fintan Cairns in the Granville Hotel in Waterford, and the first conference was held in February 2003 in Kilkenny.

While numbers of cruiser-racers were large, their specific locations were widespread, but there was simply no denying the numerical strength and majority power of the Cork-Dublin axis. To get what was then a very novel concept up and running, this strength of numbers had to be acknowledged, and the first National Championship in 2003 reflected this, as it was staged in Howth.

ICRA was run by a dedicated group of volunteers each of whom brought their special talents to the organisation. Jim Donegan, the elder statesman, was so much more interested in the wellbeing of the new organisation than in personal advancement that he insisted on Fintan Cairns being the first Commodore, while the distinguished Cork sailor was more than content to be Vice Commodore.

ICRA National Championships

Initially, the highlight of the ICRA season was the National Championship, which is essentially self-limiting, as it is restricted to boats which have or would be eligible for an IRC Rating. Boats not actually rated but eligible were catered for by ICRA’s ace number-cruncher Denis Kiely, who took Ireland’s long-established native rating system ECHO to new heights, thereby providing for extra entries which brought fleet numbers at most annual national championships to comfortably above the hundred mark, particularly at the height of the boom years. 

ICRA Boat of the Year (Winners 2004-2019)