u/98TheRealDeal

Amazing news!

One thing I don't like about Dublin Docklands is that it's often lifeless. Even during office hours, it can be quite quiet and transient in nature. The areas around the apartments are even quite quiet. The few busy places are the 3Arena during a show, The Ferryman pub and Grand Canal Dock. I was nervous that Cork's Docklands would suffer the same fate. However, even with only a small section of the Docklands developed so far, I can already feel it having life that Dublin's doesn't.

I was walking on Alfred Street last night, through Station Square to Horgan's Quay. There are cosntantly people flowing to MacCurtain Street from Kent Station, which helps with making the area feel a little busy all the time. However, what stood out to me was a group of people (maybe 40-50 people) dancing on Horgan's Quay. At the moment, there isn't anything to bring you to Horgan's Quay outside the offices (which were obviously closed yesterday). None of the apartments are open yet. No retail in the area to speak of. And yet here was a large group learning how to dance together on a random Sunday evening.

I thought it was so nice to witness, and it gives me hope that the lively vibes of the city centre will flow into the Docklands as it continues to be developed. On the southside, the success of the Marina Market, Pairc Ui Caoimhe and Marina Promenade help a lot too. I used to walk from Ballintemple Village to Albert Road via Centre Park Road 10 years ago in the evening for a lift home. Centre Park Road was dead, with barely a non-vacant building in sight, and rarely people walking by. It's just unrecongisable now in comparison :)

https://www.nationaltransport.ie/news/passengers-in-cork-to-benefit-from-faster-boarding-and-more-flexible-travel-with-new-tfi-90-minute-fare/

Great to see the Leap validators finally being turned on