Modern development is a threat to the 184 year old food market in Cork city.
The English Market in Cork city is the biggest retail food market in Ireland.
Cork Corporation who own the site on which the market stands invited submissions for the redevelopment of the area. Plans put forward include a multi-storey office block and car park. Any new development is under the condition that the food market must remain on the ground floor. Expansion of the existing site will take at least three years and during that time the entire market would have to move.
The seventy existing traders who own one hundred and fifteen stalls are opposed to any such plans claiming that any shift of their business would put an end to their livelihood. The market traders have got the support of preservation groups within Cork city. Simon O'Flynn says the traders are,
Opposed to any plans that would drastically change the atmosphere and structure of the market.
The Lord Mayor of Cork Seán O'Leary says the Cork Corporation is considering the feasibility of putting some kind of development on top of the existing market. Any proposal would have to leave the market where it presently is during the development.
An RTÉ News report broadcast 8 September 1972. The reporter is Tom MacSweeney.
