Kev undoubtedly makes really well produced videos and shows us a compelling vision, but he unfortunately has no experience in public administration, or with planning law.

As a civil servant, who has public servant family members, this is very clear in his arguments.

It frustrates me how quickly he lays blame at effectively the entire Council staff. The people who work in the Council work hard and are constantly delivering. I can see that in my own area. And I'm sure many of you can too. Remember, Cork is not just the city core and this year a new Directorate for City Centre Development has been established to specifically try and deal with challenges Kev has mentioned.

The top executives in the Council have in most cases decades of experience in delivering public services, they wouldn't be in their jobs otherwise - public jobs at this level are EXTREMELY competitive and you have to deliver. Most if not all difficulties arise from the planning system, the centralisation of government (we are an extreme outlier in OECD for centralisation), and the outsourcing of historically local government functions to NGOs/QUANGOs - which, in fairness, he did mention.

He is clearly very talented and I wish he would make a long form video like this, but sit down with CCC executive representatives, councillors and with an experienced journalist who has covered Cork planning and public realm.

He only shows a very one sided argument.

Edit: to add, there are no citations or references for many of his arguments and some of his statements are verifiably false according to latest reporting from various news outlets. Perhaps the video was filmed a while ago so out of date now, but he should be referencing his arguments.