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Irish Examiner
7 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Is more congestion in Cork City an inevitability?
The Department of Transport recently reported that the cost of traffic congestion in Cork is likely to increase by almost 70% by the year 2040, even if the various plans for public transport and active travel infrastructure are delivered. This scenario is presented as an inevitable outcome of population increase and economic growth, which will increase demand for transport. But how did we get here, and is it really unavoidable? On one level perhaps it's not surprising — the National Planning Framework published in 2018 reported that 'cities and major urban areas are too heavily dependent on road and private, mainly car-based, transport with the result that our roads are becoming more and more congested'. Since then, the Government has invested €215m upgrading the Dunkettle Interchange and has recently committed to spending a further €456m to upgrade the N28 Ringaskiddy Road to a motorway. Trying to solve congestion on the approaches to the city by building bigger roads is like trying to get more milk into a pint bottle by using a bigger funnel. You're only going to create a bigger mess. The Government has also committed to significant upgrades to the N20 and the N25, as well as a new Northern Distributor Road. The combined cost of these roads projects is an estimated €3.16bn, and that's before we consider the proposed North Ring Road, which has recently been rebranded the 'Cork City Northern Transport Project'. The congestion report acknowledges that 'while the expansion and improvement of road and sustainable transport infrastructure can temporarily alleviate congestion, demand will gradually increase in response to the increased supply'. So why then are we continuing to invest so heavily in new roads projects that we know will only increase congestion? The maps accompanying the congestion cost report show increased congestion throughout the city by 2040, but with two notable hotspots at the Dunkettle Interchange and the junction of the N28 Ringaskiddy Road and the South Ring Road. Surely this can't be right? After all that investment? Barely a year after the opening of the interchange we have begun to hear calls for additional measures to ease the congestion, with some even suggesting widening the tunnel bore. Picture: Eddie O'Hare All this money is being spent, it is said, to reduce journey times for private car traffic, but it is increasing congestion at the destination for that traffic. In announcing the go-ahead for the M28 just two months ago, Minister of State and TD for Cork South Central Jerry Buttimer said it would reduce journey times for those on their daily commute. Perhaps it will, for a time, but it is clear from the congestion report that that relief will be short-lived. Trying to solve congestion on the approaches to the city by building bigger roads is like trying to get more milk into a pint bottle by using a bigger funnel. You're only going to create a bigger mess. The Dunkettle Interchange has been celebrated as a triumph of engineering, and it certainly is impressive on a technical level — 15 hectares of a complex interlacing of roads, bridges, and embankments constructed with 58,000 tonnes of concrete and 72,000 tonnes of asphalt on a land that up to about a century ago was mostly mud flats. A preliminary analysis of traffic suggests peak journey times have improved but it also reports the volume of traffic going through the junction is now higher than it was pre-covid. This has inevitably put pressure on other road infrastructure in the area, with commuters coming from east Cork complaining of long delays trying to access the Jack Lynch Tunnel. Barely a year after the opening of the interchange we have begun to hear calls for additional measures to ease the congestion, with some even suggesting widening the tunnel bore. Perhaps this experience should inform the upgrade of the N20 to a motorway. An M20 motorway may reduce journey times between Dooradoyle and Blackpool, but you're then delivering a higher volume of traffic, more quickly, into the cities at either end, with an inevitable increase in congestion in those cities. Again, this is reflected in the congestion report, with significant congestion predicted in the Blackpool area of the city. If you really want to improve journey times from Limerick to Cork, look to the train. The All-Island Strategic Rail Review published last year calls for direct trains between Limerick and Cork at least every two hours. There's nothing to stop that from happening straight away at very little cost. Another €100-€200m would provide a rail link on to Shannon Airport and a few hundred million more investment would provide increased train speeds on the route. The Rail Review also looks at the opportunity for rail freight, and points to Ireland's very low use of the railway system for freight — it is in fact the lowest mode share in all of Europe. It sets out a series of proposals for how this could be improved to reduce our reliance on road freight and identifies Marino Point as a location which has good access to the rail network. There is a direct correlation over the last 15 years between the number of cars on the road and the number of deaths and serious injuries. This begs the question, why are we choosing to redevelop Ringaskiddy Port which requires a €500m road investment, and which will add to the existing traffic on the South Ring Road and the Jack Lynch Tunnel, when there is another option which could limit the impact on the road network? Road safety concerns are often touted as a justification for new roads, and it's hard to argue against that when you look at any project in isolation. However, if there is one certainty about road safety trends it is that more cars equals more deaths and serious injuries. There is a direct correlation over the last 15 years between the number of cars on the road and the number of deaths and serious injuries. This has been acknowledged by the Road Safety Authority on several occasions, and a reduction in car dependency as a means of improving road safety features as an objective in the Road Safety Strategy. We also know that more roads bring more cars. At some point, we are going to need to acknowledge the link between the two and decide which is more important — continuing to facilitate ever increasing car use or reducing the death and injury toll on our roads. There are, of course, plans for public transport in and around Cork which will undoubtedly improve the situation: the recently announced Cork Luas project, the BusConnects network, the Cork Area Commuter Rail plan, and various active travel infrastructure projects, but these will only mitigate the worst impacts of congestion as long as we continue to prioritise road building over public transport. The Cork Luas project is still at a very early stage of development, with a public consultation currently under way on the initial plans. BusConnects was launched three years ago this month but has yet to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála for planning permission. The Commuter Rail plan has made some progress with an upgrade of Kent Station completed earlier this year, and works under way on twin-tracking the Glounthaune to Midleton line, and upgrading signalling and communication, but there is no clear timeline for the next phase of works which would add commuter rail stations. It's clear there is not the same political urgency or will to develop public transport solutions as there is with roads. And even if all these projects are delivered by 2030 as assumed by the congestion cost report (and that seems incredibly optimistic right now), they will still not be enough to offset the induced demand created by the investment in road infrastructure. The report predicts an increase in public transport use from 8% to just 10% and a reduction in car use from 68% to 63%. This seems incredibly unambitious. Compare with the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands, a city with a slightly larger population than Cork, which recently published an updated transport plan for 2040 that aims for 23% of trips to be by public transport, 39% by cycling and 37% by car. If the congestion report has taught us anything, it is that we need a lot more ambition and a greater sense of urgency in the delivery of public transport and active travel infrastructure. We need to plan for the future we want, not just mitigate against the future we might have. And this future is ultimately is in the hands of the Department of Transport. Ciarán Ferrie is an architect and transport planner
Irish Examiner
17-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Shops in Ireland openly sell HHC drug linked to ‘devastating addiction and psychosis'
In glass cabinets in shops on main streets of towns the length and breadth of the country sit a bewildering range of flavoured vapes and jellies, many laced with a substance suspected of causing teens to suffer serious health emergencies. One shop in the East Cork town of Midleton has a flashing neon sign in the window advertising the sale of hexahydrocannabinol, known as HHC, within. Other shops in other towns and villages are less overt with their advertisements. The product, a semi-synthetic version of a natural cannabinoid found in cannabis, can be used in vapes or in jelly edibles. It emulates the effects of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the narcotic component present in cannabis plants. Readily available In one shop, a query from this would-be customer for the product as to whether it is legal comes with a blunt 'I don't know' response from the one staff member on duty. However, in a vape shop in Mallow, a sign says '21' over the HHC products leads us to query why, to be told that it is an effort to deter teenagers from trying to purchase the products. Others assure me that the product is legal — despite An Garda Siochána saying that a number of investigations are currently ongoing into the sale of HHC products under legislation around psychoactive substances introduced to outlaw head shop products. Whether it's via vape or gummies, products containing HHC are readily available to buy in Ireland. Stock picture: Eddie O'Hare Within minutes of entering the shops, this reporter left with different versions of HHC — including one in a reggae-inspired box giving the flavour as 'zkittles'. Sold with the promise of offering a relaxing experience, the product warns on the back to 'use with caution', adding that it is not to be used by pregnant women and is for over-18s. It reads: 'This HHC cartridge can be intoxicating to some people. Do not drive or operate any machinery while using this product. Consult a doctor before using this product.' Another product called Blue Dream carries similar warnings, while also adding that it is 'THC-free'. The ingredients for both products are listed as 95% HHC distillate (hemp derived), 5% terpenes. A different strawberry-flavoured product only has information in German, although it lists its ingredients as 95% 10HC-blend (a form of HHC) and 5% terps (terpenes). Incidents in West Cork The test purchases carried out by the Irish Examiner come in the wake of two incidents in West Cork recently highlighted by the Social Democrats councillor Isobel Towse. She told how a 12-year-old child in Clonakilty could not remember his mother's name while another had to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital after vaping the cannabinoid. HHC was also linked to an incident in another Cork town in November 2023 in which four young people were hospitalised. It is understood that up to one fifth of teenagers being treated in addiction services are there because of chemically modified cannabis products found in vapes and edibles, including HHC. Expert views Bobby Smyth, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist and clinical professor at Trinity College Dublin, said: 'Lots of young people who use it regularly report a lot of mental health symptoms associated with it, both when using it heavily and when they stop using it. Consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist Bobby Smyth says HHC is Ireland's second most common cause of drug-induced psychosis. File picture 'The most common is a real flat sort of depressed mood. That is the bigger issue we would see. We are not clinically dealing with lots of young people developing psychosis but we are dealing with the aftermath of that. Those young people would not attend our services in the first instance. 'They get admitted to hospital and get treated there, and are then referred out to us for a bit of support helping avoid a return to HHC use.' Prof Smyth added: 'HHC use now, as far as I understand it, is the second most common cause of drug-induced psychosis in new episodes in Ireland, after cannabis. 'It is causing way more psychotic episodes at this stage than cocaine or MDMA or other drugs.' Despite concerns about the substance, it continues to be sold in shops across the country because it is not included in the list of prohibited drugs in Ireland under the Misuse of Drugs Act and there appears to be confusion on whether or not the product is legal among different retailers. HHC not on schedule of controlled drugs Both the Department of Justice and the Department of Health say HHC is currently covered by legislation on psychoactive substances. Yet moves are also in place to include HHC on the list of controlled drugs, under the Misuse of Drugs Act, according to the Department of Health. In reply to a parliamentary question on April 30, health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said: 'While I cannot give a precise timeline I am informed by officials it is expected to go Government in the coming weeks'. Prof Smyth believed the products containing HHC would have been removed from the shelves under the legislation for psychoactive substances. But he said: 'There seems to be a wariness around using that particular piece of legislation.' He says Ireland will be forced to tackle the issue now, following a decision taken in March by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs to list the substance as a controlled one, following a recommendation by the World Health Organization. The WHO said of HHC: 'There is sufficient evidence that HHC is used in ways to constitute a public health and social problem, warranting placement under international control.' Although he welcomes the UN's move, Prof Smyth warned: 'That will be grand and will sort out HHC but the shops are already preparing for that. The next line of drugs will already be in the warehouses to put up on the shelves.' Psychiatrists' report This echoes a paper published by the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland last September which warned that adding HHC to the Misuse of Drugs Act would not be a panacea. Instead, it said 'that the shops [currently profiting from sale of HHC] could simply switch to importing and selling a similar but not yet banned drug'. The College called on the Government to 'urgently intervene to ban the distribution and sale of all semi-synthetic cannabis and tackle the issue of its harms' and said an 'explosion' of addiction presentations across the country involved the man-made drug. Drugs easily available online Currently, the substance is offered for sale without inhibition across the internet. A quick perusal opens a virtual shop door very quickly. While all websites visited by the Irish Examiner asked the user to confirm if they are over 18, a simple click of a button to say they are means they are in without much bother, no matter what age. One site boasts of offering a discreet express delivery and it says: 'With us, you can legally order cannabinoids online. Fast delivery from the EU in 1-4 days, right to your front door.' It lists a wide list of products. Many of those on the site are noted to be 'sold out', with a 'notify me' button available to click if the shopper wants to get a notification when the product becomes available again. One product is advertised as 'the highest potent HHC cartridges on the market'. It is referred to as an 'innovative HHC vape' which 'uses premium 95% HHC distillate, paired with amazing terpene strains to give a potent and powerful mental and physical buzz'. The site boasts that it is the ultimate destination for 'an unparalleled vaping experience infused with the power of HHC'. Gift cards and popular flavours It continues: 'We've curated a top-tier collection of HHC vapes that is taking the cannabis community by storm.' Another site offers a gift card facility in increments of €10, €20, €30, €50, €75 and €100 which can only be used in physical stores and not online. It does contain a health proviso, noting: 'The most common types of side effects reported by people who use vaping products are throat and mouth irritation, headache, cough, and nausea. More research is needed to establish the risks of long-term vaping product use on developing cancer, cardiovascular, respiratory, and other diseases.' Flavours range from lemon, blueberry, and pineapple to more unusual tastes such as 'Gorilla Glue' and 'amnesia'. One retailer offers a vegan product in a range of different flavours. They are currently sold out. 'Special offers' are promoted on another site. Colin O'Gara's view Colin O'Gara is a consultant psychiatrist who serves as the head of addiction services at St John of God University Hospital and is clinical professor of psychiatry at University College Dublin. He deals with adults in his field and says that use of HHC is not restricted to young teens. 'From testimony from both patients and otherwise, it is not uncommon for dinner parties — I have been told that a non-drug- using cohort would have gummies in a middle-aged grouping because they see it as legal and see nothing wrong. 'The product is toxic and it is harmful, just like alcohol, just like substances, and just like gambling. Everybody is vulnerable to HHC. 'In the case of HHC, the first step is nailing down the fact that we are dealing here with a harmful substance that clearly should be classified as both psychoactive and included in the Misuse of Drugs Act.' Prof O'Gara said the most serious cases he has seen involved 'very devastating addiction and psychosis, real devastation from the point of view of occupation with sick leave from work, family out of their minds with worry, delusional ideas, and strong lowering of mood with suicidal thoughts, and a strong possibility of risk of acts of self-harm'. He added: 'I am almost 20 years here, I have seen patterns over the years. I am just surprised with HHC that it hasn't been locked down quicker.' 'People don't have a clue what is in them' David Lane is the general manager of social inclusion in Cork Kerry Community Healthcare, and HSE drug and alcohol services co-ordinator. HSE drug and alcohol services co-ordinator David Lane: People are 'getting into difficulty with small quantities of new psychoactive substances'. File picture: Gerard McCarthy He says that while there is not a big influx of people seeking treatment in relation to HHC use, 'there certainly are issues both locally, regionally, and nationally'. 'What we have been seeing for well on 10 years is synthetic drug use among a wide range of people who use our services — not just under-18s,' says Mr Lane. 'The big challenge for us is that, from a potency point of view and an ingredients point of view, people who are buying them do not have a clue what is in them. "What we have seen over a number of years is people who actually have significant enough addictions and using some of these substances and getting into difficulty with small quantities of new psychoactive substances. 'These substances are being produced in labs in various parts of the world and are not on the schedule for the Misuse of Drugs Act.' Forensic Science Ireland report Last August, the annual report from Forensic Science Ireland for 2023 raised concerns about the emergence of HHC. It said: 'Cannabis and related cannabinoid products accounted for 42% of all cases analysed by FSI in 2023. The traditional cannabis market is no longer a homogenous arena and is now a dynamically evolving space with ongoing rapid emergence of a dizzying array of synthetic cannabinoid products — it is truly the wild west of the drug marketplace.' It said a review of 114 jelly, sweet, and chocolate products analysed in 2023 showed that 36% contained synthetic cannabinoid products, including HHC. Describing it as 'semi-synthetic', the report said: 'HHC can be synthesised from CBD [cannabidiol]. HHC is chemically similar to THC and appears to have relatively similar physiological effects. 'Unlike THC, HHC is not a controlled substance in most European countries and worryingly is being sold as a safe or legal replacement in conventional THC products.' Prof Smyth said the focus of drug policy in Ireland 'remains completely dominated by the concerns around heroin which really goes back a couple of decades, and there is some around crack cocaine as well which is largely confined to the same population who developed the heroin problem'. He added: 'When it comes to cannabis or cannabis-related products, it is generally just a shoulder shrug is the typical response.' Use of the drug is leaving young men in particular with severe psychosis, requiring lengthy hospital admissions for recovery. Prof Smyth believes an opportunity was lost in not tackling the emergence of the product immediately under the psychoactive substances legislation. He said: 'There is no evidence that it is being taken seriously. The only thing that indicates that something is being taken seriously is if they do something about it and a decision appears to have been taken to do nothing.'
Irish Examiner
01-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Little Island's EastGate Hall offices for sale for €1.6m
A fully let office investment that has a mix of tenants — in Cork's 1m sq ft mixed-use development EastGate — and promising a return of 8%, is up for sale to investors, likely to have an appeal to a party looking for strong pension income. Offered with a €1.6 m AMV, via joint agents Cohalan Downing and Cushman & Wakefield, is the office element of EastGate Hall, a detached building near the main retail park in the early 2000s-developed scheme done by O'Flynn Group, on 120 acres just a mile east of the Jack Lynch Tunnel and the Dunkettle interchange by Little Island. Offered for vendors the O'Flynn Group are EastGate Hall's office units 1B and 4 and 5 in the retail and business park, which has just over 1m sq ft of office and 250,000 sq ft of retail, with this detached building close to the retail occupiers anchored by Harvey Norman (who purchased the retail element/investment in its first Irish foray in 2022, paying a reported €24m): major tenants include The Range, Harvey Norman, EZ Living, and JYSK. Harvey Norman paid €24 million in 2022 for the EastGate Retail Park at Little Island, Cork. Picture: Eddie O'Hare The selling agents for EastGate Hall describe it as a mixed-use block with offices, as well as a creche, and café located at ground-floor level, all in separate ownership and not forming part of this investment sale, with income of €142,000 pa and having 32 parking spaces and further communal parking. A major regional employment hub, EastGate Business Park is off the N25 Waterford Rd, easily accessed from the M8/Dublin Rd and the Cork South Ring Rd network and the business park is considered one of Cork's main hubs, with neighbouring occupiers including Eli Lilly, with 135,000 sq ft, Gilead, Laya Healthcare, ESB International, Pepsi, and PE Global. There's also a convenience store, bank, cafes, adjacent Radisson hotel, and commuter rail link to Little Island. The office element at EastGate Hall has two access points leading to a recently refurbished reception hall, which is generous in size, with an 800 sq ft ground-floor suite occupied by McAdam Design, paying an annual rent of €15,000 pa on a five-year lease from 2024. The two first-floor suites are let to Acorn Life group in unit 4, who have 2,725 sq ft on a 10-year lease from 2018, paying a rent of €48,000, and NeoDyne Ltd in unit 5, which is 4,650 sq ft held on a 10-year lease from 2021, at a rent of €79,000 pa, with a break option in August 2026.. CDA's Margaret Kelleher and C&W's Sean Healy say 'all three suites produce a combined rent of €142,000 pa exclusive, with potential for rental growth at rent review/lease renewal' and add that the tenants are responsible for service charge and rates. At the price of €1.6m, the fully let investment reflects a net initial yield of 8% and at the lot size, and with a good tenant mix, the joint agents say they expect interest from parties for their pension/roperty portfolio. Meanwhile, for separate vendors, also offered at East Gate on a sale and leaseback is Unit 4C on EastGate Avenue, with 4,800 sq ft occupied by DPS Engineering, with a rent of €86,300 pa via Cushman & Wakefield, on a new ten 10-year lease, with a break option in 2028. Price guide here is €850,000. Previous investment sales at EastGate (excluding the retail park at €24m to Harvey Norman) included 3 EastGate Road in Q1 2023, for €4.1m, producing €337,000 pa. Details: mkelleher@ 021 427 7717 021 427 5454
