Economy of Cork
Encyclopedia
Statistics
County CorkCounty Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
and County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
as part of the South-West Region, Ireland
South-West Region, Ireland
The South-West Region is a NUTS Level III region of Ireland and is governed by the South-West Regional Authority. It consists of the area under the jurisdiction of the county councils of counties Cork and Kerry, along with Cork City Council. The South-West region spans 12,161 km2, roughly 16%...
with a population of 620,000 has a GVA of €25bn(2005).
The South-West region has a labour force of nearly 300,000.
GVA per capita(2005) in Greater Dublin is €42,435, while GVA in the South-West is €40,835, which means that the SW region has the second highest GVA per capita on the island of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
Most of the industry in Cork is concentrated around the Greater Cork area, taking in Cork city and its immediate environs, centred on the Cork Suburban Rail
Cork Suburban Rail
The Cork Suburban Rail network serves the Metropolitan Cork area in County Cork, Munster, Ireland.There has been a suburban rail system in Cork since the middle of the 19th century however it suffered serious neglect and line closures in the 20th century...
network.
The immediate Cork city area has a population of 200,000 in the city and environs, while another 200,000 live within the commuter belt giving Greater Cork a population of 400,000.
Important city suburbs are Douglas(25,000), Ballincollig
Ballincollig
Ballincollig is a satellite town in County Cork, Ireland, approximately 9 km west of Cork city. It is located beside the River Lee on the R608 regional road. In 2006 the population of Ballincollig DED was 16,308. The nearest towns include: Ballinora, Ovens, Killumney, Inniscarra, Blarney ,...
(20,000), Glanmire
Glanmire
Glanmire literally meaning ‘The valley of the small fish; The valley of the ploughed land:' The Still Vale: The Valley of the Young Fish) is a town in County Cork, Ireland with a population of 15,498....
(15,000), Bishopstown
Bishopstown
Bishopstown is a southwestern suburb of Cork, Ireland with a population of 24,136 people. Baile an Easpaig, anglicised Bishopstown, consists of two townlands which are Ballineaspigmore and Ballineaspigbeg...
(13,000) and Mahon
Mahon
Mahón is a municipality and the capital city of the Balearic Island of Minorca , located in the eastern part of the island. Mahon has the second deepest natural harbor in the world: 5 km long and up to 900m. wide...
(12,000).
Important towns within the commuter belt are: Carrigaline
Carrigaline
Carrigaline is a single-street town in County Cork, Ireland. It is about 12 km from Cork City which can be reached by car in 25 minutes...
(13,000), Cóbh
Cobh
Cobh is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour. Facing the town are Spike Island and Haulbowline Island...
(12,887), Mallow
Mallow, County Cork
Mallow is the "Crossroads of Munster" and the administrative capital of north County Cork, in Ireland. The Northern Divisional Offices of Cork County Council are located in the town....
(11,000), Midleton
Midleton
Midleton, historically Middleton , is a town in south-eastern County Cork, Ireland. It lies some 22 km east of Cork City on the Owenacurra River and the N25 road, which connects Cork to the port of Rosslare...
(10,336), Youghal
Youghal
Youghal is a town in County Cork, Ireland. Sitting on the estuary of the River Blackwater, in the past it was militarily and economically important. Being built on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a distinctive long and narrow layout...
(7,000), Fermoy
Fermoy
Fermoy is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It is situated on the River Blackwater in the south of Ireland. Its population is some 5,800 inhabitants, environs included ....
(7,000), Caherlag (6,000), Bandon
Bandon, County Cork
Bandon is a town in County Cork, Ireland. With a population of 5,822 as of census 2006, Bandon lies on the River Bandon between two hills. The name in Irish means "Bridge of the Bandon", a reference to the origin of the town as a crossing-point on the river. In 2004 Bandon celebrated its...
(5,000), Inishkenny (5,000), Blarney
Blarney
Blarney is a town and townland in County Cork, Ireland. It lies north-west of Cork and is famed as the site of Blarney Castle, home of the legendary Blarney Stone.-Tourism:Blarney town is a major tourist attraction in County Cork...
(5,000), Monkstown
Monkstown
Monkstown is a placename shared by more than one area in Ireland:*Monkstown, County Cork, a town in County Cork.*Monkstown, County Dublin, a town or suburb on the outskirts of Dublin city in County Dublin....
(5,000), Passage West
Passage West
Passage West is a port town in County Cork, Ireland, situated on the west bank of Cork Harbour. It is some 10 km from Cork city, separated by the green belt from the urban sprawl of Douglas and Rochestown. The town has many services, amenities and social outlets...
(5,000), Kinsale
Kinsale
Kinsale is a town in County Cork, Ireland. Located some 25 km south of Cork City on the coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon and has a population of 2,257 which increases substantially during the summer months when the tourist season is at its peak and...
4,000, Macroom
Macroom
Macroom is a market town in Ireland located in a valley on the River Sullane, a tributary of the River Lee, between Cork and Killarney. It is one of the key gateways to the tourist region of West Cork. The town recorded a population on 3,553 in the 2006 national census...
(3,000) and Ringaskiddy
Ringaskiddy
Ringaskiddy is a village south of Cork city, in County Cork, Ireland. Located across Cork harbour south from Cóbh, and connected to Cork city by the N28 road the village is now a major ferry port Port of Cork with passenger ferry services to France & the United Kingdom.Ringaskiddy has seen huge...
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Here are some of the companies within this area:
Pfizer (Pharmaceutical), GlaxoSmithKline (Pharmaceutical), Johnson & Johnson (Pharmaceutical), EMC (Data Storage), Apple (European HQ), Avery Dennison (Financial Shared Services), Siemens Group (Third party multi-lingual tech support) and the Marriott Group (Shared Services and Customer Service Contact Centre), Centocor (Biopharmaceutical Manufacture), McAfee (Security Software, EU Operations Centre), VMware (Enterprise Software and International Support/Shared Services Centre Centre), Citco (Shared Services, Data Processing and Hedge Fund Administration), and Amazon (Customer Services - On line Retail Activities).
There are two main third-level institutions, University College Cork and Cork Institute of Technology
Cork Institute of Technology
Cork Institute of Technology , formerly the Regional Technical College, Cork, is an Institute of Technology in Ireland, located in Cork, Ireland opened in 1973. The institute has 17,000 students in art, business, engineering, music and science disciplines...
which have a combined population of 34,000
Atlantic Quarter
On 6 March 2008, developers announced a 1bn euro plan to create an Atlantic QuarterAtlantic Quarter
The Atlantic Quarter is a proposed mixed-use residential and commercial development of 12 buildings on a 5-hectare site in the docklands area of Cork city, in Ireland...
in Cork's docklands area to rival that of the International Financial Services Centre
International Financial Services Centre
The International Financial Services Centre is a major financial services centre in North Wall, Dublin, Ireland. The centre employs 14,000 people and was the brainchild of an associate of businessman Dermot Desmond...
in Dublin making, it one of the biggest and most ambitious plans undertaken in the history of the state.
I.T & Pharmaceutical Industry
Cork has developed into the centre of Ireland's Pharmaceutical industry. The city plays an ever greater role in the bio-pharmaceutical industry and is successful in fighting off stiff competition from Switzerland and Singapore for inward investments in the bio-pharmaceutical area in companies such as Amgen and Pfizer. Most of the pharmaceutical companies are located in Little Island, Cork
Little Island, Cork
Little Island is mainly an industrial area to the east of Cork City, Ireland. It is no longer an island, since the northern channel separating it from the mainland has filled over. To the east and south is Cork Harbour; across a channel to the west is Fota Island.-Development:Many of Cork's...
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Power generation
Ireland's only oil refinery and oil storage facility are located at (respectively) Whitegate and Whiddy IslandWhiddy Island
Whiddy Island is an island near the head of Bantry Bay, Ireland. It is approximately long and wide. The topography comprises gently-rolling glacial till, with relatively fertile soil...
in County Cork.
In June 2010, ESB opened a new 430MW (CCGT) gas fired power station in Aghada, on the site of their existing station. These stations now have a combined generation capacity of 970MW. Bord Gáis Energy
Bord Gáis
Bord Gáis Éireann , normally branded as Bord Gáis, is the main supplier and distributor of pipeline natural gas in the Republic of Ireland. The company has built an extensive network across Ireland. The company supplies gas to domestic and industrial customers on a fully regulated basis...
plan to open a 440MW CCGT station in Whitegate in Q3 2010. The ESB also have a number of smaller stations in the Cork area at Marina (Gas - 115MW), Carrigadrohid (Hydro - 8MW) and Inniscarra (Hydro - 19MW).
Approximately 10% of Ireland's gas production comes from Kinsale Head in County Cork, from where it is transported by pipeline across the country. The headquarters for Bord Gáis Energy
Bord Gáis
Bord Gáis Éireann , normally branded as Bord Gáis, is the main supplier and distributor of pipeline natural gas in the Republic of Ireland. The company has built an extensive network across Ireland. The company supplies gas to domestic and industrial customers on a fully regulated basis...
are located in Cork City.
Retail
Mahon Point Shopping CentreMahon Point Shopping Centre
Mahon Point Shopping Centre is a shopping centre in the suburbs of Cork in Ireland. It is Munster's second largest shopping destination after the Crescent Shopping Centre in Limerick. The centre has over 60 stores including Debenhams, Next, Zara, Barratts, Tesco and a thirteen-screen Omniplex cinema...
is County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
's, and Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
's biggest shopping center, having opened in 2005. Almost €737 million have been invested in Mahon, Cork
Mahon, Cork
Mahon is an area to the eastern side of Metropolitan Cork, Ireland with a population of 12,000. It was once a peninsula of lush green fields and estates but in recent years has seen many developments...
, including the new Dual Carriageway N25 extending from Dunkettle Roundabout to Cork Airport & Cork City via a new €137 million tunnel, the Jack Lynch Tunnel
Jack Lynch Tunnel
The Jack Lynch Tunnel is an immersed tube tunnel and an integral part of the N25 southern ring road of Cork in Ireland. It is named after former Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, a native of Cork....
, which opened in 1999. Construction began in 2000 when the road network was adequate for the new center and it opened in 2005 but created bottlenecks between 11:00-19:00 on the Mahon flyover, causing tailbacks as far as the Jack Lynch Tunnel
Jack Lynch Tunnel
The Jack Lynch Tunnel is an immersed tube tunnel and an integral part of the N25 southern ring road of Cork in Ireland. It is named after former Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, a native of Cork....
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Business parks
The IDA business parks in Cork City and surrounds include:- Cork Business and Technology Park
- Kilbarry Business and Technology Park
- Carrigtwohill Business and Technology Park
- Ringaskiddy Business Park.