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Business owners and residents on Oliver Plunkett Street celebrate their nomination. Clare Keogh
rebels yell
This Cork street is officially one of the best in the UK and Ireland
It’s a great street, in fairness.
CORK’S OLIVER PLUNKETT Street has been named one of the world’s best.
The street, in the city’s “middle parish”, has been picked as a finalist for the Great Street Award, handed out by the Academy of Urbanism in London.
The street is one of three finalists to be named by the Academy and will compete against Cairns Street in Liverpool and Deptford High Street in London.
The Academy of Urbanism was established in London in 2005 and aims to create a body of evidence of how great places are created, but also sustained.
The nomination comes on the 200th anniversary of the street’s laying out. It was laid across the marshes on the east side of the old medieval city in 1715 and at 525m is the longest street in the city centre.
The street was originally named after the newly-crowned King George and became the centre of Cork’s commercial life, where Cork’s affluent and professional elite lived, worked and shopped.
The street was renamed Oliver Plunkett Street following the creation of the Irish Free State in the 1920s.
Speaking at the announcement Clodagh Daly, co-founder of the Plunkett Quarter said the street weaves together all the strands of a modern city.
As one of the many business owners on Oliver Plunkett Street, it is an honour to be part of this wonderful street which offers a unique blend of shopping, hospitality and business.
Valerie Cahill, co-founder of the Plunkett Quarter agreed.
“We believe that Oliver Plunkett Street has all of the requirements to make it the winner of ‘The Great Street Award 2016’ and we look forward to meeting with the Academy judges and showcasing the unique history and charm of the street.”
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