I live in Dublin now but Cork is part of my heritage and DNA, says Matt Cooper

I grew up by the waterworks, where the river divides in two, directly opposite the County Hall, right underneath what was known, charmingly, as the mental hospital – Our Lady’s Hospital.

I lived within an half-hour walk of Patrick Street, but was right beside the country in this lovely place that was almost rural. The spread of the city didn’t go beyond us.

I went to primary school in St Joseph’s in the Mardyke so you would walk home by Fitzgerald Park and play there in summer. It was a nice relaxed environment to grow up in.

I went to secondary school in the North Mon, a tougher place but I still have friends from there.

Then, it was on to University College Cork – it was a beautiful campus and fantastic place to go to college.

Dubliners have a thing about themselves being the city folk and everyone else from around the country being bog-trotting culchies.

But people in Cork really do think of Cork as a city.

Okay, on a global scale it’s a large town but there’s always been an ambition to have things and have the status of a city – the Cork Film Festival, the Opera House – things that say “this is a city, not a provincial big town”.

For a child, where you grow up is all you know. It’s only when you get older you become aware of a wider world. I would never have considered living anywhere outside of Cork until I came to Dublin to do my journalism course and realised I actually liked it.

I remember noticing a few things: it rains more in Cork but it’s colder in Dublin. And, it was much more dangerous crossing the road in Dublin. Cork people don’t obey traffic lights. People just walk out. I had to learn to obey pedestrian crossings.

Home

My parents are gone and Aileen’s parents come up to us in Dublin. I don’t have a home to go to in Cork as such. I go back for conferences and business events and when we do the programme there.

I like going to Market Lane on Oliver Plunkett Street. You get a lovely lunch there. There's a nice pub culture in Cork. I still like the Long Valley or the Hi-B. The Hi-B is one of those remarkable little pubs.

On Christmas Eve there used to be a hushed silence as guys would get up and sing opera. Up around the north side of the city, they had a big tradition of stuff like that. I don’t know if it’s still the same now.

The docklands looks pretty shabby with the old Ford and Dunlop buildings. Developing the docklands area really would provide a focus for the city again.

The city centre tarted itself up in the boom years but it’s starting to look a bit run down again. There’s a plan for a major food centre right beside the English Market and that could really give a bit of life to the place.

The beautiful structure at the front of the old Beamish and Crawford brewery is going to be preserved and a big conference centre is going to be built at the back. Things like that can reinvigorate the city.

I never thought I’d leave Cork until I left it. I thought I’d go back but realised quite quickly that Dublin is where the work is and that it’s a fun city to live in as well.

A lot of my closest friends in Dublin are actually Cork people. They are Cork people I didn't know when I was in Cork. I'd talk about the Munster rugby with one.

Lament

With another, we’d go to GAA matches together. We’d slag each other because he is a St Finbarr’s man and I’m a Bishopstown man – there is big rivalry. We’d even go to matches that Cork wasn’t involved in and lament the fact that Cork wasn’t there. It’s in the blood.

I could never find myself shouting for Dublin against Cork even though I have been in Dublin 27 years.

I remember Neil Francis giving out once that I was a Munster rugby diehard. He asked why wasn't I supporting Leinster.

But why would I? Yes, I live in Dublin now and I’m very happy there, but Cork is part of my heritage and DNA.