Cork approves tall building

Cork County Council gave the go-ahead for one of the country's tallest buildings yesterday.

Cork County Council gave the go-ahead for one of the country's tallest buildings yesterday.

The building, on Eglinton Road in the centre of Cork, will be 70 metres (76.6 yards) high, 5.7 metres (6.2 yards) taller than Cork City Hall and 12 metres (13.1 yards) taller than Dublin's Liberty Hall.

It will be the State's tallest building until a 32-storey, 140 metres (153 yards) project at Heuston station in Dublin is built. O'Flynn Construction was given permission by the council to build 222 apartments and ground-floor retail units and offices in the 17-storey structure.

The three-acre site next to Cork City Hall, formerly owned by An Post, was bought in 2003 for over €15 million. The company values the new building at €115 million.

Fiona Gartland

Fiona Gartland

Fiona Gartland is a crime writer and former Irish Times journalist