This afternoon, at the Urbanism Awards Ceremony in London, Cork’s Oliver Plunkett Street was the winner of The Great Street Awards 2016. It was the only street from Ireland running at the competition and it was assesed in August by two judges, who then submited their evaluation to the competition.
Geoff Haslam, lead assessor for the Academy of Urbanism,mentioned that Cork’s longest street was overwhelming, as it offers “everything that we are looking for in a Great Street and more”. Calling it a “vibrant living street and community, full of surprises and clearly on an upward trajectory”, the judge made clear how delighted they were with Oliver Plunket Street.
The 525 metres long street was laid out in 1715, across the marshes east of the old medieval city, and since then it has been the centre of Cork’s commercial life. Originally named after King George, it was renamed following the creation of the Irish Free State in 1920.
Runners up were located in Liverpool and London.