MINISTER SEN SHERLOCK TD

Minister of State for Research & Innovation

KEEPING IN TOUCH
Cobh and Great Island

SHERLOCK BACKS RASMUSSEN

Minister Sen Sherlock has fully endorsed the work being done by
newly co-opted County Councillor for the Cobh area Cathal
Rasmussen. Having resided in Cobh his whole life, Cathal worked in
Irish Steel prior to its closure in 1999 and now works in Pfizer.
Replacing long serving Cllr John Mulvihill, Cathal is currently chair of
Springfield Ramblers School Boys Club and is also Chair of Cobh Youth
Services. He was heavily involved in the recent development of Mount
Crozier tennis club as a local amenity.

SHERLOCK & RASMUSSEN WELCOME ADDITIONAL 2

MILLION FOR COBH
The announcement of an additional 2million for the CobhLandslide Project, which helped complete the programme in 2013. This is
very welcome news for the project in Cobh. The town has a history of landslides which has caused serious hardship and heartache for
residents therefore it is good to see this work being funded adequately to protect the town for the future.
The funding announced will allow for the completion of a programme of works based on a detailed engineers report which identified
some 37 slopes and walls that are most at risk. Substantial works have already been completed and the allocation of this funding will
allow works to be completed.

WORKING FOR COBH,

WORKING FOR YOU

TEEING COBH OFF TO THE

WORLD STAGE
It is heartening to see that Cobh and the Great Island area will be on the
global stage once again in 2014 with Fota hosting the Irish Open.
Scores of professional golfers will descend on Cork and Cobh for the Irish
Open this summer and now is a perfect chance to show Cobh in the best
light possible. The wonderful atmosphere around the Titanic 100
celebrations can be recreated once more as the golfing community take
to the greens and fairway of Fota.
This is an opportunity to ensure that the infrastructure around Cobh is
seen as state of the art and we will work to invest in this infrastructure.

Minister Sen Sherlock TD with co-opted Cllr Cathal

Rasmussen, former Cllr John Mulvihill and Mayor of Cobh Cllr
John Mulvihill Jnr.

With a new Labour team in place now for the area, we

still are focused on developing Cobh further emphasis
on:

SUPPORTING ENTERPRISE
The new Build your own business initiative will directly benefit
entrepreneurs in the Cork area to start up their own business. The new
scheme is aimed specifically at those unemployed for at least 15
months and offers a two year exemption from income tax, on those
incomes up to 40,000 per annum.

Tourism is a huge part of the Cobh economy and it is

vital that we keep the pressure on to complete the
projects at Spike Island and at the former ISPAT site. We
need to attract visitors, industries and new businesses to
the town and local area.

Totalling 500m, a range of initiatives have been funded to directly

support our SMEs, and will see cumbersome red tape cut and access to
credit increased. Targeted measures for our tourism industry include the
retention of the 9% VAT rate and the scrapping of the air travel tax.

Parking is another huge issue facing the town and we

need to do more to help the businesses to thrive not just
to survive.

Tackling the issue of cashflow, the annual VAT cash receipts basis
threshold for SMEs is being increased from 1.25m to 2m from 1st
May 2014. The Research and Development Tax Credit, will also make it
easier to pass a tax credit on to smaller businesses.

MUNICIPAL MARINA
MAKING PROGRESS
Progress is ongoing with the provision of a
new 74 berth marina at Whitepoint in
Cobh, which will act as a ferry to Spike
Island with the Cork Harbour Tours ferry
also operating from the marina.
Led by Cobh Sailing Club, the cost of the
Marina is 1.35 million with funding from various sources including Cork County Council. This is a vital piece of infrastructure for the
harbour area in Cobh and will open the island to even further tourism potential.

PROTECTING COBH, PROTECTING

THE FUTURE
The recent weather and flooding conditions in Belvalley and Cobh,
which resulted in the island being cut off from the mainland was
directly raised by myself and Cllr Cathal Rasmussen with Minister Brian
Hayes, who has responsibility for flood works.
Residents and Cllr Cathal Rasmussen also met with Brian Hayes and
held discussions on how best to protect Cobh. Discussions with OPW
engineers and Cork County Council are ongoing and will continue.

Cllr Cathal Rasmussen and Minister Sen Sherlock survey the postflooding situation in Cobh

RESHAPING THE LOWER HARBOUR,

PREPARING FOR
JOBS
As Minister for Research & Innovation, I
am continuously in negotiations to
reshape and exploit the full potential
of Cork Harbour, including the Lower
Harbour. We are partnering with
industry, the Navy, academic
institutions such as UCC, CIT, the
National Maritime College of Ireland,
the Port of Cork and other interest
groups to provide masterplan that will
position the Lower Harbour as a global
player.
Plans and partnerships with the Irish
Minister of State Sen Sherlock is
continuously working on attracting
Maritime & Energy Resource Cluster
employment to Cobh and Cork
and Marine Renewable Energy Ireland
(MAREI) will see new technology in
maritime environments utilised to deliver jobs to the Lower Harbour
Region.
MAREI has already created 77 jobs with a direct investment of 19million
from my Department through Science Foundation Ireland. We are
reshaping Cork Harbour as an economic hub for maritime technology that
will result in indigenous jobs being created, in the very near future.

PROTECTING INFANTS

Prof Mark Ferguson, Director of Science Foundation Ireland, Prof

Louise Kenny, Prof Geraldine Boylan and Mr. Sean Sherlock, Minister
of State for Research and Innovation

I was delighted to announce Government funding

through Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), of 7.6
million which will leverage a further investment of 6
million from 15 industry partners, for research at the
Irish Centre for Fetal and Neonatal Translational
Research (INFANT), at Cork University Hospital.
Irelands first centre for perinatal research will directly
improve treatment and care for pregnant mothers and
newborn babies.

CONTACT YOUR LABOUR TEAM AT ANY TIME

Sean Sherlock TD
Phone: 022-53523 / 087-7402057
Email: sean.sherlock@oir.ie
Write to me at:
Davis (Flemings) Lane,
Mallow, Cobh, Co. Cork
Sean Sherlock TD
@seansherlockTD

Working with
Cllr Cathal Rasmussen
Rosemount, West End Terrace
Cobh, Co. Cork
Phone: 086 8878421
Email: cathal.rasmussen1@gmail.com
Cllr Cathal Rasmussen
@cathalrasmussen