Cork’s landmark buildings, including City Hall, County Hall, the Port of Cork and UCC, will be turning red this week as the city launches the “We are Cork” brand to promote the area.
Cork City Council, Cork County Council, Cork Airport, the Port of Cork and business and tourism interests are backing the initiative.
Tánaiste Simon Coveney said “We Are Cork” is designed to bring everything in the area under one banner.
“The city and county is going to be the fastest growing part of the country for the next two decades and it is essential that campaigns like ‘We Are Cork’ are initiated to make the most out of the business to be done”.
Cork City Council chief executive and chairwoman of the We Are Cork steering committee, Ann Doherty, said collaboration is the cornerstone of the initiative.
“The brand has unilateral support from all major players in Cork, unifying Cork’s positioning and messaging to help us tell the Cork story cohesively overseas as well as at home. With Brexit around the corner, it is vital to be prepared for the challenges and opportunities that this will inevitably bring. We Are Cork is vital to our strategy to help realise the ambitious growth targets for our region set by Government in Ireland 2040.”
Cork County Council chief executive, Tim Lucey said Cork is unique in terms of its offering, balancing significant urban growth with a quality of life across rural, coastal and island communities that is second to none.
“Our highly talented workforce and low cost of doing business is a proven attraction, but it is the quality of how we live that secures retention. We Are Cork has incredible potential, we just need to live it now and into the future.”
Cork has previously topped the Financial Times European League for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) table and is currently home to 158 FDI companies, including global leaders Dell EMC and VMware, Pfizer, Eli Lilly.
Cork has been voted the top small city for business friendliness and the third friendliest location in the world.