Why I believe that Derry should start taking a leaf out of Cork's book

I love Cork. I love everything about it. I admire the swagger and its energy and most of all the attitude of Corkians.

Cork as we know is known as the Rebel County, a name given to it by King Henry Vll for their futile attempt at a rebellion in 1491.

Cork has a population of 200,000 and is about twice the size of Derry. It’s the third largest city in Ireland and Derry as we know is the 4th.

Corkonians have a confidence and a spring in their step. Cork does have a rivalry with Dublin particularly in sport but in many ways, Cork has always taken its own path.

What I mean by that is that Cork tries to be Cork. It doesn't try to emulate Dublin or clone what Dublin has.

Don't get me wrong, there is always the rivalry to get their fair share of funding from government but Cork has its own plans and ambitions.

Its planning department for example is the slickest in Ireland and light years ahead of other cities.

It's probably not by accident that Cork is one of the most beautiful cities in Ireland.

When it comes to ambition Cork probably tops that category as well. In 2017 it launched a plan to almost double the size of the cIty area. The plan which still has to get Dail approval will see the geographical area of the city increase by 85%.

Then in October 2020, Cork Council approved plans for a €140m development at the old Port of Cork that will include Ireland's tallest building. The Tower at Customs House Quay will be 140m high or 34 stories in height and will house a 241-bed 5-star hotel.

So why all this talk about Cork?

Well, it really is a tale of two cities.

Both Cork and Derry share a rivalry with Dublin and Belfast. Cork, however, does seem to be fairing a lot better than Derry.

Derry recently announced the City Deal of £250m, which is absolutely fantastic.

Compare this, however, with Cork which as I said earlier is doubling its city size and is currently enjoying a €1bn investment boom in offices, hotels and apartments.

On top of this there is another €1bn planned investment for Cork's sprawling docklands. That's a whopping €2bn in a city about twice the size of Derry. We are doing well but Cork is flying.

So, what do I think we are doing wrong?

I think we actually need to take a leaf out of the Cork playbook.

I think Derry needs to be bolder and get back that swagger which people like Paddy Bogside had. Paddy's motto was always 'it's better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission'.

Paddy and many like him were pioneers. They led from the front and had deep self-belief. There were many like Paddy in Derry and this part of Ireland was known for getting things done.

Don’t get me wrong, we still have some great local champions in Derry but their ideas often get drowned out.

We need these people to be heard and involved a lot more if we are to meet the true potential of this city.

And when it comes to branding Derry like Cork, we shouldn't be afraid to buck the trend and step out of its comfort zone. Derry is different and shouldn't strive to be a mini-Belfast.

I'm tired of people seeing what Belfast has and thinking 'we need that in Derry'.

No, we don't, and people responsible for economic policy planning in the city need to realise that trying to transplant something here because it works in Belfast doesn't mean it will be successful.

Belfast is bigger and has two airports with routes throughout the UK and EU and two huge universities.

It also has the largest FE college in NI. Certain things will work in Belfast because it has the scale to support it. It's a bigger, better connected city than Derry and will always attract more FDI than Derry because it's also within 90 minutes travel time to Dublin.

We need to get over that and develop our own niche and clear brand.

If the sum of our economic planning is let's do that because Belfast has it, then as Private James Frazer would say in Dad's Army 'We are doomed'.

I've seen so many examples of this blinkered approach to economic planning in the last 20 years and we really have wasted a lot of time chasing other cities economic success stories without focusing on our own unique success stories.

Cork doesn't mimic or try to clone what Dublin does. It has the confidence to set its own agenda. We need to do the same.

And the good news for Derry and Donegal is that we do have a great story to tell. Derry and Donegal are different.

They both compliment each other and post-Covid we really need to work closer together to brand the region as one destination for work and tourism. If we are told by others that we can't then we should plough on and do it.

The other big positive in the region is the fact we have some of the best and most innovative small businesses in Ireland.

The only negative is we don’t do enough to champion them. For the last 15 years we have basically put the development and attraction of digital/creative businesses and most recently Fintech top of our agenda.

Of course, these businesses are important but we really need a balanced approach to economic policy. Quite often many other fantastic examples of local entrepreneurs which are 'less glamorous' businesses, don't get the focus they deserve.

My point is we need to champion our local talent more often and celebrate their success. The reality is we need to encourage them and hopefully others because a growing city need a growing business class.

What strikes me about Cork is the visibility of more local small locally owned shops/cafes in the centre. Again, we need to examine how they seem to have more success than us in that area.

Another couple of areas I have touched upon that Derry needs to improve on is planning.

Cork seems miles ahead in terms of city planning and particularly in how it seems to tackle empty or derelict buildings.

There is no silver bullet solution to this but at least they seem to be tackling it head on.

Derry needs to look at how Cork and others deal with this, as derelict crumbling buildings within the city centre really don't help us attract tourists or jobs.

Our planning process within Derry needs to be a lot quicker and consistent.

So, let's push on with the City Deal and use this as the catalyst to attract another £500m to the city.

As I said, Derry needs to create its own niche.

Bologna in Italy is known as 'la Rosa' (the Red).

Cork we know has its own unique identity so Derry should probably build on the Legenderry brand and stand out or develop something else.

Economically we were once the shirt capital of the world for almost 100 years. At that same time, Belfast was a world-beating shipbuilding giant.

A lot has happened since we both lost those crowns but our economic planning model needs to focus on our strengths and not clone whatever Belfast does.

Lastly and I've already said it, but let's start by putting our local business talent front and centre and across every sector.

If we don't champion our local talent no one else will.