Is the idea of gondolas in Cork an idea whose “time has come”? 

For centuries, gondolas have been associated with the Italian city of Venice.

The tourist hotspot is home to stunning architecture and many miles of canals that have been traditionally navigated by boat.

Cork has the River Lee and Irish Examiner columnist Michael Moynihan believes “obviously” the city should introduce gondolas too.

“This is the innovation we’ve been waiting for to distract us from the agony last Sunday,” he told The Hard Shoulder.

“It’s an innovation in Medellín in Columbia of all places where it’s been a huge success.”

Man in a kneeling canoe making his way up the River Lee in the centre of Cork City, Ireland.

Mr Moynihan believes it is an idea whose “time has come” and he also wants local officials to spend more time and money maintaining the city fro visitors.

“The maintenance has to be done,” he said.

“We all have a love of the big launch and the photo op and the big speeches but… what I see in Cork and a couple of places is that work isn’t being done.

“You can say we’ve ticked the here and reimagined this corner with raised bed or whatever the urban equivalent is.

“But unless you maintain those, they quickly become an outdoor toilet for want of a better work.

“That work needs to be done and has to be done.”

Cork City. Image: © Peter Zoeller/Design Pics via ZUMA Wire

Mr Moynihan compared Ireland unfavourably to Spain in this regard.

“Anyone who has been away in Spain for the weekend, the first thing they’ll say is that they were up at six in the morning and, ‘They were out washing the streets and watering the plants and the city has a great attitude,’” he said.

“Certainly, that attitude of constant maintenance and upkeep I think, without blaming local authorities, that’s an attitude that needs to be driven into all our local authorities.

“That work has to be done on an ongoing basis - as opposed to occasionally doing it and then tweeting it for claps on the back.”

Before the pandemic, in bourn tourism was worth €7.3 billion to the Irish economy.

Main image: Gondolas in Venice. Picture by: Alamy.com