County Mayor's Diary Cllr Christopher O'Sullivan

Climate change is the defining issue of our time and we are at a defining moment. Scientists predict that catastrophic climate change will involve widespread destruction of property and infrastructure, major political unrest, mass migrations of climate refugees and the eventual breakdown of our food production systems.

I welcome the adoption of the Climate Adaptation Strategy as Cork County Council has an important role to play in Cork adapting to climate change. This strategy provides a framework to facilitate this allowing us to affect change in terms of climate adaptation and to give climate change considerations prominence in the delivery of council services.

We had almost 60 submissions to our public consultation process. What was very clear from these submissions is the urgent need for a climate change mitigation strategy, a strategy that would tackle carbon emissions and biodiversity loss. This is something I would love to see come to fruition during my term as mayor.

I recently attended the Network Ireland Awards in Rosscarbery. Network Ireland is Ireland’s longest and most established women focused business network. The annual conference and awards is the largest event of its kind in Ireland for professional women. Cork County Council is the main sponsor of the conference. The platform that Network Ireland has established is a great way to promote equality and empower women in business. I was honoured to meet the truly inspiring women in attendance.

Whether it’s in business, education, politics or community life, we need to challenge obstacles to success wherever we see them. One thing which shouldn’t impact our ability to participate in life to its fullest is ageing. This is part of the message of Positive Ageing Week.

The week kicked off on Monday with the conclusion of a really innovative pilot in Mitchelstown led by Cork County Council in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland. This challenge was to test and explore ways to use technology to help elderly people maintain a good quality of life in their own homes. Mitchelstown is already an Age Friendly Town, making it the perfect test site. The challenge was met by Independent Living Ireland in collaboration with Amicitia Social Enterprise, Cork City Partnership’s Friendly Call Cork, Nimbus Research Centre in CIT and Health Innovation Hub Ireland. It’s a great example of how we can improve quality of life here in Cork by working together to overcome challenges.

Every challenge that we face as a county can be met with innovation and collaboration. Cork county is home to incredible people from all walks of life, some of the finest education and research facilities in the country, incredible business talent, and dedicated community groups. This makes us adaptable as a region.

I’m confident that this strength will pay huge dividends for us going forward.