In the Minority Report compiled by Prof Dermot Keogh and Dr Theresa Reidy they dissented from the recommendation that the Cork City Council and Cork County Council should be amalgamated.
They argued the county should retain a city council and a county council and that the city’s administrative area be expanded considerably.
They said areas in the immediate hinterland of the administrative boundary, including Douglas and Togher, should be integrated into the city. The new boundary, they said, should also include the commuter areas of Ballincollig, Blarney, Glanmire, Carrigtwohill, Ringaskiddy, Carrigaline and Ballygarvan.
The academics opposed to the Majority Report said Cork city needed an independent and autonomous future.
They also recommended the already strong horizontal co-operation between Cork City Council and Cork County Council be placed on a formal basis, with joint committees established to lead strategic policy in areas such as economic development, planning, transport and international co-operation.
Prof Keogh and Dr Reidy said the essential point was that the economic and social dysfunction which provided the foundation for amalgamation decisions in Limerick and Waterford simply did not apply in Cork city or county.
