{"id":568629,"date":"2026-07-26T07:47:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T07:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/568629\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T07:47:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T07:47:21","slug":"access-to-murphys-rock-cut-off-over-concerns-about-anti-social-behaviour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/568629\/","title":{"rendered":"Access to Murphy\u2019s Rock cut off over concerns about anti-social behaviour"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"contextmenu internal_Body1st\">The Land Development Agency (LDA) has installed several gates to cut off public access to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.echolive.ie\/corknews\/arid-41772542.html\">Murphy\u2019s Rock <\/a>after it acquired the lands from the Industrial Development Agency earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">An LDA spokesperson said that it had taken proactive steps to secure the site and ensure its safe and appropriate management in response to a number of unauthorised activities, including the placement of horses and the use of scrambler motorcycles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Members of the public had been in touch with concerns about the welfare of the horses, damage to adjoining properties, noise, and anti-social behaviour, activities the LDA says give rise to significant health and safety concerns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The spokesperson continued: \u201cThe Kilbarry lands are not currently suitable for unrestricted public access owing to challenging ground conditions and topography. There are no formal access routes, pathways or supporting infrastructure within the site,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">They added that the LDA intends to bring forward proposals for public consultation early next year, which will include \u201cmeaningful engagement and consultation\u201d with locals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\n            \u201cThe proposals will include formalised public access and a park along the western end of the site. They will also provide wider public open space, play areas, recreational facilities and wider community infrastructure,\u201d\u00a0\n        <\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">they said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Joan Lewis, neighbour of and longtime advocate for Murphy\u2019s Rock, said that though many entrances had been blocked off with large gates, the green area could still be accessed from other spots.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Trish O\u2019Mahony, another local advocate, said they had \u201chuge concerns\u201d that the access would be completely taken away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cThere\u2019s people walking here hundreds of years. I know the LDA own the land now but it\u2019s not developed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">They are both concerned about the impact of the housing plans on the wide array of wildlife, and expressed concern that the promised LDA park facility would be \u201coverdeveloped\u201d compared to the area\u2019s current natural state.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5168449_4_articleinlinemobile_WhatsApp_20Image_202026-07-23_20at_2014.44.57.jpeg\" alt=\"Trish O'Mahony and Joan Lewis, Murphy's Rock.\" title=\"Trish O'Mahony and Joan Lewis, Murphy's Rock.\" class=\"card-img\"\/>Trish O&#8217;Mahony and Joan Lewis, Murphy&#8217;s Rock.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Green Party councillor Oliver Moran, to whom the LDA statement was provided, said that the community is clear on a vision of a \u201cwilder place\u201d which safeguards access to the riverside and the ecology.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">He added that there was a huge amount of housing development in the area, which \u201ccan\u2019t be without meaningful amenity spaces, and access to nature and play\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Land Development Agency (LDA) has installed several gates to cut off public access to Murphy\u2019s Rock after&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568630,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[62890,79,6037,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-568629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-cork-housing-crisis","tag-cork-news","tag-cork-city-council","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}