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According to emerging reports, it has been discovered that the 17-storey headquarters of Cork County Council uses similar cladding to the one which had been installed in Grenfell Towers in London.

The cladding, known as Reynobond Aluminium Composite Material, was installed in Carrigrohane Road's County Hall during a refurbishment project in 2006 – an endeavour which ultimately cost €62 million.

According to the council, the aluminium composite material is present on the exterior of the main council chamber within the foyer of an extension.

However, both the chief fire officer and the building’s facility manager are of the opinion that due to its limited use, coupled with installed fire safety measures which include sprinkler protection, automatic smoke ventilation system, automatic smoke detection, alarm systems and good escape routes, the material doesn't pose any increased risk to the individual.

Despite this, it has been established that an investigation into the proper installation of the material has been commissioned, and the council have confirmed that they will act on any recommendations put forward by experts.

The Grenfell Towers tragedy has claimed the lives of 79 people with the death toll expected to rise.

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Starbucks, the multinational coffee retailer is causing a lot of controversy in Cork city at the moment. 

The coffee shop recently opened three new stores across Cork on St Patrick's Street, Princess Street and Emmet Place.

They were all opened in commercial units which were previously retail shops, and the planning authority has since said that the company should have applied for planning permission to change the use of the stores before it opened. 

The decision comes five months after a planning dispute between Cork County Council and Starbucks was referred to An Bord Pleanála.

The County Council claimed that Starbucks should have changed the use of premises from a retail premises, while the coffee shop argued that most people take away their drinks, and thus the operation in nature is retail.

However, An Bord Pleanála has taken the council's side, and said that in all three cases “the scale, nature and layout of the coffee shop is more akin to a restaurant use which is expressly excluded from the definition of ‘shop’.”

Sorry, Starbucks. You lost out on this one.

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