Katie O’Regan’s love for The Lough runs deep. She grew up in the area, as did her dad.

The Lough has been there through all her life stages, and she is now rearing three small children with The Lough on her doorstep.

After a period of living in Canada, she returned to see that the Lough remained in need of investment.

“I saw how they kept their parks in Canada - obviously different budgets, different context, but still - The Lough could be so much better, especially the playground. So, I thought - stop complaining and do something about it.”

Feeding the ducks used to be a core activity at The Lough, but since we realised that feeding mouldy bread to birds is a bad idea, the playground is the main source of entertainment for smallies, and yet it has just four swings and one slide.

Plus, it is unenclosed, next to a body of water. For any owner of kids who tend to bolt, or who are keeping track of multiple children - a trip to The Lough playground can be a stressful outing.

Katie wants to change that. She started actively contacting local politicians and councillors about the issue in 2022, and began researching playground development costs and surveying locals about what they wanted from The Lough.

Full disclosure - Katie is a good neighbour of mine, and I have been closely watching her efforts to turn her love for The Lough into something tangible - a better playground for all the kids in Cork.

She is on a........

© Evening Echo