There's been a broad welcome to the news locally that shops are to reopen in the city.
Cork City Council says on-street parking charges will be in place from Monday however free parking will continue at Paul St and North Main Street multi-storey car parks.
The Black Ash Park & Ride facility is also reopening to customers from next week.
Speaking to RedFM News in the past few minutes Pat O'Connell from the English Market, which has been operating with social distancing throughout the pandemic, says Cork city is ready to welcome shoppers back.
"Cork city has been ready for it the last two weeks to be honest, I think people are really anxious to get back to normality.
"I think it's becoming obvious that Covid-19 is going to be with us for a while, so we're going to have to learn how to live with it.
"I think businesses are very anxious to get back and I think the staff are anxious to get back."
Although O'Connell admits that big crowds flocking to the city centre is a worry, he says that people so far have been very patient and understanding.
"There's always a worry, but in fairness if the market is anything to go by people are being very sensible, they're keeping their social distance.
"You're seeing a lot more people wearing masks, and you're seeing people being really patient and understanding, in the shops it's obviously a little bit slower, but look if that's what we have to do to get back to some sort of new normality I think they're quite prepared to do that."
