Ifs, buts and maybes!

As a passionate Scot, I could not let this week go by without writing about the Auld Country and of course the Brexit Referendum.

With the mountains of dust beginning to settle, on what was an astonishing decision for both the remain and leave faction, I get the very distinct impression that politicians on both sides of this troublesome fence have been, at best, stretching the truth and at worst, telling big fat porky pies!

From across the Irish Sea, where we are slightly removed from the real political bandwagon - that Big Red Bus with its dubious £350 million statement - we were only getting snippets of news, reports and sentiment, as reported through RTE.

However, if you are interested in politics, as I am, you would have been tuning into the BBC, Channel Four etc to get the real meat of the argument. More importantly you got to look into the proverbial eyes of politicians when tackled by a Dimbleby, a Neil or a Marr.

Over the weeks and days leading up to the historic vote, it became very clear that each side was spinning the truth. The collateral damage after the event has shown this to be the case.

The two main battle ground issues of the £350 million a week going to the EU, which would now be diverted to the NHS, was a lie! The Immigration Crisis was clearly not the problem Nigel and Boris made it out to be!

I suspect that there was far more going on in this campaign, as there always is with politics, than the issues that grabbed the headlines.

Clearly, Boris and his Machiavellian cohorts, have been plotting in the background to orchestrate a leadership change in the Tory Party. However, history will tell you that the assassin does not always become King and if he does his reign is often short lived.

Deep down, I would not be surprised if Boris actually appreciated Europe more than most on the leave side and what he actually tried to manipulate, was a referendum result where the “Leave Team” lost by 4%, Cameron resigned, and he took over the Tory Party leadership, without the need to leave the European Union!

“The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men, Gang aft agley” (Robert Burns 1785, “Tae a Moose”).

Unfortunately, for Boris, this was not the final result, as Farage was the stick in the bicycle wheel spokes, tossing the rider from his seat. The Farage far right rhetoric, bordering on racist scaremongering, made sure that Boris and his schemers lost this vote.

Unlike other elections, this vote cannot be reversed after a political term in office, where we can vote out the usurpers. Decision made – you’re stuck with it!

So what did we learn from this referendum? Boris is being lined up for short-term gain but long-term disaster and Corbyn is driving with the handbrake on.

Politicians are NOT in touch with the people who vote them in and this is endemic right through the political process. Unless you are paying attention to the political system, taking a keen interest, then at every election, National or Local, you will be hoodwinked by the “lies, damned lies and statistics” that our representatives blabber when your vote IS most needed.

There appears to be no turning back, but like all these convoluted processes, there may well be light at the end of this very dark tunnel.

I suspect that once Boris or A.N. Other sacrificial lamb, negotiates Brexit we will see all manner of compromise, on both sides of the European Border, and a pseudo exit will be negotiated.

Will we learn from this historic decision? Of course we won’t because we will always vote for a monkey and not an organ grinder.

The good news is we can now bring back “Spitting Image”, as the Boris and Trump combo, will be the Thatcher and Reagan of this 21^st Century.

Blood, Sweat and Gears!

On Sunday 12^th June, 15 Waterford Biscuit Cycling Club members, suitably clad in “Cookie Monster” blue and Canary yellow Lycra, gathered on the start line, in Gerystones, for the start of probably one of Ireland’s most challenging cycles – the Wicklow 200 kilometres.

These 15 Waterford representatives, were tackling the 200km for the first, second and third time. With each cyclist secure in the knowledge that they had their own personal goal. That might just be to complete the 200km or to better a previous times, set on these same, most torturous of routes, over some of Wicklow’s and Ireland’s toughest, steepest and longest climbs.

At 07:00 the first packet of Biscuits set off in what could only be described as “winter conditions”. In fact it was so wet, dark, misty and miserable that the pop-up stall selling cycling clothing actually ran out of waterproof apparel!

Joyous, polite conversation soon stopped as the first hill appeared out of the gloom. The beginning of many leg burner and lung buster climbs, soon spread the cyclists into a thin thread of multi-coloured fluorescent nodding donkeys. With gritted teeth we ploughed on, some wheezing and coughing at this early stage, up the hill. Clearly, by the time the summit was crested, some had realised the enormity of the challenge and many were deciding to take on the 100km option and avoid the punishing Full Monty 200km.

 

As we spun ever forward, the arduous Wicklow Gap, which was indistinguishable due to the low cloud and torrential rain, beckoned us like a Siren luring a nearby sailor towards the rocks. Once again the silence was deafening and some cyclists were dismounting at this early stage and pushing their bikes up the Gap. The strange thing was that as the whole hill was not visible, the climb seemed to be over very quickly and the summit suddenly appeared out of the mist. It was a cold, treacherous, rapid descent towards the first food stop where a warm cup of tea was waiting to recharge our batteries.

On and on we pedalled, kilometre after long kilometre, making friends as we went. The “Cookie Monster” jersey branding, making a conversation piece and catching the eye of many a cyclist. Even more impressive, when you would pass a larger group on the flat or overtaking whilst climbing a steep hill.

Flying the flag for Waterford, we pressed on to tackle Slieve Mann and Shay Elliot. Two challenging climbs that literally come as a pair! These two ball breakers appear after 120 km of tough hard cycling and test your mental and physical resolve. Box ticked! It was onwards to the final pit stop to refuel for the last 55km push to the finish line.

The last 55km would challenge those who set a personal time goal. I myself was trying to cover the 200km in less than 7 hours. I had to travel the last undulating 55km in circa one hour and 36 minutes to beat that goal. I pushed as hard as I could, but alas the 7 hours ticked by on my GPS computer with around 5 kilometres to go! Nearly made it – maybe next year!

Strangely enough my memory of the first 145km was quite clear and yet I had completely forgotten about all the ups on the last home section. The Avoca climb and Ballinacor/Barndarrig hills burned my legs like never before – Jane would have been proud! I don’t think we stopped going up and down until the last 2 or 3 kilometres. All in all another great days cycling and some memories to last forever.

Ooops!!!!

As cycling ambassadors for Waterford, the Biscuit Club flies an “odd flag” with many a look of “what the ....”, especially when passed, and yet the reaction from most is priceless and unique. At the finish line the “Cookie Monster” top, was one of the most photographed, of any of the clubs taking part.

We are all in our own way, brand ambassadors for Waterford and we all have story to tell.

“A Cup for Life” – no it is NOT an early April Fools!

Waterford City was last week left shell-shocked, by the terrible news that the Waterford to London Luton air route will yet again be pulled, cancelled and withdrawn, from our regional airport. This now means that the regional airport has once again been left floundering in a desperate search of yet another European carrier to fill this cavernous void.

The BIG question is, “Is there another carrier out there?”

It is a glaring fact, that the very fast, traffic light free M9 has made it so much easier to travel north, towards all things Dublin, and the cheap flight options which this brings. There are very few people, south of the M7 corridor, actually travelling back down the M9, towards Waterford airport and all things “Sunny South East”!

If you were in any way up to speed with this carrier’s business profile, you will have known that they have been in financial difficulties for some time now. With mounting, unsustainable losses, it was realistically only a matter of time before the inevitable happened and the business effectively ceased trading.

This bitter pill to swallow was, I am sure, discussed at last week’s full Council Plenary meeting. However I was made aware, via a media twitcher, that in the midst of yet another crisis that will adversely affect our FDI profiling and the economic stability of the city, county and region in general, some of our Councillors put forward an implausible motion (please note this motion was not passed) calling on our patchwork quilt of a Government to, and wait for it, as you are reading this correctly;

“Ban take-away coffee cups, asking the Government to introduce some sort of “Cup for Life” plan, similar to the plastic bag scheme!” Because as we all know a cup is not just for Christmas it should be for life!

Are we really going to ask all our citizens and visitors alike to carry a mug from home or a “Cup for Life” around with them whilst in work or at play? NO!!!!!

Can you imagine in 2017, tourists coming to Waterford after a weary trip down from “Up North” (the regional airport having failed to receive Government funding to extend the runway and thus attract a viable carrier). Are said tourists, expected to wander around the City Centre and dropping into one of our excellent coffee shops only to be met by someone saying to them, “I can’t serve you coffee unless you’ve brought your own cup!”

Now think this through to it’s obvious conclusion. Coffee shops could sell a “cup for life” to the customers but that might add another €3 or €4 to the price of a coffee and besides when you are on holiday the very last things you want to be looking after is a bloody coffee cup for life!!!!!!

The customer is without doubt going to think they have arrived in a banana republic, that has clearly lost all sense of reality.

Imagine yourself on holiday, in the sunny south of Spain, and you are presented with the same scenario by the tanned smouldering barista? The answer would be “Feck Off!” or at least words similar to this phrase, but maybe with a different vowel here and there! You would laugh and walk away never to return to that coffee emporium again. Or better still you would present the barista with a bucket, telling him this is your Cup for Life, and asking him to fill it to the brim, with his expensive coffee!

How do the Councillors propose controlling portion size? How do you stop insurance claims from people burning themselves? All current take away coffee cups tell you, “this cup contains hot liquid” and who is going to get THAT printed on the family’s finest bone china?

Clearly, then some of our Councillors have far too much time on their hands. Should they not be getting on with the business of making Waterford an economic powerhouse?

“A Cup for Life” – don’t make me laugh!

Yippee, the summer is here!

Yes, yes, yes!!!! It was officially the start of the meteorological summer on Wednesday 1^st June and some say that we have much to look forward to over the next weeks and months.

The recent run of Mediterranean weather has set us all off on a “happy footing”, unless of course you are about to sit Junior and Leaving cert exams! It always amazes me that the weather, since records began, is at its glorious best just as we imprison our kids in stifling exam halls and subject them to two or three hours of trying to unpick the complex grey matter that resides between their ears. Good luck to all concerned!

The City and its wider environs have seen some positive stories recently. For example the berthing of the huge cruise ship, Celebrity Silhouette, just off Dunmore East and the thousands of day-trippers who visited the City Centre, giving a much needed boost to many a thirsty, dehydrated shop till. Of course the continued location filming of Redwater in this village, will undoubtedly add to the “Sunny South East” mantra and I am sure all involved in this production will be relishing the summer weather that currently betters most of continental Europe.

With many a festival also on the horizon for the City and wider afield there should be plenty to get our teeth sunk into and lots to do for residents and visitors alike.

“City In Bloom” will shortly burst into life and draping the Waterford in a magical multi-coloured coat of wondrous joy that will stay with us right up to September. Spraoi will be back before we know it and then there is Day Tripper, admittedly in a new venue, not the traditional City Centre location, but still promoting a line-up, that has once again something for everyone, whether you are young or an auld one! The much vaunted Summerval has much to live up to if it is to validate all the promised hype and we hope that the festival can deliver on its €138,000 funded budget. Actually adding significantly to the City Centre footfall? We will keep a close eye on this one.

If festivals are not your thing, then you only have to travel a few miles out of the City Centre to find the type of scenery that would whet the appetite of Allsopp and Spencer. “Now here’s a view!”, we could all confidently boast to this pair of presenters.

Our region has the best of both sea and mountain views. Depending on which way you drive our coast road, you get two completely differing panoramas and two vistas that would grace the cover of any Lonely Planet guide or a Michael Palin travel book. We really are spoiled for choice.

Sea swimming is of course a must and we have kilometre upon kilometre of hushed, unspoiled beaches just waiting to be discovered.

These, mostly free attractions, should and could be the envy of many another county. But sadly, once again, we seem to be possibly sinking to the bottom of the league when attracting these much vaunted International Visitors who seem to be spending many a Euro outside of the South East.

This has always puzzled me and bewildered many more besides. When so many citizens of Waterford, are aware of just what we have to offer, why oh why is this message not being spread, by those promoters of Irish tourism? 

Are we now finding ourselves, a regional tourist area, that has literally fallen between the two stools that are the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’s Ancient East? Are we the furthest away point from both of these behemoths and therefore seen as “just off the beaten track!”

Are we happy to be once again feeding off the odd crumb indignantly tossed to us by the powers that be?

If we are to compete with the other more established tourism brands then we must differentiate our product.

“People Make Waterford” so let’s make that happen!

Lashings of Ginger Beer!

I was lucky enough to return to the local airwaves last weekend and appear on the panel of WLR’s Maria McCann’s Sunday review show, known as “The Week”. My fellow panel guests were Brain Swift and Tadgh Williams. I also brought, to share, some salted caramel cookies, which appear to have been a favourite of Maria’s – future guests please take note!

Some say I have the perfect face for radio! What I do know, is that not only do I appear to sound like Shrek on the radio, with my retreating hairline I am beginning to look, well facially at least, like the big green ogre as well!

The review of news from the week that was, was lively, direct, straight talking, humorous (I hope) and expertly directed, as usual, by our host Maria. During the review we discussed many topics and subjects. Naturally we also talked politics.

A challenge was laid down to our four sitting TDs and our newest Senator – our very own “Famous Five!”

The Famous Five were of course a series of children’s adventure books, written by Enid Blyton. The Five in question being Julian, Anne, Dick, George and of course George’s dog, known as Timmy.

These Five would get together in the County of Dorset. Every summer holiday recess, upon returning from their various boarding schools dotted around the country. Embarking on many an unlikely adventure in the twenty plus books penned by the author. No matter what difficult challenges lay ahead, these Five would inevitably succeed and do what was necessary to “get the job or task done!” There was no second guessing, they just rolled up their sleeves and literally got stuck in. With a vim and vigour that would put most adults to shame.

Their adventures would later make our silver screens in the mid eighties as a Channel Four spoof series, from “The Comic Strip Presents”. Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Peter Richardson would play the lead roles. This tongue in cheek homage to the original stories would parody Blyton’s books and in a cruel twist of modernisation they added racism to the children’s characters, sexisms and even managing to incorporate some extremely right-wing political views!

With our continued regional position at the top of the third tier of Ireland’s economic recovery, supported by the recent quarterly figures, showing a rather alarming 12.5% unemployment rate across the South East region. Radical thinking is needed in order to drag Waterford, kicking and screaming, and the wider south east region out of the malaise that we find ourselves in.

It was with this background, that the panel on Sunday’s radio show came up with the novel idea that perhaps, just perhaps, we could ask “Our Famous Five” to come together and champion the three, four or five key economic issues/drivers for Waterford, and the wider region?

To do this they would have to ditch the dinosaur party politics that have failed us and come to the table, to work together, for the betterment of the City, County and ultimately the wider geographical region. A region that has once again been left short of a full Ministerial Portfolio, from the cabinet shuffle and therefore we will still be feeding off the occasional crumb thrown to us from the top table!

This type of giant step political thought needs bravehearts and committed political resolve to barter a better deal for the very electorate that put an “X” on the ballot paper way back in late February.

Richardson, Saunders, Edmondson & French.

I would happily facilitate and take the chair at this meeting. In my capacity as Chair of the Waterford Business Group, with no political affiliations or, being apolitical in this instance. When we see other regional TDs banding together and racing ahead of Waterford and the south east, we need “Our Famous Five” to step up to the plate and I am happy to help get this ball rolling!

“A clown needn't be the same out of the ring as he has to be when he's in it.” Enid Blyton.