Just where is OUR money???

We have heard many a local radio news snippet, over recent months and read countless column inches in our local newspapers, about the millions of Euros promised for Waterford’s infrastructural projects. These projects were to be “game changers” that would bring some parity to the complete lack of “regional investment” over countless numbers of years.

Yet, we are now, how many weeks on, from the last General Election and can anyone honestly says we have received a €1 towards these so called “game changers”? So many political representatives indicated that these would bankroll Waterford’s economic future.

The North Quay, where work seems to have literally ground to a halt. Due, I am sure, to engineering concerns around weight loadings on the old, frail and fragile “piles” that are precariously holding up the hundreds of tons of rubble. This whole area has been designated as a Strategic Development Zone (SDZ), which is good news and I recall that €30 million had been promised and earmarked, by FG, to develop the site and link it directly to the City Centre. That was over 16 months ago!

Has any of this money actually been drawn down, excuse the banking terminology and allocated to Waterford Council to start this much needed regeneration process? I don’t recall hearing or seeing any big media fanfare announcing that the “cash” had been lodged into the Council coffers. Therefore I have to assume that NO money has yet been received for the SDZ to start and ultimately flourish.

This same sad story can be repeated at the Airport. We were promised many Euros to develop that runway, allowing larger jets access to Waterford and the 500,000 people of South East region. But, once again, not one cent of this appears to have come our way. In fact we are now being told that money is available for everything else, but the essential runway extension!

In the meantime, the people of the South East are discovering that Dublin is now much, much closer and easier to reach. The M9 has not a traffic light in sight and with the Newlands Cross flyover, the journey time to Dublin is more than manageable and predictable. The east coast N11/M11 route from Wexford is also to a large extent quicker than days of old and when the New Ross second bridge comes on stream, we will have a choice of two very fast direct routes to Dublin.

I also imagine that the business case for a consistent, less than two hour drive from Dublin to Waterford, is now working against us. Many FDI investors have far longer commute times to work! So the case for a regional airport in the south east diminishes even further. This assumption seems to carry some weight when we review the fact that only circa 6 FDI visits have taken place in Waterford this year! We seem once again to be on the road to becoming a less attractive alternative to many other cities and regions.

There is the ongoing debacle around UHW – no need to regurgitate the shambolic mess that some have created here.

So, these three are examples of promises that have not materialised. Money that had been “earmarked” for Waterford and yet none, nil, nada, zilch, seems to have been paid to us, to start our economic recovery and get our City and region booming once again!

On foot of the non-delivery of these funds, we are hearing far too many of our political representatives scoring points against each other. Rather than working out just where this alternative money might come from, they spin the “if we were in Government line”.

Why do other political regions deliver actual real infrastructure investment? Surely, all politicians have the same access to identical Civil Servants, who might just be able to point them in the right direction, explaining how to loosen the purse strings.

We are systematically being downgraded and this will continue unless we see the promised Euros coming our way to stem the tide.

Sadly, we appear to have too many King Cnuts (more commonly know as Canute).

Band!

As I have said and written about, on too many occasions to mention, this City has a smorgasbord of talent that just needs the right mechanisms to be showcased. We really do have leaders in so many fields. But, unfortunately the flip side to this is that we don’t in truth actually seem to be able shout from the rafters, to tell the outer reaches of our region that this is the case.

I have been attending the Massed Bands Concert now for a numbers of years and this year my Mother, Pam, and her partner, Ally, made their way from Scotland, by land and sea, to stay in Dunmore East for the last three weeks. This trip coincided with the Massed Bands Concert and naturally I wished to bring them along to hear some of the very best that Waterford has to offer.

Now, my Mum is a very talented and special lady. She, in a past life was a secondary school teacher in, shall I politely say, one of the tougher areas of County Fife – Cowdenbeath! An old mining town in Scotland, that would perhaps best be known for their semi-professional football team’s nickname “The Blue Brazil”. Incidentally, neither the football, scenery or the weather has any similarities with Brazil!

The Blue Brazil

Whilst teaching not only did Mum find time to create, pen and direct a number school musicals. She was very heavily involved in local amateur dramatics, through Glenrothes Amateur Musical Association (GAMA), wrote and starred in many a “one-woman” show and in general has a capacity for spotting genuine talent and talented people. So, this showcase of Waterford musical talent would be right up her street and something that she and Ally would enjoy to the max.

We duly turned up at the venue on Friday 14^th October, cushions in hand to protect our delicate derrières, and having met some of the performers and volunteers, we settled down for a night of emotional highs and lows.

Oh boy, this concert once again delivered!!!!

The unique combination of the De La Salle Scout Pipe Band, City of Waterford Brass, Thomas Francis Meagher Fife and Drum Band, and the Barrack Street Concert Band, supported by the Waterford Sting Ensemble, made very sweet music. The task of bringing four very distinct musical sounds together cannot be underestimated. Both Julie Quinlan and Mark Fitzgerald waved their magical batons with astonishing affect. The combination of pipes, drums, brass, strings and the “big triangle” was an intoxicating mix.

During the pipe medley my own national anthem “Flower of Scotland” was played and three loan figures stood up, in front of an audience of hundreds, and we sang away to our hearts’ content. Though I did notice the odd strange look of “What are those three doing?” and I am sure that once it was explained that this was Scotland’s national anthem, we were Scottish through and through, then all was ok and we were not to be labelled loopy!

The evening once again delivered an exhilarating night of musical tunes, airs, marches and some wonderful singing by Valerie Leahy, Donna Roche and David Flynn.

If you missed this annual jamboree of the very best of Waterford talent, then you must put the date in your diary for 2017 and ensure that you tell the world.

I ask Mum and Ally what they thought of the evening. Not only were they both delighted to be asked to attend, by Ger O’Brien, they, like me and the hundreds of people who came along, felt the evening was magnificent.

A City of Music, we certainly are, and yet outside of our ancient walls, we seem to be lacking in that confidence to tell people that, at some things, we are amongst the very best in the region if not the nation. We have this fear of telling other people, which seems to be endemic and we must ALL work much harder to promote the many talented people we all know live here in Waterford.

Maybe the missing few who did not attend have a big part to play in this going forward?

P.S. Well done Mr Q - you know who you are!

“You can have any colour as long as it’s orange!”

On Sunday 9^th October over 2,000 participants completed the Solas Cancer Support Centre South East Run and Walk for Life. This event is one of the biggest participant events in the South East region and is now one of those annual events, that many a runner and walker make a priority, to train for, and to take part in.

The 2016 event started on the beautiful quays of Ireland’s Oldest City, against the backdrop of the mighty River Suir and the Thomas Francis Meagher Bridge. This rises majestically, over 100 metres, as a modern symbol of Waterford in the 21st Century. This mix of young and old was replicated in orange on Sunday. With hundreds of mums, dads, grannies, grandpas, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, friends and even assorted dogs, all working together to complete the 10-mile run or 5-mile walk.

Everyone wore orange – even some dogs!

There were no other colour choices and, unlike the misquoted Henry Ford, it is the “no other colour option”, for the t-shirt, that makes the Run and Walk for Life the most stunning of visual events. 

It is this tsunami of orange, particularly at the start and finish line, which shows the real commitment of ALL the people who fundraise for the Solas Cancer Support Centre.

As Chair of the organising committee I had once again a very dedicated team of volunteers, supported by Centre staff, delivered another stunning, safe and uplifting event. This committee worked tirelessly, in the background, putting the necessary logistics in place that allowed so many to raise the necessary funds to allow the Centre to operate its support services. Such has been the success of the fundraising efforts that a Dungarvan support service has been introduced to provide for the population in the “wesht” of the County.

Having helped marshal, with the Garland Clan and Waterford Business Group, on the busy junction at the John’s Street, we moved to the finish line. But not before I afforded myself the opportunity to have some great fun and interaction, aided and abetted by a loudhailer. “Negative encouragement!” was one comment from a bystander, listening intently to “Sherk the Steward”.

At the finish line we organised the Fun for Life. There were numerous food stalls, play areas and enough bouncy castles to keep even the most hyperactive child amused for hours on end.

I positioned myself just a few meters away from the line to try to acknowledge every runner and walker that crossed, having completed either the 10-mile or 5-mile route. It was so refreshing and emotional to see the thousands of people breaking the timing beam, having completed and finished their respective courses.

Witnessing tears of joy and obvious tears of sadness, it was an emotional rollercoaster for anyone who watched the finishers. Many who burst into tears were very obviously remembering loved ones that they had lost to cancer and by completing the course, in their honour, their cherished memories will live on forever.

There were dogs pulling their owners, owners pulling their dogs, mums pushing double buggies, parents collecting their very small children and crossing the line holding hands. It was a sight to bring tears of joy to every pair of eyes.

The Solas Cancer Support Centre South East Run and Walk for Life is truly a mammoth voluntary team endeavour. The tens of stewards lining the route, the tens of people handing out water, bananas, “healthy bars” (some chocolate as well but it is nice to get a treat!), the support services who provided medical support, other voluntary groups who marshalled key road traffic junctions, and so on. All of these people played their part in making the 2016 event another benchmark success story.

The bar well and truly has been raised.

Regular readers will know that I am involved in many a Waterford committee and I have to go on record as saying that the Run and Walk for Life Committee and the wider voluntary team, are very special. They, to a man and a woman, knew what was needed and delivered in spades. 

Orange has always been the new black here in Waterford. 

Your budget is just around the corner!

Waterford Council is currently preparing the 2017 budget. Last week we saw the first shots being fired in this annual battle of the abacuses. Our Councillors, quite rightly, opposed and ultimately rejected an Executive proposal that would have increased your household charge, roof tax or Council tax by 7.5%.

This planned increase was to fill an indicated, circa €1,300,000, deficit hole in the 2017 budget. Interestingly, a similar figure also needed to be found, for a fissure that appeared in the 2016 budget – due, we were told, to the recalculation of rateable income from mobile phone masts and Irish Water infrastructure (I think!). With the direct result that an empty premises, commercial rates charge, of circa 20%, of the rateable value being introduced and levied on all empty premises in the City and County.

To be asking struggling households to stretch already broken family budgets and pay further housing tax would take even more money out of our very fragile local economy. The decision of our Councillors to reject this proposal will of course mean that the indicated shortage of €1,300,000 will have to be found elsewhere.

The normal “cash cow” for such a shortfall is of course commercial or business rates. Unfortunately, there are only so many times that you can milk a cow and as we are on the third tier of Ireland’s recovery table, any money coming out of our delicate recovery is a worry.

To put it simply, there are businesses in and around John Robert’s Square paying circa €40,000 in commercial rates. Assuming that they are working on a generous margin of 10% then these businesses will have to generate €400,000 in sales just to pay the rates bill alone. Now add on salaries, electricity, water rates, employers’ liabilities, insurance etc and you will see that in no time at all, a business could quite easily have to turnover in excess of €1,000,000 just to open its doors to a paying customer – that is how hard it is to do business!

Taking any additional money out of our delicate local economy, will have a detrimental effect on employment. Unfortunately, everything is linked economically through very precarious bonds and any attempt to stretch those bonds, which are already at breaking point, will have catastrophic consequences. 

Whilst we can see very small shoots of recovery, we need to keep the momentum going in the right direction and taking money out of our local economy is not the way to go. We need to be promoting spending, supporting business investment and most importantly encouraging people back into the very heart of our City, to shop locally.

There are a whole host of holistic measures needed to make this happen.

For instance, we need to start bringing people back into the City Centre on Friday evenings. One way is by getting rid of ridiculous car parking charges that continue way past 6pm. How can “early-bird” offers work if you are paying €3 or €4 in car parking charges? Businesses CANNOT stay open on a Friday evening if the footfall is not there! As it is TOO expensive to open for 2 or 3 hours when you are paying such high rates, wages, utilities etc etc. If you are only turning over a few Euros in sales, there is no point in being open and no business cannot continue to sustain mounting losses.

Someone somewhere needs to make these brave decisions and tackle why we cannot attract footfall into the City Centre.

Our Councillors rejected a proposed increase in household tax. Now, despite an apparent black hole in the finances, they need to push the Executive to be creative with car parking charges and, perhaps, insist on a pilot scheme to get rid of Friday night charges altogether. Try this and see if footfall increases. Try this and see if the City Centre can in fact attract people from other free car parking areas around the City Centre. A simple solution to a rather large elephant in the room!

Alas, I fear that the fear of change will result in maintaining the status quo.