I was fortunate last week to
be asked to speak on Newstalk’s morning breakfast radio show with Ivan Yates
and Chris Donoghue. My wife, Oonagh, took a call late on Wednesday night and
directed one of the programmes researchers to call me on my mobile. I took a
subsequent call during one of our weekly 1848 Tricolour Celebration committee
meetings having recognised the number as a one of Newstalk’s generic numbers
and having noticed a couple of earlier missed calls.
I dutifully excused myself
from the meeting to make a return call, in private, from the Granville Hotel.
The Thursday morning’s Breakfast programme was dealing with the latest
announcement, by Minister John Bruton TD, of further Government income being
directed to bodies such as the IDA for further regional development – yet
another report it would seem!
Having commented before on
Newstalk Radio I was told that the programme wanted my observations on the
announcement, the report and as an Entrepreneur and founding member of the
Waterford Business Group I was asked to give an honest commentary. As with all
these types of pre-interview research processes you really need to nail your
colours to the mast so that the researcher is impressed with your dialogue, the
tonality in your voice, your clarity of speech and your reasoned arguments, and
if they are happy they will recommend you for a live interview.
My interview was duly
scheduled for 07:45 on Thursday morning.
During the course of
Wednesday evening a number of texts were exchanged altering the times of the
live broadcast to around 09:00. As always I was trying to be accommodating, but
to complicate matters the 1848 Tricolour Celebration committee had arranged a
press briefing and press launch of the 2015 events programme at 08:30 on
Thursday morning. All the local media were to be represented including support
from the Mayor Tobin and Waterford Council. As PRO of the committee I was under
a wee bit of pressure to make sure the launch was organised professionally and also
ran smoothly.
But as I have always said “Pressure
is for tyres and turbos!” So roll on Thursday morning.
I arrived at the Granville
around 07:45 to meet with the Chair of the 1848 Committee, Ann Cusack. Some
last minute printing for additional information to be included with the press
packs and I was good to go for the press launch and the Newstalk interview scheduled
for 09:00.
Our guests started to arrive
for the 1848 Tricolour Celebration breakfast press launch; The Munster Express,
the Waterford Today, the Waterford Mail, The News and Star, WLR FM, The
Independent, Mayor Tobin, Waterford Council and so on. Everything was running
smoothly and on time.
Phone call from Newstalk at
08:13 – live interview will now not to go ahead. Relax. This would give me more
time for the press launch.
Phone call from Newstalk at 08:44
– interview back on and scheduled for 09:30. Radio head back on.
This new live interview time
would give me just enough time to arrange the necessary press pictures for all the
media, a few WLR FM radio interviews and then give me time to slip away, find a
spot where the mobile signal was excellent and more importantly find a quiet
spot just in case I had to raise my voice.
I took my last call from
Newstalk at 09:30 from the sound engineer. Two or three sound checks later and
I was good to go.
I never like to over prepare
for live radio interviews, but I do try to map out what I want to say in my
head and I know the key points I wish to reinforce. I also try to pre-empt the
questions I am likely to be asked. And having been on before with Ivan Yates I
knew that he would ask one relevant question at the start and then ask me one
or two other questions that would perhaps be slightly controversial, just to
see if I would bite back. But above all I try to make sure that I can do an
interview in “one-take!”
The whole interview took just
7 or 8 minutes.
I that time I was asked just
three questions and having mapped out my responses in my mind I was very happy
with what I said.
The jist of what I said was
that for regional policies to work in Waterford we simple need €100,000,000 to
spend on the infrastructure so sadly lacking in Waterford and the South East.
We need the airport runway finished but not on a shoe-string, we need the
extension to be built in such a way that it future proofs the airport for
generations to come. We need the north wharf developed and the necessary
infrastructure built so that his part of the City can become a silk purse and not
the pigs ear we currently have to look at today. We need to deliver University
status for WIT and this promise was in the Programme for Government (another
report I have propping up my desk), but will almost certainly not be delivered
in this Governments lifespan.
These three projects alone
will finally put Waterford on the map in terms of IDA investors and will make
the City, County and South East a better option for future investment
consideration.
As a side it has always
staggered me that as Ireland’s fifth City Waterford does not have University
status. A tag that is universally known to stand for investment in research and
development, and a tag that says to everyone that our City is one of the best
in the World. It is such a shame that the youth of Waterford and the South East
have to leave (as my daughter Saoirse will have to do) if they choose to go onto third level University education.
Once upon a time Waterford
City was earmarked as one of Ireland’s gateway Cities. This was supposed to
give Waterford a chance of additional investment, better third level attainment
and so much more. That tag is now a dim distant memory and I fear that yet another
half-hearted effort to develop this region is on the cards.
I believe that the solution
to regional development is very simply. Give the money to people and businesses
in Waterford that will actually spend the money on the right projects that will
directly benefit the region.
Do we need to create a
Waterford Development Agency? Perhaps we do. But in the meantime deliver €100,000,000
to Waterford and let the Waterford People make our City the economic hub of the
South East – simples!
ENDS
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