It is official – “Summer’s here!!!!”

The June Bank Holiday weekend is once again just around the corner. Boy does this come around quicker each year, or am I just getting older?

This of course means that we can forget for a few days at least, our woes, the political bickering of the FG leadership campaign, the effects of Brexit, the shenanigans surrounding the funding of our SDZ, our missing catheterization laboratory, our representatives’ empty promises and so on. As the City Centre will be buzzing with all manner of musical delights and a not insignificant hint of colour, over this June Bank Holiday weekend.

Returning to our streets will be the annual “City in Bloom”. A collaborative project between Waterford Council and Waterford Business Group (WBG), which has made a noteworthy contribution to additional Tidy Town points for the City. This, cross city project, has grown literally from few very small seeds, i.e. a handful of window boxes, to over 300 floral displays! In truth, there is no limit to this projects growth potential.

Start looking up at buildings and business shop fronts in the city centre, O’Connell Street, Ferrybank and Ballinakill Shopping Centre. Soon you will start to see the hint of the riotous colour which will soon engulf Waterford’s main footfall areas. City in Bloom will deliver once again for Waterford. In 2018, there could well be an exciting application to “Tidy Towns”, for Waterford City. Plans are afoot, to launch a bid as part of a “Bigger and better Tidy Towns”, supported by WBG. There is even consideration being given to the introduction of specific “Pollen bee friendly flowers!”, to make the application unique. The seeds have well and truly been sown (pardon the terrible pun)!

To launch the 2017 City in Bloom festival of flowers, there is an excellent competition for businesses to take part. WBG have teamed up with one of their members, Morris’s DIY on the Cork Road, to offer a €1000 voucher to the “Best 2017 improved shop/business front”. Some say that the best competitions are the simplest. All businesses have to do is post a before and after picture on www.facebook.com/WaterfordCityCentre/ Pictures must be posted before the August Bank Holiday and the winners will be announced in mid September. Businesses are allowed to post pictures retrospectively, provided the facelift/improvements took place from January 2017.

In conjunction with the launch of City in Bloom, Summer in the City makes a very welcome return to our city centre. On the main stage in John Robert’s Square we will see live acts performing across the opening weekend and right through, the hopefully long balmy summer weekends, to late August. The programme promises to deliver some age old favourite tribute acts, a smorgasbord of local singing talent and then there’s ArtBeat. This will once again showcase some of Waterford’s best emerging young talent. Bailey’s New Street will host ArtBeat every Saturday afternoon.

If we can now ask the weather gods to shine down upon us this summer, we are sure that all the programmes being launched this weekend, will help to get our city rocking, over the months of June, July and August.

There is much to look forward to around the wider county as well. You will find that there is a festival taking place somewhere, to undoubtedly suit any interest, hobby, or pastime. In terms of the bigger national and international picture, Redwater is flying the PR flag for our pretty, attractive coastal villages. We have already heard stories of people coming to the locations, where this drama has been filmed. Long may this continue and we hope to exponentially see more and more coming as the programme develops its fan base.

Our city should bloom during the Summer of 2017. As we get ready to sow some very strong roots for future growth and better news, in terms of our economic recovery.

There is much to look forward to on our horizon. In the meantime please do take time to look up at our wonderful quirky, higgledy piggledy buildings, sporting the colours of summer. Enjoy the free entertainment being provided across the city centre.

Above all “Live local, love local, shop local”.

After rolling our Easter eggs, we’ll surely have a sizzling summer!

For some, the wait for Easter was simply too much. An odd sip of Clonmel Chardonnay, or a smaller than usual glass of vino, was by all accounts just about acceptable. A wee nibble of the children’s bar of chocolate, when they were out of sight or better still asleep. Maybe even the odd raiding party on the sealed, time locked biscuit box, which has been clandestinely calling you, for the last few weeks.

After abstinence of many, many weeks, Sunday past brought welcome relief for the masses. The strange habit of devouring far, far too many chocolate eggs than you would have thought possible. Guzzling a copious quantity of alcohol was quickly followed for many, by the annual words of Solomon’s Wisdom “Never again!” Yet we can all look forward to the same purgatory, forgiveness and indulgence, in approximately 347 days time.

In the meantime, we can ALL begin to look forward to a regenerated Waterford City, with the exciting plans of the SDZ (Strategic Development Zone) on the North Quay. Sadly, no longer to be part of a bigger, better and brighter “North Waterford”. That hotel on the hill, finally being sold to a man with a vision and a passion for Waterford. The promise of a rapid build, development and delivery of the Michael Street Shopping Centre. These projects and many more, according to media accounts, will mean that we have to wait slightly longer for all our ducks to truly line up.

But in the very short term we will surely have a “Summer to savour” in 2017.

The annual Waterford City in Bloom collaboration, between Waterford Business Group and the Council, has in the past two years expanded beyond all expectations. Not to sit on their laurels, the organisers have expanded once again and this year there will be in excess of 300 baskets being displayed across the whole city. In particular, the businesses along O’Connell Street have come on board in abundance and this should be commended.

The 2016 Tidy Town judging panel, purposely singled out City In Bloom, as part of the increased points allocated to Waterford City. They also specifically stated, that they wished to see this noteworthy collaboration continue and expand for 2017. This is just what will happen over the next few years. Hopefully, in conjunction with supplementary proposals that have been presented to the Council, for a unique sculpture/display on the city centre entrance roundabout, at Plunkett Station, and a flag project that will festoon Rice Bridge with tricolours of the world – and not before time, I hear far too many of you say!

Summer In The City returns this year, after an absence of twelve months. Due in part, to the music festival that was Summerval, having been dropped from the playlist. There is a promise that this will be a return, to delivering what our populace and our visitors want. Good old street entertainment. A busking themed festival, has been much talked about. Maybe, if someone is prepared to grasp the mantle, this could take place during a future Summer In The City. Thus, expanding the offering and attracting an ever growing audience.

On the retail front we can already see business owners investing in our city centre. There are new premises opening, on what seems like a weekly basis. Many buildings are getting a fresh shiny, or matt coat of summer paint. It is great to see the variety of colour being displayed on our shop fronts. As individual as the shop products on offer.

 

The Apple Market’s new roof is taking shape and boy does it look great. Its steel frame, to this boy of the seventies, looks just like one of the Star Destroyers from the Star Wars series of films. Maybe we could ask some of the cast to officially open this multi-tasking space?

Running in tandem with the Apple Market’s brand new roof are the other open space/public realm works. These too will also transform our City to all who care to visit.

This City is at long last beginning to shout just that wee bit louder.

Is the art of volunteering still alive and well in Waterford?

2014 Run for Life.

On Thursday last (30^th July 2015) I was very fortunate to be involved in the launch of the Solas Centre 2015 Run and Walk for Life. Yes, there will this year be two events in one this year! Both events will take place simultaneously on Sunday 11^th October with a sharp 12:30 start time.

There will be the now traditional 10-mile run and for the first time ever there will also be a 5-mile walk. The 5-mile walk has been introduced to bring the event back to the people, if you like, and this much easier option will encourage many, many more people to get involved.

More importantly the 5-mile Walk for Life will allow many clients, their families and their friends of the Solas Centre to take part. Both routes have been designed to get all the participants back into the People’s Park, the finishing line, at roughly the same time. This will ensure that there are more people than ever enjoying the post event activities in the Fun for Life.

During the launch event there were a number of speakers and without doubt the short speech from Fiachra Ó Céilleachair summed up what the Solas Centre and its most important fundraising event the Run for Life is all about. You could have heard a pin drop as Fiachra retold his family’s story of their fight against cancer and the important role the Solas Centre played and is still playing in his family’s life. Fiachra was delighted to let the gathered audience know that he and his three children would be completing the Walk for Life in the memory of Siobhan.

2014 Run for Life.

Fundraising for bricks and mortar are of course much easier than the continuing fundraising needed for additional services required for a project such as the Solas Centre and without a dedicated band of enthusiastic and committed volunteers it would be impossible to continually set a higher and higher bar and raise increased funds to allow expansion of services. Without a committed volunteer force then it would have been impossible to service the 200 plus clients who have visited the Solas Centre it the first 6 months of 2015.

During the Run and Walk for Life dozens of volunteers will be needed to help marshal the route, marshal crossing pints and of course service water and food stations. Without these volunteers the events simply would not happen and our volunteers require the acknowledgement of us, the public, as without their tireless work ethic the continuation of Solas Centre services would not be possible.

Another organisation I am involved with, on a voluntary basis, is of course the Waterford Business Group, now in its third year of operation. In 2015 at the first AGM we increased the committee numbers from 12 to 14 and we now see 14 good men and women giving up their time and their family time for the betterment of Waterford City and the people of Waterford.

As an example of the tireless work this committee are carrying out on our behalf. You only have to look up at the buildings around the City Centre to see the riot of colour that is part of the annual City in Bloom. This operation takes months of planning and coordination and will continue possibly right up to early October, weather permitting.

City in Bloom 2015.

In addition to the wonderful floral displays around the City Centre you cannot have helped but notice the live musical acts that are playing in John Roberts Square every Friday and Saturday afternoon. These FREE musical sessions are without a doubt bringing much needed increased footfall back into the City Centre.

The Waterford Business Group also does so much more unseen work. Whether that again is giving up free time to attend meetings, representing members on strategic policy committees, lobbying on behalf of members, meeting political representatives to lobbying for increased funding for the City.....and I could literally write and fill a whole years worth of blogs with the unobserved and unnoticed work this tireless group of 14 carry out on our behalf.

I am also involved in the 1848 Tricolour Celebration committee who voluntarily give up a huge amount of their time and their family time to deliver a feast of events, every March, that celebrate Thomas Francis Meagher's "creation" of the Irish tricolour flag which was of course raised for the first time at the Wolf Tone Confederate Club on 33 The Mall, in March 1848. As a footnote the Committee also celebrated TFM's birth date on Monday 3rd August with a new Muldoon cocktail called a "Montana" - most enjoyable and refreshing! 

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday last you could not but help notice the plethora of volunteers helping out with the Spraoi Festival. On Sunday evening in particular I witnessed firsthand young volunteers soaked to the skin, and no doubt hypothermic, on Barronstrand Street doing their bit for Waterford.

From my first hand knowledge I can honestly say that the voluntary organisations I am involved with will always give far more than they are perhaps credited for. And the people who volunteer for these organisations are the unseen and unobserved heroes of many an event and festival that takes place here in our wonderful City. I suppose that key thing that we all must do is dig a wee bit deeper to see that what we are supporting “does exactly what is says on the tin”.

Summer in the City 2015.

There are some organisations, events and no doubt festivals that rely on a huge voluntary support network and yet there are some “paid people” involved in such organisations, events and festivals. And yes some of these people in particular certainly give the impression that they are doing their bit for Waterford but not on the voluntary basis they many well promote. It is up to us, as supporters, to decide who we should support and who we should not support. I suppose the trick is that we need to do a wee bit of homework to ensure that we are supporting those that actually deserve our full support. The question of remuneration does of course play its part in this process and like some very recent high profile press coverage of charity executive salaries we need on a local level to make sure we are supporting "the cause" and not the administration costs of an organisation, event or festival.  

So, the question I posed at the start does on the surface appear to be a “YES”. But you must always look a wee bit closer to see the real value of volunteers and the groups that they support.

Waterford - a busier City than you might think!

Summer Solstice

So the longest day of the year has now passed us by and from now on the days start to get much shorter and we shall start to notice it is getting darker much earlier in the evening – just how depressing is that thought!

Still on the plus side there is much to look forward to this summer in and around Waterford City and County. I would urge everyone to actually seek out the many wonderful events and activities that have been scheduled for our entertainment and for the entertainment of the thousands of visitors we expect to see over the rest of the Summer months. And remember that many of these events and activities are actually free to attend – now if that has not lifted your spirits’ I do not know what will.

Starting this weekend is the return of the very successful Summer In The City programme of events. We will see bands and tribute acts returning to the stage in John Robert’s Square every Friday evening and every Saturday afternoon. In addition there will be family fun and kiddie orientated entertainment from 12:30 on Saturday until 14:30. ArtBeat will also be performing with live acts across the City and will be delivering their usual cutting edge blend of new local musical talent. ALL of these events are free to attend courtesy of Waterford Council and Waterford Business Group. This is the second year of Summer In The City and the programme continues to grow in popularity and is something that we all should and need to start supporting.

There can be no more excuses that the City Centre has “nothing on” as this programme of 12 weeks of  entertainment starts off this Friday and Saturday with Suzie Q and Thank Funk and runs right through until Saturday 12^th September.

A City In Bloom.

You may also have noticed that the City Centre is beginning to look “Blooming Marvellous” as more and more City Centre shops and business from the Train Station to The Quay to John Robert’s Square to Michael Street to Arundel Square start to display wonderfully colourful hanging baskets and flower boxes. This voluntary initiative started last year with the Council and Waterford Business Group and is beginning to spread right across the City Centre and in time will no doubt include Ferrybank as well. This five year project will grow exponentially year on year and we would like to believe that by the end of year five every single business in the City will partake in the initiative. The cost is minimal, the initiative supports local businesses and best of all, the entire City looks fantastic to citizens and visitors alike.

City In Bloom makes us stand out from the crowd and let us not forget that colour and flowers make people smile and the colourful displays will also make people look up at a our wonderful buildings and architecture.

But the City In Bloom needs everyone to play their part and we must be encouraging people to keep their City clean and tidy, keep their City void of dog poop and ensure that we all, where possible, encourage shops and businesses to participate in City In Bloom. There is still time for business to get involved and they only have to ask a member of the Waterford Business Group for information.

As our Summer rolls on we can look forward to Day Tripper with its blend of old and new music and this year we can all relax with a glass of Red Red Wine. The Tramore Promenade Festival in early July promises to deliver a whole host of exciting events and activities. Spraoi comes around every year at the end of July beginning of August and the 2015 event promises to bring a wonderful array of diverse acts back to Waterford City once again. The annual Harvest Festival comes to us early in September when we can celebrate all things foodie and look forward to sampling some of the best our local food producers can provide.

And outside of the events there are many, many more local events taking place such as the Boobs and Balls Solas Centre motorcycle show, National Heritage Week, Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival, Robert Boyle Summer School and much, much more.

For those feeling a little more energetic you can run in the Viking Marathon or cycle in the Sean Kelly Tour of Waterford or partake in the Comeraghs Wild Festival.

We so often hear and read about other about other towns and cities being much, much busier than Waterford and perhaps the reality is that this is simply not true. It may just be the case that these urban areas have been in this space far longer than Waterford. These urban areas have been attracting tourist and their citizens into the centres for far longer than Waterford and as a result are perceived to be much better at this process. The truth is they are much better at the Public Relations and spin and this in part makes these areas seem more attractive.

Waterford has an awful lot of catching up to do and this will take time. But we are moving in the right direction and we need to keep up the engagement with organisers of the right events that will attract the right people to Waterford and its City Centre.

I have always said that Waterford has the right people to make the City and County the MUST place to visit. It is just that so often many stakeholders are much happier to engage with people and businesses from outside of the Waterford environs. This needs to stop and these decision makers need to be secure in the knowledge that the talented people of Waterford can deliver just as much as the talented people of Kilkenny, Dublin, Galway and so on.

Once you start to dig just a wee bit deeper you start to see a picture emerging that there is actually an awful lot of events and activities going on this Summer across the whole of Waterford and many taking place in the City Centre itself.

We are really quite fortunate to have so many organisations, often thanklessly working away on our behalf, creating and running events for our enjoyment.

It really is time to celebrate the fact the as our days are beginning to get shorter there are more and more events available for us to attend. There can be no more excuses that other places do it better than Waterford because quite clearly we are leading the way and this alone is worth shouting about.