Rise and rise again, like the Phoenix from the ashes!

Well it was not to be. Derek’s young charges did the County proud and Galway were a team inspired, just that wee bit stronger on the day.

It was a pulsating match with so many highs and lows. A rip roaring final, that saw two teams give no quarter. We witnessed colossal hits, a frenetic pace and talented hurlers covering every single blade of grass on Croke Park’s field of green. A better advert for hurling there could not have been.

I watched the match, along with thousands of others, in Waterford City’s newest outdoor venue, The Apple Market. This re-engineered corner of the City was built with many, many detractors. If the truth be told, a venue, which during the construction phase, received endless amounts of unfair criticism by hundreds of keyboard warriors, from all over the country. Yet, on Sunday 3^rd September this performance area would play host to a magnificent Gladiatorial contest.

With three screens to choose from, every supporter in white and blue could comfortably view the match. The whole area was filled with Déise families, friends and the odd tourist, wondering what the hell was going on. I saw visiting Spanish students getting caught up in the majesty of the day. I know that Waterford hurling has now gained a few more International supporters from the Basque country.

There was a never ending number of small children running around hysterically, in their Déise colours. Quickly pursued by a Mum or Dad, trying to bring them back to order. A hopeless task, as they would be off at the earliest opportunity, pretending they too were in Croke Park, just like their heroes Gleeson, Brick and Moran.

Tipperary referee Hogan blew the whistle at 15:30 and within a few minutes our hopes seemed shattered. As Galway steamed into an early lead and it looked like the Déise men were in for a very tough day at the office. Then up popped the white and blue Captain, to blast the sliotar into the Tribesmen’s net – dare we start to dream?

It would be a pulsating game with never more than a few points between the two teams. At halftime there was only one point in it and we could all take a collective breath. There was a rush to get refreshments and take back to your vantage point. Hoping that supporters would be polite and normal order resumed prior to the start of the second half. With everyone back in their place the game restarted.

The Déise ever so briefly went into the lead around 16:30 and the crowds’ excitements levels rose. If we were not careful the new Apple Market roof would be lifted right off the foundations! We were all shouting and screaming in unison. A choreographed emotional rollercoaster that had all of us hoping that our heart rate could be controlled.

At around the hour mark, the Tribesmen’s talisman Joe Canning, got his eighth point of the match and a few of us started to feel that the match might just be slipping away. Suddenly there was a four point difference, as the clock ticked inevitably towards fulltime.

With four minutes of added time, could our Déise men make up the three point difference? Would Austin Gleeson get another wonder goal to drag us back into the match? Alas, it was not to be. When Hogan blew the final whistle, the Tribesmen were three points to the good. Galway would win their fifth All-Ireland Senior Hurling title, a first for 29 years.

Despite the thousands of supporters, thronging The Apple Market, you could have heard a pin drop towards the end of extra time, as the match drew towards its inevitable conclusion. We collectively applauded and cheered the wonderful effort by Derek’s squad. It was a titanic struggle and “Boi” can we be proud of our county.

Galway were just too strong on the day and watching “The Sunday Game”, you could evidently see why. The graphic for “Man of the Match” clearly showing, two giant Tribesmen beside the Déise’s Jamie Barron!

Waterford has surely a great hurling future. Our new outdoor venue, The Apple Market, will have its roof raised many times, in the not too distant future.

Déise Abu. 

(Burzza restaurant window Waterford, Photo of Derek & Dan: Piaras Ó Mídheach, Irish Independent)

Dare we dream?

Well, well, well, just how do you put that into words? What a Sunday performance from Waterford’s young charges. They quite literally destroyed the Rebel Army from Cork, in that hurling semi-final. An early September final weekend awaits with Galway.

Is it now time to start dreaming?

I openly admit, that having being brought up in Scotland, on a diet of amateur rugby, I am no hurling cognoscenti. But Waterford’s second half performance was just magnificent and a sheer joy to watch. The pace, the passion, the aggression, the determination and for the first time that I can recall, a steely determination and strength of mind to win at all costs. I get the feeling that these players would have run through the walls of a nuclear bunker, for Derek McGrath and his backroom staff.

Though some on the RTE’s Sunday panel were not so enamoured with the way we played. They were surely watching another game, or maybe it was just a wee bit of sour grapes! The Cats will be at a loss come 15:30, on that first weekend in September. For the first time in an awful long stretch, Kilkenny will have to support another team.  As we chase that little white sliotar around the vast green fields of Páirc an Chrócaigh. Maybe they will see fit to support their Waterford neighbours?

I know nothing about Mr McGrath’s “Controversial” sweeper system or the way a team has to set up, to play this way. What I do know, is that it is working 100% and maybe that is all that counts. This team, through absolute hard graft and effort, have worked out how to beat other squads. Waterford’s set up, contentious or not, suits this line up and this group of players. Perhaps the Naysayers, those RTE panellists included, should shut up and embrace our team’s ambitions? A winning formula appears to have been found and if we are celebrating on the 3^rd of September, others might just start copying Waterford’s set up.

What also struck me, was the sheer number of blue and white supporters, who travelled up to Dublin, to shout “Déise Abu!” Waterford must have one of, if not the best supported hurling teams in Ireland. It looked like half of the 70,000 crowd came up the M9, or sneaked up the M11, to avoid the clash with Cork supporters on the M7!

I can only imagine, that tickets for the final clash with Galway, will be rarer than hen’s teeth. This, I have been told, will be the first time these two teams have met in an All Ireland Final. Neither will want to lose, on such an historic occasion. The match has the capacity to become a game we will all remember for many a year. Those lucky enough to secure a ticket, will remember the experience forever.

It never ceases to amaze me, how sporting successes can lift our spirits. Particularly when Waterford is still dealing with some very serious infrastructural issues. To take a trip to Dublin in early September, is both a distraction and is a welcome relief. This gives hope that a brighter future lies ahead for the people of the Déise.

As an aside and probably due to the excitement of a possible semi-final win, we all seem to have become very giddy. I noticed over the weekend a platform has appeared in the middle of the River Suir, just in line with the clock tower and the centre of the North Quay. When I asked what it was for I was told “We had struck oil and gas”. Forget the Corrib Gas Project, Waterford was to become the Dallas of Ireland! We would all get rich on the back of this and our Hurlers be presented with a brand new 50,000 seated stadium, with many bells and whistles, if we allowed Shell to start drilling!

As our young hurlers get down to the Herculean task of preparing for the All Ireland Senior Hurling Final we must support them in every way possible. We need to show our support by turning the city, county and of course Páirc an Chrócaigh blue and white.

Déise Abu!

(Hurling photograph taken by Ray McManus, with our very own Noel Browne in the background!)

“Until the lambs become lions”

“Rise and rise again,

Like the Phoenix from the ashes,
Until the lambs become lions.”

A very appropriate quote for our magnificent Under 21 Hurlers, who wrote their names in to the history books, over the weekend. These young men, who played their part in the Minor Final in 2013, grew in stature and won Waterford’s, second only, under 21 All Ireland Championship, in the last 24 years. This is only our seventh All Ireland Hurling Championship title, in total, and was long overdue.

The People’s Park was awash with blue and white on Sunday afternoon, as thousands waited patiently for the team to return home to Waterford. The JJ Kavanagh bus eventually pulled up outside the Park and the team were introduced to the waiting crowd.

This truly was an astonishing TEAM effort, in the biggest sense of the word. As backroom staff, medical staff, fitness staff, coaches, selectors, analysts etc, even the bus driver, were ALL credited in playing their part in the victory in Semple Stadium, on Saturday afternoon. Thurles was an ocean of blue and white. Such Galway support in attendance, was simply swamped and overwhelmed by the Deise marauding hoards.

From Waterford, the team moved onto Dungarvan to receive their second home coming, from the supporters in the “Wesht” of the County. Once again thousands turned out to welcome these young warriors, who will without doubt go on to help the Senior team bring home that ever elusive Liam MacCarthy Cup.

This was not a day for political pontificating and thank goodness there was none to be heard. For once the political rhetoric was left in the wings and we could give 100% attention to the whole team, who quite literally filled the stage with the exuberance of youth – it was a day to remember.

In the week that was, it would be hard to get away from all the shenanigans surrounding Mr Herity’s “Independent Clincal Review of Provision of a Second Catheterisation Laboratory at University Hospital Waterford” (note the spelling mistake “Clincal” (sic) – I wonder if that is a portent of things to come?). This is a tough document to read and digest, but is readily available on the old interweb should you have a few hours to spare.

Whilst I was absorbing the atmosphere, in the Park, I started to wonder if our political glitterati actually got the message, from the Hurlers, that there is no “I” in team. Ah yes, there is a “Me” and perhaps they feel that politics is about the individual rather than the collective. It certainly appears that way when it comes to the provision of a second catheterisation laboratory at UHW.

We are now seeing knee jerk reactions. Hearing political claim and counterclaim. Spin on a biblical scale across all manner of social media, yet we are far from a TEAM on this matter. When you also consider that the UHW has a regional provision, then I start to get even more worried in terms of a united front – there is not one!

Whilst, we argue and fight, the Minister of Health, other hospitals, rub their medical hands in glee, as they do not have to find extra resources, from already stretched budgets, to fund an adequate health service in the South East region, through UHW.

It is FACT that NO party is prepared to actually put in writing that exchequer funds will be ring fenced and made available, to upgrade services, providing that essential second catheterisation laboratory. I MEAN NO PARTY!

All the political pomposity has resulted in every opposition party stating that “They will deliver what is required”. But no one is prepared to set this in stone. No one will commit to this in writing or sign on the dotted line!

To this extent our representatives should be ashamed.

We have one opportunity to pull together and work as a TEAM to deliver for Waterford. The South East region, needs to work in unison and do what is absolutely necessary to provide adequate cardiac services for the region. Failure to do so will cost lives.

I voted for lions but sadly got lambs....baaa! 

Our precious “FREE” time.

"Cycle of Fiends"

Those who have been reading this column, for some months now, will know that I have quite openly come out and I am now officially a MAMIL (Middle Aged Man In Lycra). Whilst having my mid life crisis, I could of course have bought a Harley – but alas with number one daughter in University of Limerick, pedal power won out – after all this was the cheaper option for this Scot!

Yes, I have gone completely mad into the sport of cycling – the new golf! I am a member of the Waterford Biscuit Club. I have now become one of those people who one way or another seems to infuriate some of our vehicular brethren.

I have heard and read about cyclist hating drivers who text, emailing and commenting on award winning programmes such as Deise AM, or Saturday Cafe. But why bother?

Readers, who know me more intimately, are aware that I am a self-confessed petrol head. I have raced XR2’s around Knockhill. Owned all manner of interesting cars from a 1964 Mini Cooper S, Triumph Dolomite Sprint, MKII Escort Mexico, Escort Turbo, Astra GTE and so on, right through to my current generation R53 Mini Cooper S – I really have had the whole gamut of boy racer cars and I am still driving one today. Some say I am driving a hairdresser’s car!

Spraoi 2016

Whilst, I do agree that there are some very poor cyclists on our roads, I see proportionately, far more very bad drivers, who still insist on using their mobile phones. I see children not suitably restrained in the front and backs of cars, people who treat a roundabout as a “squareabout”, people who ignore the speed restriction signage and above all I see lots of very angry people in vehicles, who are quite plainly one hoot of their horn away from a serious road rage incident!

Solas Cancer Support Centre

The fact is that everyone who is entitled to use our roadways and laneways should do so with the utmost respect for other road users. Yes, this might even mean, having to lift the occasional hand to say sorry, rather than flicking one or two other digits at an offending road user. Life is far too short to be Mr Angry all the time and to be honest, it does take far more effort and concentration to be the ubiquitous “I don’t believe it!” grumpy, Victor Meldrew, rather than Roger Hargreaves Mr Happy.

Last week I had the pleasure of participating in the De La Salle GAA fundraising sportive cycle, around the scenic roads of County Waterford. I think, there were over 200 people taking part in this “leisure cycle” that inevitably became a very “fast race” the closer we got to the end destination, the GAA complex. The spread that awaited us was worthy of any high-end cafe. The ladies and gents who gave up their own free time to prepare, bake, steward and organise the event must take great credit. I hope that a lot of money was raised by the hordes in Lycra and I know that we pedal-pushers raise literally hundreds of thousands for many worthy local causes.

To volunteer your own FREE time and lose out on precious family moments, for the benefit of others, is by a country mile, the greatest thing you can give. This is something that we in Waterford, or at least the projects that I am involved with, seem to be extremely good at.

Spraoi 2016

Continuing this theme, last week, the Solas Cancer Support Centre (note the name change), launched the “Run & Walk for Life” (I am Chair for 2016), announcing a new suite of services starting in Dungarvan and celebrating the Centre’s 5^th Birthday with over 2,500 clients to date. The majority of the Team in the Centre are volunteers and they were thanked, by me and others, for giving up their own time to benefit clients. It was a very emotional and moving afternoon.

We are a shining light for volunteerism and perhaps we need to shout just a wee bit louder to reinforce this message.

Finally, well done to Spraoi.

Tears of joy and sadness.

On Sunday 10^th July there was a plethora of sporting delights to whet your appetite.

The Munster Final between Waterford and Tipperary, my own Andy Murray chasing a second Wimbledon Men’s Singles title, the British GP, World Superbikes, Scottish Open golf, European Athletics Championships and of course the European Championship Football Final between Portugal and host France.

If you were in any way NOT sporty it really was rather difficult to miss the sporting headlines. Last Sunday really was one of those days where sport was everywhere – local, regional, national and international.

As with all sporting occasions there are winners and those who come second, third and unfortunately last. For competitors and participants, each finishing position creates its own emotional rollercoaster and I cannot fathom, just what it must feel like to compete at such a high level. My own sporting endeavours never reached those giddy heights!

What is a given, are the emotions that are shown and displayed at the end of any sporting encounter, raw, visceral and spontaneous.

Lewis Hamilton screaming, whooping and hollering on his radio, Andy Murray holding back the tears whilst clinging tightly to that gold trophy on the auld BBC, relay runners, giving group hugs and kisses on the track in Amsterdam, Ronaldo hobbling around the pitch with his busted knee, in the Saint-Denis, Stade de France and the sheer joy of the young Tipperary hurlers lifting the Munster Final Cup. ALL of these winners give us, the supporters, a huge emotional high that we can carry for days and even weeks.

The other side of the sporting coin is that for every winner there has to be a loser and with losing there comes the inevitable inquest as to why and how that just happened!

On Sunday in Limerick and on RTE we witnessed extremely emotional lows with our very own fighting Deise men, distraught and inconsolable from a Munster Final loss. A loss where they appeared to have been out muscled by stronger more aggressive players and in the cold light of day we were simply beaten by a better team.

From loss and disappointment comes the hope that better things are on the horizon. I’m sure that we will see a resurgent Waterford tackling the All Ireland, with renewed determination. Our band of brothers will be reminded of the emotional lows that they felt on Sunday 10^th July 2016 and this will surely stir the necessary passion to drive the Team forward to greater glory and a trip to Dublin later this year.

With the Munster Final gone, what next I hear you cry!

On Wednesday 13^th July, it was Judgement Day, for the Three Sisters bid for European Capital of Culture 2020. The European judging panel will be visiting our City, along with Wexford and Kilkenny, to see who will be placed first, second or third. With the winning announcement to be made on Friday, 15^th July.

From the tears of sadness on Sunday we NOW have the chance to do our bit, to help Waterford Wexford and Kilkenny get over the line and beat Galway and Limerick to first place, in our competition for this title.

Look on this, if you like, as a sporting competition where we need to flood the City Centre with the people of Waterford. They are the best supporters in Ireland and let us show the judges, through conversation and craic, that we have far more to offer than the likes of Galway and Limerick. We all know that Waterford has what it takes but we just need to be encouraged and cajoled, to show that raw emotion, so evident on the terracing when wearing the white and blue.

This is our last chance to impress and get this bid over the line. A chance for Waterford to be top of the pile and a European Capital of Culture.

On Friday 15^th July we want to win. I hope that you did your bit, came into the City Centre on Wednesday and helped to make Waterford shine. #BitForTheBid

PS It was great to be Scottish on Sunday – tears of joy! 

More sporting success please!

We must inspire a culture in Waterford that is not afraid or frightened to celebrate success. The recent positivity around our GAA successes, in both the male and female disciplines, has allowed the City and County, albeit far too fleetingly, moments of being “the best of the best”. These successes must be cherished and built upon in futures years to ensure that this becomes a regular annual celebration. Our GAA prowess appears, to this non GAA person, to be on an upward curve and those leading this charge must be applauded, helped and supported.

Having lived in Waterford City for nearly fifteen years I have been excited by many sporting “nearlys” and the margin between success and failure in sport, as in business, is a very, very fine line. Waterford’s sporting teams across all manner of disciplines have on so many occasions almost got there just to be thwarted at the very last minute. But there is always an annual drive and enthusiasm at the start of every season and if that collective will could be harnessed and transferred to the field of play then we would be at the pinnacle of all our City and County sports. Waterford generates passionate supporters and this must be utilised in terms of other aspects of our City and County. If we can literally bring the rafters down shouting for GAA or soccer or rugby then we should be doing likewise for our other City and County assets – yet we seem to remain strangely silent about these!

As a prime example of how leaders in our local sports have a positive affect on not only our own mindset but the mindset of whole communities you do not have to look very far.

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny is a prime example of a town that almost certainly, on an annual basis, will celebrate some sort of sporting success. And this sporting celebration filters down through the people of Kilkenny to such an extent that they are not afraid to rejoice, exult and take pride in their own town and the environs of a whole County. Ask someone in Kilkenny how business is going and they will tell you it is going great. Ask someone in Kilkenny about the castle and they will boast about it as if it is the only example in the whole of Ireland. Ask a Kilkenny person about the nightlife, shopping, restaurants etc and you will undoubtedly get the same positive upbeat answer. The people of Kilkenny are, in part, lead by their sports and the senior personalities associated with their sports and they celebrate everything else with just as much gusto, passion and eagerness. And this mentality is infectious and contagious as every visitor to Kilkenny leaves with the same positive impression. It really is a win win for all concerned.

As our GAA success story continues to gather pace we also need to see our soccer team return to winning ways for the benefit of the City and County. In fact if all our sporting sectors can be part of a metaphorical rising tide then this can only benefit everyone. Just imagine future years where we can watch our GAA teams winning at the highest levels, our soccer team on top of the Premier League, our rugby teams back playing senior rugby and so on. To be absolutely blunt our sporting success has to be seen as part of the City’s future and we all must make an effort to support our teams as and when we can. The benefits of sporting success to a local economy cannot be underestimated and the higher the standard the higher the economic spend and the more positive the impact this has on a localised economy. You really do not have to be Adam Smith to realise that if Waterford sporting prowess exponentially grew over the next few years we would all see the economic benefits.

As a City and County looking towards a brighter future we do need to see more positivity from every single inhabitant who lives, works and plays here.

On a daily basis I go out of my way to meet and speak to as many visitors as I can and they are easily identified as they are more often carrying map, or they look lost having inadvertently wandered out of the Viking Triangle, and I would say that 95% of the feedback about the City is extremely positive. I would go further to say that many “love” the idiosyncratic way our medieval architecture leads you through and around our City Centre. Though I do often wonder just how many of us are prepared to do the same. We all know from our own holiday experiences that a friendly welcoming face goes a long way to helping you enjoy and remember a place with fond memories. And really Waterford should be no different.

We have a City that is ideal for walking and discovering and perhaps this needs to be the focus in terms of our future development. Let us use the very assets that make the City what it is today instead of trying to “impose” modern solutions on a Medieval footprint. With the immanent start date for the City Centre Renewal just around the corner I would hope that the circa 70 plus submissions lodged with the Council will be taken into account. And it will be very interesting to see if all the work and effort that went into the engagement with members of the public actually results in positive changes to the overall plan.

Success and the emotion it brings!

I am a great believer that in order to progress in business you must surround yourself with positively minded people. Negative people do not drive businesses forward and, in fact, negative people who hold senior positions within a company or organisation often asphyxiate and smother potential “superstars” from, shall we say, the “lower ranks”. This model can be seen across many organisations including those involved in sport and the trick is spotting this early and then being brave enough to make the right changes.

Maybe we have to see changes from within that will encourage positivity and allow us to free up our lungs to breathe more easily and so in the future we too can shout from the terraces of Croke Park or the Aviva Stadium and be singing the songs of victory.

Finally, well done to our Ladies, just don’t leave it another 17 years to repeat the success – please!

Rise and Rise again, Until the Lambs have become Lions.

“Rise and Rise again,

Like the Phoenix from the ashes,

Until the Lambs have become Lions,

And the Rule of Darkness is no more.”

This seems to be a very apt poem for Waterford at the moment. We have been for far too long “down and out” and yet can we now see the real signs of positivity beginning to return to this wonderful City and County.

I have over the last number of weeks touched upon and written about the many, many positive business stories that have come our way and this week is no different.

We now have confirmation that Bausch and Lomb are to invest significantly in Waterford City and expand the plant that manufactures products for a truly worldwide market. I am sure that we can all remember the not too distant announcement from the new owners of Bausch and Lomb, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, that they were either to cut pay and resize the workforce or close the plant. This in hindsight, though a very tough decision to take for the workforce, has in the end been played out positively for all concerned.

Valeant have been true to their word that short term pain would lead to long term gain and we can see the fruits of this promise with a multi-million Euro investment in Waterford City and the South East region. There can be absolutely no doubt that the very tough business decisions made and taken not even 12 months ago will see long term benefit for Waterford City and the employees of B & L.

This news, in addition to the announcement of the Portlaw development by Agora Incorporated, will, I am sure, deliver much needed additional jobs across the region and more importantly help to reduce our unemployment rate back towards the national average target.

I also believe that there will be further positive job announcements in the near future and this to must be welcomed by ALL and celebrated. As collectively we are beginning to put Waterford back on the jobs market and that can only be viewed as encouraging news.

Whilst the jobs news is great the sporting success of the Senior Hurling Team must also be applauded and will in time help to create a more positive attitude from the people of Waterford.

I have asked the question many times over as to why our nearest neighbours are more positive about business and business opportunities. And I do believe that due to the county’s phenomenal hurling successes the business community and the people of Kilkenny are just not quite so shy when it comes to “beating their own drums!”

But perhaps now Waterford is on a sporting success journey that will allow the people of Waterford to once again believe that they have something to shout positively about in terms of GAA Hurling.

Thanks to Noel Browne for the picture.

I must confess that having come from Scotland to Waterford City, some fifteen years ago, I am not familiar with Hurling and all the finer points of the game. The Garland household was brought up on rugby and my Father was so respected in the game that his ashes are actually sprinkled on the pitch at Murrayfield, on the try line, under the goalposts, at what used to be the old clock terracing end of the stadium. We sprinkled my Father’s ashes in 1999 and Scotland did in fact win the last Five Nations that year, but since then our Nations rugby prowess has diminished and we seem to now be collecting more wooden spoons than championships. I suppose I must take heart from the fact that we are reigning Five Nations Champions and yet I attended the WLR FM Big Rugby Breakfast last week and Ronan O’Gara did suggest that I start supporting another sport – I wonder why? 

I have watched Waterford play hurling on many occasions and whilst I still do not fully understand the sophistication of the game it did seem to me that the team did not fully believe in their own ability to win. They seemed to play the first half extremely well and fade or falter in the second half. But the team of young guns that I now see on the field of play seem to have absolutely no fear of their opposition and they simply go out believing that they are better than the foe they will face on the pitch on any given Sunday. The players chase and chase again and never seem to give up. They are simply prepared to leave it all on the pitch and I am sure that after the game last Sunday there were many, many aching joints and sore muscles.

The self belief we have will determine how our business functions and operates and this in turn will determine just how successful we are in business. Self belief is something we ALL have to learn and accommodate in our everyday lives and the more we believe in our own abilities the better we will ultimately perform. We must also expel the self-doubt that lingers in us all if we are to face adversity in the face and travel the hardest road to our destination. As without testing oneself in our everyday and business lives we are clearly not trying hard enough.

The joy of our Waterford Hurlers will lift the City and the County and quite rightly create expectation for the coming Championship games. We must all harness the drive, determination and positivity of the team, the squad and the backroom staff and shout, without shame, about the wonderful Waterford City and County we all live, work and play in.

It is time for ALL our Lambs to become Lions once more and as the City and County rises from the ashes we must embrace the recent multi-million Euro investment success and we must celebrate our sporting success.

 “Impossible is a word only to be found in the dictionary of fools,” Napoleon Bonaparte.  

Communication is the key to our success.

Over the weekend I watched in awe as the RBS Six Nations climax unfolded on the BBC and RTE over the course of Saturday afternoon. One dramatic turn after another and at the end of a marathon session of rugby indulgence Ireland were quite rightly crowned the 2015 Six Nations Rugby Champions and my beloved Scotland were once again to receive that much coveted Wooden Spoon Award. I now have enough of those blasted Wooden Spoons to build a log cabin in my back garden!

Then to add insult to injury and just 24 hours after the slaughter at Murrayfield the Irish Women’s Rugby team humiliated their Scottish counterparts and ooh joy of joys I was to receive my second Wooden Spoon of the weekend courtesy of Irish Rugby. The second award was of course made all the more palatable by the fact that the Women’s Captain is of course Niamh Briggs from Waterford, my adopted home.

It really was a great weekend of sport when on Sunday the Waterford hurlers secured promotion back to the top division and the lift that this will give the City and County cannot be under estimated.

I have always said that our various sporting achievements, locally, regionally and national do reflect our mood and to a larger extent our outlook. If we regularly celebrate sporting success then we are more likely to have a positive outlook for our place of residence and we are also more likely to celebrate commercial business success as well. If we have been hard wired to celebrate on a regular or annual basis then we will be more akin to beating that “drum of positivity”.

We only have to look across the recently named Thomas Francis Meagher Bridge to see that Kilkenny City (Town) and County oozes positivity. This is in no small part due to the phenomenal recent success of the hurling team and it is this positive aura that permeates right down through every citizen of Kilkenny. No matter how business is actually operating, good or bad, the business people and businesses of Kilkenny will always give the impression that they are doing exceptional well. This constant positive outlook certainly brings it own success and own additionality to Kilkenny and the City (Town) is a tourist trap for a huge percentage of overseas visitors. And remember that it was only in the late seventies that Kilkenny really decided that it would become the “Medieval City of Ireland” and as such would draw hundreds of thousands of annual visitors from around the world to visit its Castle and bustling retail sector.

The success of Kilkenny as a destination has mirrored the sporting success of the County and the many smaller club hurling teams that annual compete in GAA fixtures. Their own sports stars are seen as the envy of many and they are elevated to superstar status, and boys and girls throughout this County want to be the very sport stars they see week in week out on the playing fields. 

In business you need staff to fulfil roles and positions that best suit their individual talents and skill set. These must all be cohesively combined by the CEO, General Manager, etc into a “well oiled machine” with everyone knowing their place and function.

However, just how many staff members are communicated to effectively so that they know what is expected of them? How do they know if they are performing correctly? How do they know if they are contributing to the company’s profitability and therefore the company’s future stability? These questions are often left unanswered in many businesses.

Perhaps businesses that are clearly underperforming need to take a lesson from the likes of Schmidt and Cody. Both of these Managers are completely different people yet they both get the absolute maximum out of the players at their disposal. They evidently have two completely contrasting management styles yet both are achieving astonishing results on an regular basis.

What links the two men is their ability to communicate with those around them.

They both have an uncanny ability to get their message across, get their instruction out on to the field of play, get their game plan embedded into every player’s mindset and they always seem to have a plan B that can be turned on at the bark of an instruction. These two men are some of the very best communicators you will ever come across and there are many lessons to be learned from them.

Many businesses assume that their staff are fully aware of the function of the business, the role they play within that business and the contribution they make to that business. But the stark reality is that many businesses are very poor at internal communication. There is often no clear messaging route for staff members and there is more often than not no communication strategy for staff whatsoever. When a business is not communicating with its staff how can they expect that business to perform in the market place?

It therefore follows that if a business is not communicating properly with its own staff members then how can they be communicating correctly with their very own customers? Remember that every staff member is a band ambassador for their place of work and if they do not know what a company’s communication messaging is, then how can they be expected to interact on a one to one with a customer?

Many businesses spend literally thousands of Euros a year on PR and communicating strategies and yet forget to communicate these very messages with their own staff members. The result is a lost opportunity and more often than not confusion of messaging.

 

To get the very best out of our people we need to take a leaf out of the Schmidt and Cody book of management and put communication at the very top of our priority list when dealing with staff members.

A winning team requires clarity and communication of messaging and as Waterford looks to a more positive future we need to see a better communication of the positive messages from around our wonderful City and County.

Maybe I should ask Joe Schmidt if he would like to move to Edinburgh for a wee while, as the last thing I will require in 2016 is another bloody wooden spoon.