There are indeed mysterious forces at work!

No sooner had we just started to get over our team’s, oh so close All-Ireland hurling final exploits, when along comes another magnificent sporting success. Waterford FC, are promoted back to their rightful place in the Irish Premier League. A very significant achievement in the Blues chequered history. All the more remarkable when you consider that the team have had to drag themselves from the gutter of the lower echelons of first division football.

The new owner and assembled backroom team, have undoubtedly worked miracles, in an incredibly short period of time. Akin, perhaps, to seeing a Leprechaun’s Pot of Gold!

To take the disaster left by the previous manager, turning this around into a championship winning team, is nothing short of miraculous. Yes, significant money was injected into the club, but that’s precisely what was needed, to be fair. That speculation has now paid off handsomely. We can expectantly assume that additional investment will be forthcoming to get Waterford back to competing in some form of European football. Despite some social media soccer lovies criticising said spend, just how else was this Waterford club to climb the league ladder?

For those, such as John O’Sullivan and Paul Cleary, who have had to endure the toughest of times, may they and many others enjoy the celebrations. Then start looking forward to top flight football next season.

I have said for many years that for Waterford to succeed commercially, we would also need sporting success, running in tandem. It would appear that we have reached a turning point in Waterford’s hurling and soccer stories. There is no mystery as to why this corner has been turned. The hard, hard graft endured during cold Winter’s nights of training under floodlights, is finally beginning to reap suitable rewards.

“You can’t beat live football”, local pundit Matt Keane often reminds us and next year we should have an abundance of top soccer coming to the Regional Sports Centre.

All too often, just as you reach for the summit, you can come back down to earth with an almighty bump. Something that we here in Waterford seem to experience far, far too regularly.

“We giveth in one hand and we taketh away in another!” could easily be the calling card of our current Government, when talking about all things Waterfordian.

Our sporting highs have been overshadowed by what would appear to be yet more bad news looming, in relation to University Hospital Waterford. At the time of writing, according to unsubstantiated reports, our Tipp neighbours may be annexed from our hospital grouping, by those masters of preposterous-piss-poor-planning – the HSE. It looks like mysterious forces have been covertly working away behind closed, barricaded doors in Dublin. One would assume in consultation with Government and appropriate Ministers. Nothing happens in the civil service, without the odd compliant TD here and there, agreeing to “Changes in principle”.

If we are to believe that these changes are afoot, then yet more services will bleed from University Hospital Waterford, leaving us with a hospital that has no regional bias whatsoever. As more and more capacity is removed from UHW, we have to ask ourselves just when is enough ENOUGH? 

Waterford has a Minister and one, almost impossible to spot TD in Government. We have people at the top table and yet we constantly have to climb up Mount Everest unsupported, without crampons or oxygen!!!

Are our Government colleagues prepared to say that they know nothing, nil, faic, zilch of the proposal from the HSE, in relation to Tipp? If they are going to adopt this proposal then we have to ask “Should they not make it their business to know?”

Rest assured Teflon TD Lowry will know exactly what is on the table for his beloved, demanding, adoring constituents.

So once again, according to our pair of, “In power TDs”, there are mysterious forces at work. Prepared to drive yet another nail into our coffin lid. But wait, hold the hammer, did not the South East FG regional Councillors write a letter to “Dear Leo”? Yes, they did and of course that will make all the difference.

I think we have more chance of seeing John’s aliens!

Our catheterisation laboratory is still “Missing In Action!”

As the temperature dropped, quite dramatically in the last couple of days, we left the Summer behind and Autumn began to colour our lives. Not before one last hurrah in Waterford City. Our Harvest Festival celebrated “All things foodie” in this South East region.

The Terra Madre Slow Cook Festival organised, by amongst others Donal Lehane and Donald Sutherland (not the actor), was looking to expand, develop and “Grow to the next level”. I was CEO of Waterford Chamber of Commerce at the time and remember this festival’s origins. I jumped at the chance to bring this fledgling festival under our wing, help nurture it, allowing it to mature into the festival we love and recognise today.

A suitable committee was formed, with great support from Waterford Council. Harvest Festival stretched almost the length of our waterfront quay. One kilometre of food offerings, stalls, entertainment, educational classes, GIY conferences and even a petting zoo. The very best of our region, the “Breadbasket” of Ireland. It was a huge, roaring success, if you can recall and the finest in my opinion. Bringing enormous numbers of people to Waterford City, looking to sample or discover something new, to titillate their taste buds.

It is not only the Harvest Festival that has been a “Last of the Summer Wine” distraction. There were plenty of other events taking place, in and around our county to entertain us.

There has been a diversity of sporting achievements. Our magnificent young (youngish Mr “Brick” Walsh) hurlers’ odyssey to Croke Park and of course Waterford FC chasing promotion back to their rightful place in a Premier League. Lots of charity fundraising events such as the Donal O’Connor Memorial Cycle, the De La Salle GAA annual fundraiser, then last weekend I “Chased a Duck” all over County Waterford!!!!!

We have read more and more Census 2016 information telling us, here in Waterford, what we already knew! Our unemployment is still proportionately far too high, when compared to the national average. Third level uptake is ridiculously low. We don’t use public transport and our disposable income is one of the lowest in Ireland.

The promised North Quay Strategic Development Zone project is still according to our Council Executive, on stream. Waterford Council has now applied for the €60-70,000,000 funding needed to kick-start this “Once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity!” We are also reading through social media spinners, that this twin-development game changer will bring untold opportunities to Waterford. There has even been talk of a cable car type gondola, across the River Suir and up to the old hotel site on the hill. Just how we will get adequate visitor numbers, to sustain such a development economically, is yet to be teased out or convince a bank to lend a developer the money!

All of the above are just some of the headline grabbers, which have been a welcomed distraction for our holidaying TDs. Whilst we have been “Enjoying ourselves” the pressure to deliver some very key pieces of infrastructure, has de-escalated.

Yes, we were fittingly reminded of what we are missing, by our “Gentleman” hurling manager. In Derek McGarth’s Monday homecoming speech, he talked about the City and County’s urgent need for a catheterisation laboratory and a university. Our Minister was within earshot, sharing the same stage with our successful hurlers!

Governments are skilled experts in constantly kicking cans down the road. Our missing catheterisation laboratory was promised far too long ago and yet still no sign of its arrival. I live within a stone’s throw of UHW, passing it every single day of the week. I hope like so many others, one day soon I will see this now mythical unit, appear in its grounds, opening its doors to reduce much needed patient waiting lists.

The sense of urgency for Waterford seems all but lost on our representatives. Surely during their long summer recess, they should have been getting together? Formulating a proactive, real-time plan, to loosen Exchequer pursue strings, before the next budget.

Collectively, we must ask them just what have they been doing, whilst away from the Dáil, to ensure the delivery of the catheterisation laboratory?

It would appear that our promised, part-time laboratory is not the only thing “Missing In Action”, in Waterford.

Shhhh – have we all gone too quiet!!

I am quite sure that the powers that be, in their Dublin bastion, know that all political momentum has a lifespan!

Sooner or later the drive, enthusiasm and determination, initiated maybe by an awkward political question, will dissipate and in no time at all we will have moved on to another issue. This is undoubtedly what seems to be happening with our Waterford problems.

We have yet to secure our place, metaphorically speaking, as the awkward elephant in the corner of each and every parliamentary meeting room.

Our sheer revulsion at the shenanigans, currently going on in the Department of Health and the HSE, around the life and death issues in University Hospital Waterford, seem to be falling on too many deaf ears.

On this subject there is absolutely no doubt, that in the halls of power, we have no voice. The issue of a 90 minute drive to a safe operating table, is clearly being lost. All subject matters cardiac, for the South East, are seen purely as Waterford’s problems. There has been no expansion of the issue, to include the wider region.

I can guarantee that there have been very few column inches, if any, in the likes of Tipperary, Wexford, Gorey, Kilkenny... and so on. Dublin know this, from their TDs on the ground and as they feel no pressure, from their own electorate, they are doing very little to come up with the right solution. The whole matter around UHW needs to become THE political hot potato for the South East region. TDs across Waterford, Wexford, Tipperary etc need to fear for their cosy political armchairs in Dublin. They need to be aware that the very people who put them in the Dáil, want cardiac cover that will save their lives, if called upon.

 

There will be many who do not wish to see this issue become politicised. Well it has gone down that route and now, a truly regional voice needs to sing as one. Each and every TD across the region needs to act our behalf.

The stark reality is, that if you suffer a heart attack and have to be transported by an ambulance to Cork or Dublin, you have a 90 minute window or you die!

Maybe this is the message we need to get out to the people of Wexford, Tipperary, Kilkenny...and so on. A few years ago, when there was the very real threat of Rescue 117 being moved from Waterford, people power across the whole South East region secured the service at Waterford Airport. The message was simple – be rescued by the 117 crew, out of Waterford airport, or you drown!

People were galvanised by this messaging. It was stark, brutal, simple and to the point. Everyone understood what was needed and TDs feared for their seats, if the service was not secured for the South East region. People power won this argument as a regional and not a Waterford issue.

Are we seeing the very same weak messaging, regarding the University status for WIT/Carlow, the airport runway extension, the money for the SDZ on the north quay and so on? I would say “YES!” We have not yet stimulated the latent “People Power,” that argument is clearly simmering away underneath the surface.

How we unlock this, is the key to the region getting what every other region has, namely – adequate cardiac cover, a university, real regional investment, IDA driven FDI (not just visits) and real political influence.

We seem to be rather diffident when asking for what is ultimately, the same as every other citizen in Ireland. Do we not all pay the same taxes? Do we not all contribute equally to our societal environment? Well as far as I am aware we do.

We are very poor about shouting in a positive manner here in Waterford. We must be prepared to work as a region to deliver for everyone.

Sometimes in life, you have to be prepared to shout louder than those around you. To do this you need to be equipped to stand on the parapet.