Our poor Ex, Ophelia!

You spend all your life preparing for the big moment. Practising and practising for all were worth. Constantly repeating the mantra “Correct practice makes perfect!” Growing and growing in size and power for that one spectacular entrance. You had “One chance, just one chance....” Your family and friends were watching expectantly. The media were gathered in ever increasing numbers.

Then, just as you started to approach Ireland, to become the first hurricane “On record”, those weather people downgraded you to an “Ex-hurricane” and changed your name to “Ex-Ophelia”!

Alas, we were still hit pretty hard - we all know the damage an angry “Ex” can do!

I spent early Monday morning clearing the last few wee bits and bobs in our walled garden. Hoping that this stoutly built barrier and our, luckily, North West facing aspect would be protected by the house. Well that was my thinking anyway. At the time of writing Ex-Ophelia was just starting to show her teeth and starting her relentless march into Waterford City.

There was the odd ping of debris, hitting the office window and trees were shedding leaves like no tomorrow. At least Winnie The Pooh would have been happy, “I don’t mind the leaves that are leaving. It is the leaves that are coming...” he famously said. Describing the avalanche of autumn leaves falling around his house. Come Tuesday morning, there will probably not be a tree in Ireland wearing any autumnal colours. Leaf blowers becoming redundant in Ireland this year, as Ex-Ophelia’s sorcery being supreme.

No doubt some brave and foolish souls, had ventured out to get that once in a lifetime, danger seeking selfie. Holding their camera phone tightly, to stop it being blowing away in the wind. Better still, trying to keep one of those ridiculous stick things steady, to frame the perfect storm. These selfish people put the lives of our emergency services at risk and getting that Facebook, Instagram, Twitter shot is not worth the jeopardy.

At least Ex-Ophelia has taken all our minds off a rather weak and non-eventful Dolly Mixture of a budget. Paschal “Use the Force Luke” Donohoe and his fearful leader Leo “Darth-Varadkar” had to cancel their budget road trip to the Sunny South East and Waterford City. Many had thought that, on this very voyage the dynamic duo would announce the loosening of the exchequer purse. Finally delivering, with no strings attached, the circa €61,000,000 for the infrastructural works, for our Strategic Development Zone, on the North Quays. Trust me, that auld rumour mill was working overtime last week.

 

Our Ex certainly put a BIG stop to that!!!

The Government cavalcade is simply going to drive right on past Waterford. No doubt heading off into the Wesht! Maybe they’ll find their way back to us on the return leg of the road trip? Och, how silly of me. I forgot they don’t have the satellite co-ordinates for Waterford City, do they?

In many ways, the story of ex-hurricane Ophelia could be a metaphor for Waterford City and County. The promise of something spectacular coming our way. The delivery of a game changing impact project for the whole population. A big announcement that will fix our economic woes.

We have waited and waited. There has been promise after promise broken. Deadline after deadline missed. Goal posts being moved at every single opportunity. Ministers and TDs ducking and diving, to avoid the eye of the storm. We always seem to end up with a downgrade. Something more palatable to the constituents of the people in power and yet little or no use to the people of Waterford.

It looks like we may well have to sit and wait for considerably more time, to encounter our first hurricane on record, to grace these shores.

Here’s some late, late good news to finish. Last weekend the magnificent Nationwide Team (with Brian and Suzie) were back in Waterford, filming a full programme with Waterford Camino Tours. The show will air in the spring of next year and will be hosted by the elegant Mary Kennedy. We really are so very lucky to have such support, for our City and County from this flagship RTE programme.

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)

“Just where were ALL the people?”

"When the socks you wear have priority over lives!"

A “BIG, BIG” well done to ALL the people from Waterford, Wexford, Tipp, Kilkenny and the wider South East region, who ventured by car, bus and train, to the Dáil last Tuesday, the 4^th of July. This was certainly not our “Independence Day”.

To those who had to take timeout from family holiday activities, booked a day’s annual leave and rearranged meeting appointments to travel to Dublin – “I salute each and every one of you!” The most precious time we can give to any cause is our own free time. To give this up for the benefit of others, is a very special commitment and sacrifice that so few, in reality, are really willing to make.

I would estimate that around 200 people gathered for 1 o’clock, outside Leinster House’s imposing black wrought iron gates. To be met by a few keepers of the peace, who were obviously expecting us. Thankfully, they seemed in good spirits. Happily, no water protest aggression shown to the people of the South East.

Those who took time to count the attendees on the 4^th of July, would find the numbers disappointingly low, very, very low. To be honest, appalling low and therefore relatively insignificant to Messrs Varadkar and Harris!

Waterford County’s population, according to the 2016 Census, is circa 116,000 and we saw less than 1% of that number travel to the capital! If you were to calculate attendees, as a representative percentage of the much quoted 500,000 people across the wider South East region, calculators would cough in embarrassment at the answer they spat out!

If we are being candid, to ourselves, in the cold light of day, we have to ask ourselves, “Just where were ALL the people?”

We know only far too well, that marches in Waterford City are very well attended. Seemingly getting very little constructive reaction from the corridors of power, in the Dáil. This was our - “One chance, just one chance...”, in the words of Mel Gibson, to show our Dublin centric leaders, that we must be taken seriously on the issue of 24/7 cardio care.

Where were ALL the social media keyboard warriors, who regularly contribute to posts on the various representative pages? Those people, who are so vociferous in their condemnation of the way we are being treated, had no voice on Tuesday 4^th July. They simply could not be bothered to make the extra effort and travel to Dublin to be one of the faces in our protest rally. Those anonymous champions are championing what? Judging by numbers, they are NOT supporting the 24/7 cardio care!

I spoke to lots of people, who were in attendance and whilst many put on a brave face, you could see that they were all disheartened and saddened by such a small representation. The Gardaí were even expecting “Invading hoards”, from Ireland’s Oldest City. They were ready to close off more than just the immediate area outside the Dáil. Adequate resources were on duty to cover disruption to the whole of Kildare Street and probably Molesworth Street.

Sadly, I saw more people and tourists going in and out of the National Museum of Ireland, than protesting on Kildare Street. We truly are the “Quiet County”. Disturbingly, a plethora of opposition TDs, seeking their natural environment in front of a media camera, were promising 24/7 cardio care can be delivered, by them, if in power! Easier to say than to execute!

I have since managed to speak with a few more of the attendees, who made the round trip to Dublin. They ALL said the very same about the very low turnout. Just how deeply dispirited they felt with the inadequacy of the response. Where does the protest go from here? Some even asked where were all the “Hand on Heart”, higher profile celebrates? Their attendance, might have ensured more than the derisory 25 seconds of coverage from RTE.

How are the heroic efforts of these few, perceived by the deadly duo, Varadkar/Harris and sit in the bigger scheme of their health service plans?

Our two protagonists no doubt returned to their “Golden Circle”, to discuss socks, rather than the health of the people of Waterford and the wider South East!!!!!

Was it just “Pete Tong” - cue the reviews!

On Sunday night the much anticipated “Redwater”, started on our national broadcaster RTE. It will be screened at a later date, on the BBC, in “Old Blighty”.

Stimulating much Facebook chatter, airwave media interest and lots of other social media attention. You could not avoid the fact that you just had to be in front of the goggle box, settled with a cup of tea, just after Jean delivered her Sunday night weather forecast. The families of Waterford sat around their “Custard and jelly”, like the good old days, and eagerly tuned in to see who they might recognise as an extra on the drama and what scenery they could identify, being a place they might have visited, walked or have swum.

The village of Dunmore East would broadcast the show “Live”, on the biggish screen outside the Strand Inn’s very own “Rub-A-Dub”. From one of the exact spots, where we would be introduced to the very characters who will fill our Sunday nights for the foreseeable future. Namely, Kat and Alfie, aka Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie. These two “Eastenders’ Royalty” would be bringing, in no doubt equal measure, their Cockney charm, “Porky pies” and lots of “Catherine Zeta Jones” to the Sunny South East. Would you “Adam and Eve” it anyone?

Remember folks that this drama is an offshoot of that BBC institution, screened mercilessly, many times a week on the national broadcaster of the UK. Did we expect to see a different format or were we going to be delivered the very same old, just with an Irish twang? There were rumours that the whole series could have been filmed in any number of other European destinations, Portugal or even “Bubble and Squeak”, they were all in with a shout.

By “Friar Tuck” the location team chose the area around the Suir Estuary. Namely, Dunmore East, Passage, Crooke and so on. In fact we recognised all these areas in the first episode. The opening village fun run, linking all the streets of these villages and that “Bottle of Sauce” running seamlessly from beach to beach, what a talented beast!

Right from the starting title sequence, we could see that this was not going to be a run of the mill “Eastenders’” spin off. There was “Barney Rubble” from the opening scenes, which would set a rather dark sinister feel to the programme. There was an early edge, that I am sure will be carried throughout the whole drama. Who knows what “Tony Blair’s” will unfold over the next few Sunday nights?

With our national broadcaster’s Nationwide programme, featuring Waterford very heavily in recent weeks, we have not seen such levels of interest in all things Waterford for some time now. It will be vital that the millions of people who will ultimately tune into “Redwater”, to realise that like “Walford”, “Redwater” is a fictional place. Admittedly, a “Tutti Frutti” of a place and the weather gods appear to have done their bit as well, “Shabba Ranks”.

The location is a beautiful place on the coast of our Waterford County and as such there will be a huge effort needed to absorb this message and deliver additional tourism Euros across the whole county. If we are to hear the tills ringing, “Cab Ranks” being filled on the back of this drama, that will reach millions of people both in Ireland and the UK, then we must develop a strategy and a “Jackie Chan” that works for us.

All the stakeholders involved in these projects, must now work together to capitalise on this unprecedented free publicity we are securing on prime time viewing slots. Coupled with the new Waterford Greenway’s impetus, we have a unique tourism message that will surely draw many more “Billy Bunters” to our “Roger Moore”.

I suppose that the secret would be the many, many independent operators, should push towards developing their own marketing and awareness campaigns? To this extent they need to be encouraged to do so.

With a bit of luck we can all get “Sheffield United” at just what “Redwater” might bring to us. Who knows we might even see more “Bees and Honey” coming to Waterford?

“The heat is on”

No, not the lyrics from that old Glenn Frey karaoke classic, from the mid nineteen eighties.

The Irish weather seems to have finally decided to turn up the thermostat. We are at long last beginning to see what many would constitute as summer! There have been blue skies spotted around the “Sunny South East” and temperatures, are eventually, ever so slowly creeping into the higher teens. This will all be very good news, for the many thousands of people coming to our hills and coastlines over the next number of weeks and months.

There can be no doubt, that the BBC drama series Redwater, a spin off from “Dum, Dum Dum...” Eastenders drama, filmed in and around Dunmore East last year, will attract additional interest in all things Waterfordorian. There are even rumours that one of the stars, Shane Richie aka Alfie Moon, is seeking to purchase a holiday home in the village? This of course might just be some good old fashioned PR, coming from one of our friendly, local auctioneers, to drum up even more interest in that village and what it has to offer? But who cares as long as it works!

Being showcased by both the national broadcasters of Ireland (RTE) and the UK (BBC), is priceless in terms of the exposure we will be given. It is up to the “Powers that be” to be ready to piggyback on this FREE publicity and push our region, as a destination of choice, to our biggest tourism market. This is of course our neighbours across the water, in the UK.

With all matters Brexit and the small issue of a General Election, becoming all consuming across the UK, we urgently need bodies such as Tourism Ireland, to get on board, pushing our region to the British holiday masses. These will be unparalleled levels of FREE, exposure. It may well be that the people of the UK will look West rather than South or East for their holidays in 2017, as the falling out with the rest of the EU continues at a pace.

We ALL need to be ready for a possible influx of UK visitors, looking to explore what Waterford has to offer on the back of this BBC One drama.

Just look at what the series Games of Thrones and Outlander have done to the local economies of these two locations. There has been extraordinary interest, in people exploring the very streets and sets, where their heroes have walked and talked. The power of a national broadcaster filming in a specific identifiable location cannot be underestimated.

It would be great to have the odd Cockney Pearly King and Queen walking around Waterford, being introduced to the rasher Blaa, our local craft beers and even Waterford phrases like “Well Boy”, “Well Girl” and “Would you look at the scut of him!” Can you just imagine the conversation they would have when they returned home to Blighty?

A “Warm Waterford Welcome” would be essential if we are to get those much vaunted TripAdvisor, five circle reviews.

At long last, we are now moving very quickly from a heavy industrial economic past, to that of a tourism economy. Having said that, our manufacturing capacity is actually still very healthy here in Waterford. We’ve many, many innovative multi-national and pioneering indigenous companies based right here. This new manufacturing is now modern, automated clean and lean.

Waterford is ever so slowly and surely beginning to reinvent itself. Quite rightly, there is so much to look forward to. Despite this, so many people have asked me over the last few weeks, about the Government’s fiscal monetary intervention, needed for the infrastructural works on the North Quay (our SDZ). There is now a realisation that if the exchequer purse strings are not loosened and €50,000,000+s are not forthcoming, the two identified game changing projects for Waterford City, may NOT materialise.

These first Swallows of Summer divert our eyes from the longer term goals. We must keep the heat up on our six national public representatives, to deliver our SDZ Euro.

The clock is well and truly ticking towards that pay day!

Selling sand to the Arabs!

The good news, gossip and social media diatribe about the significant €300 million property investment, by the Al Hokair group from Saudi Arabia, started to trickle through various media channels early last week. By Tuesday morning the local and some national media sources (not unsurprisingly in limited column inches!) sources began reporting about this “Game changer” for Waterford City, County and the wider South East region.

Behind the heavily fortified closed doors of City Hall, our 32 Councillors were given first sight of this far eastern promise, by the Council CEO Michael Walsh. Refreshment must have been provided for this late evening session, which had all the potential to drive the City out of Division One and straight back into the Premier League. No need for any more relegation battles. Surely this €300 million, in one fell swoop, would regain our position as the fourth City of Ireland?

Our 32 Councillors unanimously passed a motion, allowing the CEO to engage further with the Al Hokair group, on behalf of the City and County.

As an aside, I read one or two funny remarks on social media, asking if “All” the Councillors had backed the plan, after many a post stating the word “Unanimously”! There were also some very strange comments, completely off topic and you often have to wonder if people are actually reading the same posts?

The devil is always in the detail, with any contractual negotiation. I have no doubt that the shrewd, wealthy business people of Saudi have ALL their ducks lined up and know that a proposal, for a multi-million Euro investment into Waterford City, would be grasped with both hands and feet, for that matter. This is one gift horse, whose teeth do not have to be inspected, or do they?

Waterford City has to be seen as a prime location for investment for all manner of reasons. The main one being, that the price of land and property is just so much cheaper than any other City. Just look at RTE selling circa 9 acres of land, in D4, with a guide price of €75 million. The likely outcome is that these few golden acres will realise much, much more than the €75 million guide, as property prices are once again ballooning in all corners of the Capital (Let’s hope we don’t see another prick bursting said balloon!). The North Quays and Michael Street are a mere fraction of this price, so why would you look elsewhere?

In addition to the cost of land being very “Cheap” in Waterford, the relatively low cost of housing also reflects the current economic climate. Yes, we do get so much more for our money down here on the South East coast and this has to be a significant attractor, when tempting the likes of 1,221,887,632 Saudi Riyals to Waterford.

Let us face facts. Property developers invest in projects to make substantial sums of money and Al Hokair will be investing in Waterford, because they see a future return on their million Euro investment. The potential has always been there. It is just that we have not been able to persuade someone to speculate to this level before in Waterford.

What is for sure, is that this investment will make others aware that Waterford and the wider South East region have REAL potential.

 

As Dublin smothers in increasing housing and rental costs, regions such as Waterford, must be an attractive alternative option. Appropriate infrastructural investment, by Government, needs to be accelerated. It was great to see Minister Coveney, down here pedalling his bike on the Greenway. However, he needs to guarantee and deliver money for this City, to ensure that we are a viable alternative to Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway. Governments’ record on this is not great for Waterford, so we will need to keep the pressure on, to make sure they finally deliver.

“Selling sand to the Arabs”, was a phrase often trumpeted to me when I worked at Wembley Arena. The venue was the MUST play indoor arena for any musical act.

Wouldn’t it be great if in the next few years Waterford became such an easy sell?

“Are we there yet?”

“Are we there yet?” are the very words that we all fear, here in Waterford and the South East, when directly related to ambulance transfer times for cardiac patients.

These are the dreaded four words that no wife, husband, father, mother, brother, sister, grandmother or grandfather will every wish to ask, when accompanying a loved one, unfortunate enough to need cardiac care outside the Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm window available in University Hospital Waterford.

If you have not experienced the anxiety of this horrifying journey, and I have not, to Cork or Dublin, in the back of an ambulance, then none of us can understand the stress of knowing that the clock is ticking ever so slowly to and, more than likely, beyond that 90 minute safety window.

The simple fact is that getting to Cork and Dublin, even with the blues and twos, will in truth take longer than 90 minutes. One simple hold up, one unaccounted for set of road works, a sporting weekend, a car crash or simply hitting rush hour traffic, will eat into this safety time zone. No matter what spin is put on this by Minister Harris or other Government Ministers it would be a miracle if that 90 minute window, could ever be achieved in the real the world.

Perhaps, the Minister has never driven to Cork along the N25? It is at best an o.k. road and at worst full of bottlenecks, eating into any journey time. The road does not allow for consistent travel and therefore we cannot rely on time to getting to our sister Cork hospital for coronary care within the golden timeframe.

Going to Dublin now has a much better dependable journey time, up the M9 motorway. That is until you hit the outskirts of Dublin. Once again you are in the hands of the traffic gods and getting into the heart of Dublin can be hit or miss. Even if you are in the back of an ambulance, when every second counts, it is still a time gamble.

24th September 2016

Our Minister is adamant that he is “not for turning”, a modern day Mrs Thatcher perhaps. He has been at pains to let everyone know that the Herity Report, with all its flaws, will be taken as Gospel. The people in this South East region will forever be playing traffic roulette in the back of an ambulance.

I recall meeting Minister Harris, on a number of occasions, in his previous role with reference to his old portfolio, which included responsibility for national Government tendering. Thankfully, he listened to our reasoned and sound arguments to make changes, to allow local businesses to compete with multi-national companies and he did implement change on this basis. So we can take some encouragement from this. He is sometimes willing to listen.

As I have said many times, perhaps we have gone about this in the wrong way! Look at our Teflon neighbour, Mr Lowry, getting ALL that he wanted, in terms of local health care provision for Tipperary. We would not have heard about this, only that we started looking at what other “Government Independents” were getting for helping Enda come back into power. Mr Lowry went about his business quietly, methodically and ultimately delivered “exactly what it said on the tin” of his election manifesto.

Hook & Browne?

Have we been too naive in fighting this battle in the glare of the national media? Quite simply we have given the likes of Messer Hook and Browne the opportunity to use a substantial baseball bat, to bash Waterford once again. They are collectively laughing at us from their Dublin Towers. But rest assured if they were unfortunate enough to have to endure a 90 minute life or death journey in the back of an ambulance then their mindset would change in an instant.

We marched once again in monsoon like conditions, at the weekend, and received breviloquent RTE coverage. Where now for the Waterford and the South East?

What is guaranteed is that it will take more than 90 minutes to fix this dilemma.

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! 

Omnishambles!

Malcolm Tucker "The Thick of It"

“Noun, plural omnishambles. A situation, especially in politics, in which poor judgement results in disorder or chaos with potential disastrous consequences.” According to all things Wikipedia, this word is a compound word made up from the Latin prefix “omni” meaning “all” and the word “shambles” meaning complete and utter disorder.

This word was first used in the BBC TV series and political satire “The Thick of it” and in particular was used by the lead character Malcolm Tucker, aka Peter Capaldi, he strangely enough would later go on to become the twelfth incarnation of that most famous of Doctors - Doctor Who.

We have seen over the last few weeks, in fact months, political dithering on such an enormous scale, you could well believe that we have been watching a satirical TV series plotting the formation of a new Irish Government in 2016!

The all encompassing media have revelled in telling us, night after night after night, that there have now been many behind closed doors private meetings, with reports of dark shadows skulking and scurrying around the corridors of power in Dáil Éireann.

But are we really any the wiser as to what is actually going on?

I would say NO. The fact of the matter is that, we, as the electorate are being treated with contempt. Almost as though we are something, not so nice smelling, that we would stand on whilst out walking in the pedestrianised area of any high street.

My sentiment is that we are being contemptuously treated by the political glitterati. This was reinforced towards the end of last week when, for the right or wrong reasons, we were informed that one of our highly paid TD’s was applying for legal aid to fight a court case!

Now where is the sense in that? There are people in genuine need of legal aid not receiving it and now here we are with one of our elected representatives asking for yet more of our hard earned taxpayers’ money to pay for his own legal defence!!!!!

Swap Shop for a better deal!

Are our TDs not handsomely paid and have they not been on holiday for the last ten weeks?

These issues have irked, angered and annoyed the living daylights out of me for the last few days. In discussion with colleagues and friends, I have often asked what people are doing about it? The reply is more often than not a resigned intake of breath before the answer “Well what can I do and anyway they will not do anything about it!”

Unfortunately, this stock answer is exactly what is expected and I have no doubt that is why the political map of Ireland never really changes. People are either too tired of asking, or there is such a malaise with all things political, that nobody is prepared to put the necessary pressure on our TDs to make real positive change.

This seeming unwillingness to ask and drive home the hard questions, or be that Terrier with his bone, thus being prepared to fight to get the right answers has trickled down to local politics and local decision making.

The fact of the matter is, that we as citizens, and local businesses are plainly not prepared to fight for what is right, proper and correct. There are far too many recent examples of us just sitting back and accepting what is thrown at us.

The collective strength in numbers, does affect positive change thus creating opportunities for businesses to “barter a better deal”. If only more people believed in this mantra and were prepared to not just put a hand above the parapet, but were prepared to stand on the parapet and shout!

 

As long as we remain silent voters, we will be treated like mushrooms and forever kept in the dark.

Waterford is transitioning alongside the various highly publicised developments which are beginning to start. The future of Waterford must be in the hands of the citizens and businesses that fund that change.

Silence is never golden!

A Political Disaster-Class!

Is it just me or is anyone else shocked, annoyed, p@#$*d off and distinctly uncomfortable with the delay in forming a new Government? Was the election not seven weeks ago and yet we are still waiting to hear and read about the make-up of the next Dáil?

We all know that the wheels of Government tend to turn very, very slowly, but they appear not to be moving at all on the important issue of actually governing this country. It just goes to prove that the Humphreys of this world, which so famously amused us during the early eighties in the UK sitcom “Yes Minister”, are the people actually running this country.

Despite no Government, at the time of writing this article, this country continues to run and function efficiently enough. We have not yet turned into a lawless anarchistic state with angry hordes taking to the streets to demonise our political class thus begging the question just what have our newly elected representatives been doing for the last seven weeks?

Have we the tax payer just been subsidising one big Dublin shindig?

Is this not a clear case of demonstrating just how unproductive the political system is in Ireland? Were we to benchmark the productivity over the last seven weeks I am quite sure that the outcomes would not make good reading. Businesses and employees are constantly being told to be more productive, be more streamlined and yet the very people championing this mantra are themselves not practising what they preach. Never have I witnessed such ineptitude and incompetence.

Does it really take seven weeks to get round a table, bash a few heads together, forget historic playground jibes and “barter a better deal for the people for Ireland?”

Of course it should not.

The people, on 26^th February, gave a mandate for a new type of political representation and yet those elected seem to have forgotten this and now seem to be once again ploughing their own furrow for the betterment of who? There was just one chance to sweep the political map clean and start afresh? But we are back once again to sweeping the same dirt round and round the room.

Being openly pro all things Waterford, these delays are not doing our City, County and the greater South East any good what so ever. The longer the negotiations, (or should that read child’s play?), go on, the more and more we lose focus, on the very issues that need to be fixed to get us back to some sort of viable economic stability.

Wander around our City on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and even a Thursday and you will see very few people out spending money in our retail heart. We are still in that third tier of Ireland’s economic recovery and our disposable income is one of the lowest in the country. This elephant in our room will not go away and longer the procrastinations and childish bickering that goes on in Dublin the more our economic issues will fade as a distant election manifesto memory.

So who should we blame for the delay in getting on with governing? Well, I would blame ALL politicians for not sorting this mess out. People need to swallow their pride and find a solution that suits the county and not a solution that suits the politicians.

 

I wonder if we paid our politicians based on results, actions, productivity and delivery would we be in a different place? I do not know of any business or organisation for that matter, that would pay staff for what has in actuality been seven weeks of inactivity and downtime!

Finally, I must say that our TD’s are all looking extremely smart, save one or two exceptions, with new suits, perfect hair, and new gunas, on that satellite channel Oireachtas TV. Clearly, they have been spending their time wisely, seeking the advice of Gok Wan.

Though some have evidently engaged Trinny and Susannah for styling tips!

Jobs, jobs, jobs......but really how many?

You just knew that there was a jobs announcement on the way when FOUR Ministers turned up in Waterford City at the start of last week. Like London Buses you wait forever for one to arrive and then four arrive all at once, and before you know it they are off again tearing away at breakneck speed. However, as RTE were covering this jobs announcement it was going to be a very safe bet that some of our senior people from Dáil Éireann would turn up. But I have rarely seen such a large number of Ministers descend on our City so there MUST have been good news in the offing.

The jobs announcements last week are most welcome for Waterford City, Waterford County and of course the greater wider SE region. With Eishtec expanding into Clonmel they must now be one of the largest employers in the region, if not Ireland, with circa 1300 employees. And to think that this company literally rose out of the ashes of Talk Talk a number of years ago. With centres in Waterford, Wexford, Craigavon and now Clonmel this business is on an upward curve.

I still vividly recall the announcement that Talk Talk was to close in Waterford City. This after all was a very profitable company and a company competing very favourably in what is a very demanding and tough market sector. The Talk Talk closure affected the whole SE region and I remember after the closure collating stats to aid sourcing training grants and I was amazed by the numbers of people this company employed right across the region. This was a prime example at how a Waterford City based company created employment throughout the whole SE region.

In addition to the Eishtec news we heard of jobs being created by Bluefin, a company created from Red Hat, which was formally known as Feed Henry. A success story from TSSG, and there have in fact been many recent success stories from this operation and I have no doubt that there will be many more. The TSSG and ArcLabs resource in the WIT Carriganore Campus are literally beavering away creating ideas and future employment. It is a facility that should be more loudly promoted and championed for Waterford City.

As you can read I am extremely positive about any new jobs announcement for Waterford and the wider SE region, though I often do believe that there should be more emphasis put on the actual jobs created and not the projected jobs that might be created. We live in the present and it is present jobs that Waterford and the region require and future jobs are encouraging but far too often the larger number is always produced simply, I feel, to make the announcements “beefier”. After all every single business could project a future employee statistics but just how many of these claims are actually attainable or measured for that matter?

I assume that we are “sold” the value of the IDA’s investment based on these projected figures and I also assume that “grant aid” is based on said larger figure. Though due to the sensitive nature of IDA client discussion we will never really know what grant aid companies actually get or receive. There is no individual breakdown outside of the IDA so it is impossible to find out or estimate. It would be interesting for bodies such as the IDA to release a comparison showing whether or not these projected figures are actually attained or bettered, then we would know if we were getting value for our tax payers Euro. We know that to attract FDI here the IDA have to work very hard and they, I assume, have to be very creative with their grant funding and each FDI get a bespoke grant package that suits their own business model.

The creation of jobs is to be welcomed at all levels but more importantly for Waterford and the SE we need to realise jobs that create enough disposable income so as to have a positive effect on our localised economy. At the present moment in time the SE has one of the lowest disposable incomes in Ireland and that is not good for our economy no matter what spin you place on this argument. The very low disposable income is reflected on websites such as the Pobal Deprivation Index that clearly show Waterford and the SE need jobs that reflect higher wages and therefore higher disposable income spend.  

It is quite simple. If you have €50 of disposable income available a week you can only spend €50 of your disposable income. However, if we all had €500 of disposable income available every week then we would have a burgeoning local economy and our “colour” on the Deprivation Index would be greatly different.

We are lead to believe that the current Government are the party of Small Business and yet I see on a day to day basis very little evidence of this on the ground here in Waterford. For SME’s there are no IDA grants, very little if any EI grants and other grants are difficult to access if your business does not fit a very tight and defined selection criteria. This has to change to allow SME’s to survive and ultimately employ more people, and more importantly employ more people and give them a higher disposable income to spend locally.

To date if you are an SME in Waterford, and the majority of businesses in Ireland are classed as SME’s, there is very little support for you in terms of accessing grant aid or business funding. Yet we see hundreds of millions invested into FDI’s, which is good, but is this at the detriment to others. Surely, we must see a balanced and regional solution to grant aid and ultimately investing in our City’s future. This is not happening and if we are to return “a party of business” to Dáil Éireann at the next election then we must start to hear and read about how they are going to secure SME’s investment funding for our City, County and the greater SE region.

Do we see this Government making it less expensive to run and operate a business? No! Do we see this Government pressing local authorities to significantly reduce Commercial Rates? No! Do we see this Government creating regional solutions that will help Waterford compete with other population centres? No! And yet come to Ireland as a multi-national and we will open our doors to you and give you grants, we will give you money and so on. Really the see-saw of support investment has to be balance and balanced in favour of small business.

Waterford of all the cities in Ireland needs immediate financial help, assistance and with an election on the way you might just see more and more bus loads Ministers coming down the M9/N9 to champion their case for election to the next Government.

Be wise in what you ask them and be even wiser in deciphering what they promise. Will we ever learn from history – well time will tell.

Everyone must be a brand Waterford Ambassador!

I attended the decommissioning ceremony for the Irish Naval vessel La Aoife. This vessel is in fact twinned with Waterford City. The ceremony took place at 15:00 on Saturday 31^st January, at Forde Wharf, in the presence of the Minister of State at the Department of Defence Paul Kehoe TD, Rear Admiral Mark Mellett DSM, friends and family of the many crew members (past and present of the La Aoife) and many other dignitaries too numerous to mention.

I also spotted representation from the 1848 Tricolour Celebration Committee, Waterford Business Group, Waterford In Your Pocket as well as many of our very supportive local media.

Maybe due to the absolutely bitterly cold wind blowing right down the Suir Estuary, making my eyes run constantly and preventing me from wearing my kilt, that I failed to notice any significant representation from our 32 Councillors. I did see the City and County Mayors (we have two Mayors in Waterford) and two additional Councillors, but very few others. I understand that there was Mayoral Civic Reception held the night before but surely the decommissioning ceremony, in the presence of a Minister of State, with national TV coverage should have been attended by a significant number of Councillors and not the scattering I and many others noticed and commented on?

It was also great to see RTE South East, with Damien Tiernan and his dedicated crew fighting the elements, filming the decommissioning ceremony and managing to get the whole service from the cutting room floor to being broadcast on RTE Six One News only a few hours later. Well done to all.

You simply cannot buy the sort of publicity and branding the La Aoife has generated for Waterford City. The La Aoife has been one of the City’s greatest ever ambassadors and we owe a great big thank you to her last Captain Marie Gleeson, and her dedicated crew, who worked extremely hard behind the scenes to ensure that the La Aoife was decommissioned in Waterford City and not Cork.

We must also acknowledge the work of Councillor Eddie Mulligan who in his capacity as a new public servant and in his role with the Naval Reserve (Waterford) also worked away in the background to bring this vessel eastwards, away from Cork, for her final official ceremony here in Waterford City.

Over the last number of years the La Aoife crew have raised in excess of €35,000 for our hospital and this has been done without fuss or ceremony or publicity. We owe a huge thank you to all those who raised funds over the past numbers of years.

But what of our future relationship with the Irish Navy now that the La Aoife is decommissioned? Will Waterford City be twinned with another of the Navy’s newer vessels or will we simply be forgotten?

I do know that a number of official requests have been lodged and submitted requesting that the new vessel, Le James Joyce, be twinned with Waterford City once the vessel is commissioned later in 2015.

As we are all too aware “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray!”

So we ALL need to ensure that our relationship with the Irish Navy, as maritime City, continues and if readers are interested in continuing this relationship then please lobby your local TD’s and Councillors to ensure that the Le James Joyce does in fact become twinned with our wonderful City and we can continue to see the name of Waterford City promoted and literally carried around the vast seas that surround this island.

On Friday last I had the immense pleasure to spend some time with three Committee members of the Ballybeg Brick by Brick appeal. We got in touch with each other on the back of the Waterford Business Group organising its own fundraising night on the 28^th February, at Kilcohan dog track. The Waterford Business Group unanimously decided at our weekly group meeting to give part of the nights fundraising directly to this appeal. So coming along and support if you can.

The three committee members I met must also be considered as brand ambassadors for Waterford City. What happened in Ballybeg was nothing short of horrendous and yet only a few days later a committee was founded and action plans were being drawn up.

The appeal has been promised the earth, moon and stars by a vast number of political representatives and it will be the responsibility of those who have made these many promises to deliver and deliver within a timescale that is appropriate and suitable for Ballybeg. There are large numbers of community groups relying on a renaissance that must happen within a period of weeks and not over a period of months. The longer the rebirth of this area takes the longer it will simply be forgotten and the citizens of Waterford City cannot allow that to happen.

I saw a determination and drive in the three Committee members that tells me they will make sure Ballybeg rises from the ashes - just like the mythical Phoenix does. But this group will need help, encouragement, guidance, advice and much much more. It is everyone’s responsibility to be a part of the rebuilding process and I would urge that we make the regeneration of Ballybeg a good news story for the whole of Waterford.

In business every staff member is a brand ambassador for that business, whether they like it or not. Even when you are not at work you will always be associated with your company, business or place of work. Like the La Aoife, its crew, and the Ballybeg Brick by Brick Appeal committee we need to work very hard to create the right image and right impression if we are to flourish as businesses. This means being constantly aware how we act and more importantly how we deal with our customers.

There is absolutely no point in Waterford working hard creating a brand image of the City if once you come here you experiences something completely different. Good customer service builds your brand image and bad customer service destroys your brand image.

The businesses across Waterford need to be aware of their brand image and through better customer service we will build a better brand Waterford. In light of this the Waterford Business Group are providing FREE customer care workshops to members starting from Monday 9^th February and taking place in Lady Lane Library every Monday and Friday morning throughout the month of February. See www.waterfordbusinessgroup.com 

Finally, I often find that it is those who work hardest to make a project come to fruition that never seem to get the credit they deserve. Strange but true!