Our Showcase Weekend!

It has to be one of the most eagerly anticipated weekends of the year. The annual “Spraoi Bank Holiday in August”, as we all now call it.

The 2017 three-day event was even more special this year, as we were celebrating the 25^th Birthday, of this festival of street music and entertainment. An event that, in all honesty has probably grown to such an extent, that those originators who came up with the idea, are pinching themselves very hard.

Who could have imagined that from such a small acorn, a whole forest would grow?

Spraoi 25, has brought to Waterford City, brand new international acts and a plethora of exciting, innovative and extraordinary home-grown talent. Year on year we see this festival “Reinvent” the concept of street entertainment. This production seems as fresh as ever. It is an amazing formula, has not become stale under any circumstance. You certainly don’t hear people saying this is just the “Same old, same old!”

This was my 16^th Spraoi, since relocating to Waterford City from Scotland. Having come from an events background, covering venues such as Wembley Stadium and Arena, also The Business Design Centre, I know just how challenging and difficult it is to keep an event relevant.

Hats off to the team, some would say army, of staff and volunteers who keep this Waterford treasure rolling along. Not only do they deliver annually, on the first weekend in August, but they are now even packing attendances in, at other festival in far flung corners of Europe. Maybe one year Edinburgh City will open its eyes and invite our SPRAOI to attend the Fringe? Now that would be worth visiting “Auld Reekie” for!

Despite a wee bit of warm rain on Sunday, the weather was excellent for wandering around this oldest of Ireland’s cities. It was great to see that so many of our visitors were exploring Waterford’s wee narrow streets, for the first time. They would turn a corner and there in front of them would be another performance area. We really are blessed with wondrous ancient architecture, Spraoi blending in so well, with its almost chaotic choreographed stage shows.

To many, the weekend is of course bookended by the parade and fireworks display. It would appear that Uncle Tom Cobley and his extended family were in attendance. There is something truly mesmerising about late night fireworks. The myriad of psychedelic colours, ear splitting loud bangs, pops, whizzes and whooshes, exhilarate our very essence. We all love a grand finale to a festival and Spraoi has this down to a fine art.

Of course the whole event needs sponsors and our support, the donating public. As with “ALL things Arty”, there is a huge squeeze on funding for such projects and festivals. The annual struggle, to get just enough to cover costs will always be a difficult uphill task! Funding is forthcoming from various tax payers’ resources, but alas, more and more is being channelled, yes you’ve guessed correctly, away from Waterford!

Once again we are, proportionately, at the very bottom of the Giving Tree, when it comes to supporting our Waterford arts. Local Authorities are being squeezed year on year. Have no doubt that Government pressure will force constraints, come the annual budgetary months of November and December. Those Councils, who wish to continue funding The Arts at the same levels, will be “Encouraged” to find these costs from direct increases in local commercial rates and the local property tax. The jungles drums are already tapping out a beat!

Government is at pains to tell us that “The Arts” are high on their agenda and at every local level they apparently matter a great deal. Yet, the opposite is true when fiscal policy dictates that they be adequately funded. The funding pinch will happen in 2018, as the current Government try to “Buy” our votes for the next general election, looming on the horizon.

Waterford City and County manages to incorporate many, many festivals into the calendar year. In fact we are just as busy as other cities, including Galway.

Spraoi works, because we all feel we’re part of the festival. We feel like we “OWN” a part of “OUR” festival, roll on the next 25 years.

There is much to look forward to, in the coming weeks and months!

This unseasonably warm, dry weather, does not alter the fact that we are still in Winter! Whilst you may well have the odd Daffodil and Crocus, poking their colourful heads above ground to say “Hello”, there is every chance that we will shortly return to colder weather. Not by all accounts, such cold weather that marks February 2017 as the coldest since records began, but colder weather all the same.

Not that I wish to be too grumpy an old man, as Spring will be with us very shortly and there is much to look forward to, in the City and wider afield.

The City Council, as previously written about, have given their support to nearly 80 festivals and events. This is in addition to some excellent initiatives, such as the one that has currently been encouraging people to visit our museums on Sundays for free, up to the end of February. If this has been successful, in terms of drawing the crowds, then it might well be considered worthwhile to run again, later in the year.

Our next big City event, is of course the 1848 Tricolour Celebration, which takes place over the weekend of 3^rd to 5^th March. The event culminates on Sunday 5^th, with the now traditional Flag Raising Ceremony on The Mall. In attendance will be a significant military presence, with accompaniment from some of our very best local Waterford musicians. But, prior to this happening, there are plenty for other themed events to look forward to.

An exhibition on Thomas Francis Meagher in the Central Library, combined with an Irish Defence Forces recruitment day. A comprehensive schools’ educational programme, which will bring TF Meagher to quite literally thousands of school children, focusing on the true meaning of the Green, White and Orange colours of the Flag. A Gala Dinner taking place in The Granville Hotel on Saturday 4^th, with a not insignificant representation of overseas guests to the City. Perhaps the “Main event” will take place early, on the afternoon of Saturday 4^th. Nearly 100 re-enactors will participate, in probably, the largest period re-enactment, circa 1916, taking place in Ireland this year. During the 20 minute choreographed performance, there are sure to be many hundreds of blank rounds being fired!!!

Following rather rapidly on the back of the 1848, will be the City and County’s St. Patrick’s Day parades. The largest of these processions will snake its way through the streetscape of the City Centre and finish on The Mall. We will once again see all manner of clubs, social enterprises, commercial floats etc on display, on what I always remember, as being a rather cold day of the year. It is just such a pity that the crazy, nutty world of Health and Safety has prevented the “Madder floats” from swelling the conga line, due to incomprehensible third party public liability costs!

Guaranteed, our St. Patrick’s Day parade will take our minds of the soon to be FG leadership challenges. Which one assumes will happen, after all the Ministers have had one last jolly. A jolly to pastures green, monuments green, in fact everything green, in some far flung foreign land.

Once St. Patrick or St. Patty, as they call him in the US (why do our Yank cousins insist on calling him this I have no idea!), has gone to bed for another year, we can start to look forward to many of our tourists arriving in Waterford. They in turn can look forward to exploring and discovering Ireland’s Oldest City, The Greenway and Comeraghs.

From the end of March onwards, we can get stuck into a full programme of Festivals and Events. Then there will of course be your own favourites. I am looking forward to the likes of Sproai, West Waterford Festival of Food, Harvest and of course my particular favourite The Sean Kelly 160km Tour of Pain, Suffering, Mental Torture, Agony.......and FUN!

So, if the political rumblings of a FG Leadership challenge send you to sleep, there are so many more events on the horizon to keep you awake in the coming year.

Thanks to Kevin Pim for the video footage which is from the 1848 facebook page; www.facebook.com/1848Tricolour/videos/1340576525985437/ 

Festival are a GO, GO!

Believe it or not, Waterford City and County is one of the busiest festival regions in Ireland – FACT!

The annual Waterford Council Festival Budget distribution, took place at the first Plenary Council meeting of the year. Much of what was brought into the public gallery was of course discussed, agreed and preordained, behind closed doors, in “secret” Committee Meetings. With circa €1,400,000 to be allocated across the whole City and County, this is one of the key functions of our 32 sitting Councillors.

With all things budgetary, there are of course metaphorical swings and roundabouts. Some festivals/events in 2016 were one-offs and obviously some applications did not make the grade. The process involves the Council Executive assessing the organiser’s application for funding and this is then brought to our Councillors for ratification.  Accompanied by an associated increase or reduction in grant funding. The process is lengthy, involved and forensic. But it has to be, as these are after all public funds and transparency is paramount to the whole procedure.

The four big ticket items for 2017 are Winterval, with €430,000 being allocated and a potential income of around €250,000 from sponsorship, stall income etc. The Winterval committee will, I am sure, be re-jigged this year and I have no doubt that such is the size of the grant allocation, this will have to go out to national tender. Our two excellent food festivals, Harvest (September) and WWFF (April), receive around €150,000, which like Winterval, will be counterbalanced by some additional income. The Sean Kelly Tour (August) is supported by €180,000, which is, I assume, front loaded to offset later income sources and is therefore, in reality, cost neutral for the Council.

Finally, Spraoi (August), is supported by a grant of €67,000, which of all the festival allocations is probably not enough. Considering this was the event that started our love affair with festivals and events. Spraoi will shortly be celebrating their 25^th Birthday and perhaps we could ask our Councillors to be mindful of this and save up a few Euro, in the build-up to what will be a worthy celebration, in the coming year/s ahead?

 

The breadth and variety of festivals and events right across Waterford, is something to behold. From Lismore to Tramore, Dunmore to Ardmore, Comeraghs to Dungarvan.....there are so many to choose from, that in reality we do not need to venture outside of our county boundary to find something that tickles our fancy.

There are, within these processes, losers. Some events have had to have a funding cut, due to the very tight financial constraints which our Council must work with, because of continued reductions in Central Government funding. This in turn puts pressure on Councils to increase Commercial Rates, Local Property Tax and that wonderful “Cash cow”, that is car parking charges. In future years, to keep our festivals and events going, we will without doubt, need to spread less money further. This will be a challenge and in time may be easier to get blood out of a stone, than more Government support, allowing us to experience the wide variety of festivals we host.

The biggest cut was to the Summerval Festival. You will recall that back in August, I asked the question in this very column, “Are we getting Summerval(u)?”. For 2017 this will revert back to a “Summer in the City” type festival. This has excellent foundations, to build a first rate brand and with the support of ArtBeat, we should see a Summer long programme of events. Starting the June bank holiday and ending early September.

Circa 70 festivals/events were granted some form of Council assistance. Ranging from a few hundred Euro, to hundreds of thousands of Euro. I suppose that the tricky part will be encouraging all these festivals and events cross promote. Working together for the betterment of the whole County and across the wider South East region. If we are to put our stamp on the festivals and events map then we need to shout collectively!

Just look at what Galway espouses! According to their blurb, they are Ireland’s only festival City – a hum!

Happy Burns Night as well!

Are we getting Summerval(u)?

As we are now into the second week of August we are roughly halfway through the Summerval programme and I have to ask, “Has it started yet?”

Despite all the fanfare and pre-event promotion, many of the City businesses, a significant number of Waterford people and myself, do feel that it has been rather a damp squib, unlike the Spraoi fireworks on The Quay, a couple of weeks ago.

Dig deeper into the programming and you will see that many of our annual summertime events, attractions and festivals have been incorporated under the one umbrella and this of course is a good idea, if we are to compete with other “festival cities”. This in fact should have been done years ago and by building a strong promotional summer programme we make the whole region more attractive. However, as the majority of events were in existence prior to the Summerval banner being flown, they cannot be claimed as “new”!

Any event which receives some form of Council, therefore rate/tax payers’ subvention, should be listed under a “Waterford Festivals/Events” banner and co-promoted at every opportunity. The fallout from the Three Sisters bid has promised better interaction and closer ties with our neighbouring counties. But what about closer cross promotion from the, literally, dozens and dozens of year round festivals/events we all attend on an annual basis? Take time to count these, you’ll need more than two hands and feet to do this, and you will be mightily impressed with the levels of activities around this City and County.

So, the bigger question must be, have we received good value for money for the Summerval branding? Bear in mind that the budget for this, is in excess of circa €100,000 and if you add on the existing budgets from Summer in the City, Art Beat etc then you are looking at budgets in the region of circa €140,000. A very healthy budget indeed, when you do not have to create any new events – well at least very few new events!

Waterford Walls 2015

In addition, I have been told that the marketing, PR, event management etc and in fact all the committee work is being carried out free gratis and this should be applauded. (This of course continues the Waterford tradition of giving your precious free time for other causes.)

Thus, with no salaries, as such to pay, the whole €100k budget could be spent on new acts, new attractions, regional/national advertising campaigns, competitions, social media etc etc.

Alas, I fear that the promise that Summerval would bring thousands of extra visitors to the City and County has not materialised and in fact the whole idea needs to be closely looked at and scrutinised as it has clearly not captured the imagination of anyone.

I sat in the Council meeting when Summerval was fist muted and I know that the funding was ultimately approved by our 32 Councillors after extensive “In-Committee-Meetings.” Meetings where we, the public, our local press and media, do not get access to the minutes. It would be interesting to read those minutes and see just how forensically the business plan, budgets, cost benefits analysis etc were scrutinised by the Councillors who approved the awarding of a six figure grant!

Sadly, we will never know. But reading between the lines I would imagine that many Councillors are now asking just what value for money this exercise has delivered?

The idea of listing our many attractions/events/festivals under one corporate “Waterford’s Just Better” banner is the right way to go. But to have allocated so much money to this project, at the detriment to others, is wrong.

Yes, we needed a “Summer Festival” but the work done on the likes of Summer In The City, Art Beat etc was a foundation stone to expand on. Allocating even a fraction of the €100,000 to develop these programmes would have been, in my opinion, money better spent. There has sadly been a lack of engagement, very poor PR, and the result is no significant increase in footfall. In addition as the largest donator/sponsor Waterford Council’s logo is conspicuous by its absence from posters around the City.

Summer value – we have yet to be convinced!

You know it is Summer when Spraoi arrives!

As you get older the years come more and more quickly and 2016 is no exception. It seems like it was only yesterday when we were all getting excited, ready for last year’s festival and low and behold the 2016 event is now upon us.

“The Spraoi Weekend”, as it has now become known locally, takes place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is so good to see that the Festival programme is bigger and better than ever. This has to be one of those very special events that Waterford people actually come out in hordes to support and I, for one, am delighted that TV and their wonderful crew are once again reconnecting Spraoi with the very heart of the City.

To me, the event works so well, with the parade winding its way down the very spine of the Waterford City. The fireworks exploding over the River Suir and of course spontaneous street theatre right across, and I mean right across, the City Centre and not confined to the VT, our leaning tower of investment!

Other organisers take note. The very best Waterford has to offer, starts by incorporating the whole of the City Centre, which in turn means the event is supported in huge numbers. Squeeze or concentrate your event(s) into the wrong areas and you get very little support. The businesses who get behind Spraoi, support Spraoi and “love” Spraoi, for it gives them back much needed footfall across the WHOLE City. It truly is a pan-City event that has, to quote James May, “the fizz” and somehow manages to capture the imagination of young and old.

We have a model for event organisation that has developed organically here in Waterford. A format that works and has adapted to changing and challenging times (financially). The event has weathered the political storms around national funding and has, I have no doubt, managed to steer through the maelstrom of local politics that is needed to ensure continued support from City Hall and the wider Council remit.

Spraoi is a Waterford success story. But sadly it is only one of a lesser breed and we need to make sure that if we wish to compete with the Galways of Ireland then we need to drag, pull and elevate our other events to a similar high level of excellence.

As I have said many a time, in print, we have the people, with the skills, we just need to get the powers that be, to make brave decisions, and actually employ the right people to deliver.

We are a small City that sometimes demonstrates a village mentality. This mould needs to be cracked and we need to step away from using the same old broken formulas, regurgitated time and time again, seeking out the right people to bring our other events up to the high standards set by Spraoi.

In fact it is not only Festivals that need our attention. Many other projects around the City need that injection of “new blood”, with innovative and creative ideas, which will drive events to another level. Yes, it is very hard for originators to let go, but to build a better brand, a better City and County, we need to do just that. If that means paying the right people, then we must find the means to do so.

When I look at the potential of where we could take Waterford, in terms of being an attractor for investment and tourism, I often wonder if I am seeing these possibilities through rose tinted glasses. Yet, when I speak Waterford people, they too can see this potential. They just do not yet have the leaders or facilitators they feel that they can follow, to deliver on what is an untapped latent potential.

Urban renewal, Michael Street Shopping Centre, SDZ on the North Quay, footbridge across the River Suir, Ireland’s Ancient East.....etc are all potential game changers for Waterford. But do we have the “drivers” in place to actually deliver for the people of this great City and County?

Enjoy Spraoi and remember to look after your City this weekend!

Yippee, the summer is here!

Yes, yes, yes!!!! It was officially the start of the meteorological summer on Wednesday 1^st June and some say that we have much to look forward to over the next weeks and months.

The recent run of Mediterranean weather has set us all off on a “happy footing”, unless of course you are about to sit Junior and Leaving cert exams! It always amazes me that the weather, since records began, is at its glorious best just as we imprison our kids in stifling exam halls and subject them to two or three hours of trying to unpick the complex grey matter that resides between their ears. Good luck to all concerned!

The City and its wider environs have seen some positive stories recently. For example the berthing of the huge cruise ship, Celebrity Silhouette, just off Dunmore East and the thousands of day-trippers who visited the City Centre, giving a much needed boost to many a thirsty, dehydrated shop till. Of course the continued location filming of Redwater in this village, will undoubtedly add to the “Sunny South East” mantra and I am sure all involved in this production will be relishing the summer weather that currently betters most of continental Europe.

With many a festival also on the horizon for the City and wider afield there should be plenty to get our teeth sunk into and lots to do for residents and visitors alike.

“City In Bloom” will shortly burst into life and draping the Waterford in a magical multi-coloured coat of wondrous joy that will stay with us right up to September. Spraoi will be back before we know it and then there is Day Tripper, admittedly in a new venue, not the traditional City Centre location, but still promoting a line-up, that has once again something for everyone, whether you are young or an auld one! The much vaunted Summerval has much to live up to if it is to validate all the promised hype and we hope that the festival can deliver on its €138,000 funded budget. Actually adding significantly to the City Centre footfall? We will keep a close eye on this one.

If festivals are not your thing, then you only have to travel a few miles out of the City Centre to find the type of scenery that would whet the appetite of Allsopp and Spencer. “Now here’s a view!”, we could all confidently boast to this pair of presenters.

Our region has the best of both sea and mountain views. Depending on which way you drive our coast road, you get two completely differing panoramas and two vistas that would grace the cover of any Lonely Planet guide or a Michael Palin travel book. We really are spoiled for choice.

Sea swimming is of course a must and we have kilometre upon kilometre of hushed, unspoiled beaches just waiting to be discovered.

These, mostly free attractions, should and could be the envy of many another county. But sadly, once again, we seem to be possibly sinking to the bottom of the league when attracting these much vaunted International Visitors who seem to be spending many a Euro outside of the South East.

This has always puzzled me and bewildered many more besides. When so many citizens of Waterford, are aware of just what we have to offer, why oh why is this message not being spread, by those promoters of Irish tourism? 

Are we now finding ourselves, a regional tourist area, that has literally fallen between the two stools that are the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’s Ancient East? Are we the furthest away point from both of these behemoths and therefore seen as “just off the beaten track!”

Are we happy to be once again feeding off the odd crumb indignantly tossed to us by the powers that be?

If we are to compete with the other more established tourism brands then we must differentiate our product.

“People Make Waterford” so let’s make that happen!

Waterford - a busier City than you might think!

Summer Solstice

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

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

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

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

A City In Bloom.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Flying the flag for Waterford.

I often have people asking me “What is going on in Waterford City?” and I also tend to get asked the following supplementary, “How come you know so much about what is happening in the City?”

The simple fact is that due to the nature of my own business, bizBoost, and the various groups and committees I am involved with I need to “have my finger on the pulse” to coin a well worn phrase. I go out of my way to read ALL the local newspapers, listen to the local radio stations, attend as many Council meetings as I can, keep an eye on the social media traffic and of course I make take time to meet and network with a huge volume of people. And it is when I have the opportunity to meet with people that I take time to listen first and then answer the many questions I inevitably get asked.

Today is Thursday the 19^th March and the last two weeks have shown Waterford City as a beacon of positivity and a series of one good news story after another. These stories have been covered by ALL our local media and across the various social networking platforms. But just in case you missed these here as some of my highlights of the last two weeks (in no particular order):

1848 Tricolour Celebration, covering the 6^th to 9^th March; over 110 guests attended a Gala Dinner on Saturday 7^th March in the presence of the Mayor, Minister Coffey, Ambassadorial representation from the US, Canadian and French Embassies, and members of the 69^th Infantry Division (New York). Sunday 8^th March 1500 people attended the flag raising ceremony on The Mall with musical accompaniment from the Thomas Francis Meagher Fife & Drum, Barrack Street Band and the Island of Ireland Peace Choir. All of these events were organised by the voluntary 1848 Tricolour Celebration Committee.

Naming the Thomas Francis Meagher Bridge; on Thursday 12^th March, in the presence of President Michael D Higgins, the Suir River crossing was formally named The Thomas Francis Meagher Bridge in a closed ceremony, in horrible weather conditions, in an area just off the toll plaza. This really was a mammoth team effort on behalf of the 1848 Tricolour Committee, and the Councils of both Waterford and Kilkenny.

Lions Club National Conference; over the weekend of 6^th to 9^th March the Tower Hotel hosted the National Conference of the Lions Clubs of Ireland. Over 400 delegates from all over Ireland and further afield attended this national event.

 

VLM announce flights from Waterford Airport; on Monday 27^th April direct flights from Waterford Airport to London Luton will resume. The new Belgium based airline will fly 12 times in each direction every week from April. These flights replace the FlyBe routes.

President Michael D Higgins is greeted by 1500 school children; on Thursday 12^th March President Michael D Higgins presides over the launch of Flag Week. A programme by the Thomas Francis Meagher Foundation to educate the Irish school children around the history of the Irish Tricolour and the connection with Meagher and Waterford City. Over 250 schools attended this event and each school received a Tricolour flag that was flown at 33 The Mall, Waterford City. This event was attended by a whole host of dignitaries and perhaps my abiding memory will be everyone, and I mean everyone, participating in a Mexican Wave!

St.Patrick’s Day on Tuesday 17^th March; we were once again witness to a magnificent parade on St.Patrick’s Day and full credit must be given to those who organised the event and more importantly a big thank you to those who marched in the parade. The Waterford influence was not confined to the City as members of Spraoi also provide costumes and support for parades in Dublin and Cork.

Glanbia opens €180 million facility in Belview Port; the opening of the state-of-the-art facility by Glanbia should contribute around €400 million to the Irish economy and will create around 75 directly related jobs and 1,600 indirect jobs. Currently Ireland produces around 10% of the world’s infant milk formula but the future hope is that this will rise to over 60% with plants such as the one in Belview coming on stream.

Ballybeg Brick by Brick Appeal gathers strength; over the last two weeks we have seen an increasing number of local events raising money for the Brick by Brick Appeal and money is starting to come in to fund for many projects that will rise out of the ashes. There is so much local support for the Appeal that it you cannot fail to notice the momentum this is gathering.

 

Waterford United hosted the Irish Football Manager Martin O’Neill and Assistant Manager Roy Keane on Thursday 12^th March for a club fundraiser with John Delaney also present. Over 200 people supported this event and efforts of the fundraising committee.

These are just some of my own memories of the last two weeks and I know that there are so many more good news stories out there as well.

Sometime we have to actively look for the good news and it is just such a pity that we cannot lead with good news stories ALL the time. As they say in the newspaper world “Bad News Sells Newspapers” but the good news stories make us feel much much better in ourselves and in our communities.

Waterford as a good news story had unprecedented local, regional and national news coverage over the last fortnight and just imaging if we could replicate that over the 52 weeks of a whole year. Attitudes to this City would change instantaneously and investment would flood the City, County and Region.

Good news stories do so much more for the moral fibre of the City we live in than the bad press we seem to always focus on. We are ALL responsible for finding those good news stories and promoting the good in our City, County and Region.

If we ALL ensured that we could regularly replicating the last two weeks of positive press coverage the City and County has received then Waterford City would in no time at all get back its rightful place as Ireland’s fourth City of the Republic. This in turn would lead to lower unemployment, better third level attainment, higher wages and so on. It really is a win win!

It is all about OUR positive attitude to make Waterford the very best that it can be and looking forward with a positive mindset is something we all need to do.

“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose” (Lyndon B Johnson).

Thank you to Paul Dower for his photographs.