“Terms and Conditions Apply!”

So Frances Fitzgerald finally fell on her own sword. Not before putting up a huge, behind closed doors fight, with her Fine Gael colleagues. There was even talk about her “Having something on Leo?” Nonetheless, he remained so steadfastly on the side of “She has done nothing wrong and let’s wait for the tribunal, before judging her!”

The trouble was, that Leo’s pantomime Dames were also told, in no uncertain terms, to get behind their Tánaiste. “They’re behind you!” The spin was “Innocent until proved guilty.” Then more and more, leaked emails started to appear. Evidence against the Minister was mounting, indications being that Frances knew more about the shenanigans surrounding Maurice McCabe, than she was willing to tell the Dáil. Had she convinced Leo, she was no Panto Baddie, no Wicked Witch?

Pressure mounted on ALL concerned, nobody wanted a pre-Christmas election. The hustings were awash with threats of rebellion. There was no festive cheer. The door knocking over the 12 Days of Christmas, was without doubt, going to be a complete and utter disaster. It would be an election date of infamy.

Joy of joys. Two Tuesdays ago Frances did the honourable thing and tendered her resignation, at the very, very, very last minute. Talk about leaving it late. She took the Government and the country right to the wire.

There must have been terms and conditions attached?

Sure enough, only a few hours later, the now ex-Minister and ex-Tánaiste received the full backing of her party. She stood for and was nominated, as the FG candidate for the next general election in her Dublin Mid West constituency. I have no doubt that a future ministerial role has been pencilled in, if FG are returned to govern.

Scroll forward a few days and on Thursday 30^th November, Scotland’s St.Andrew’s Day, Minister Simon Coveney, can’t believe his luck. Accepting the position of Tánaiste with alacrity. Have absolutely no doubt, he has attached his very own “Ts and Cs” to keep FG and FF happy. Will we see a third budget, as promised in the Confidence and Supply Agreement? “Oh yes we will!” Well, only time will tell.

 

Then out of the blue, the terms of reference are announced, by Minister Simon Harris, for the National Review of Specialist Cardiac Services. We’d rub our magic lamp and Waterford’s Lotto numbers would come up. We’d scoop the Euro Millions jackpot. Professor Nolan would lead the review that would once and for all, deliver the South East’s cardiac services.

Alas, yet another false dawn, I am afraid.

The terms of reference, are once again, comical, laughable, and even “Wishy-Washy”. They are quite evidently worthy lines for a pantomime Dame. “Oh NO they’re NOT!” the Government shout. “Oh YES they are!” we shout back.

An unbelievably long, drawn-out timescale of 12 to 18 months. Hello, we might all be dead, by the time the report comes back to Minister Harris! At least the can has been well and truly kicked down the road, for the next Government to fight Waterford.

Then, we see the now obligatory photo shoot, appearing all over social media. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am sure that some, maybe even all, are trying very hard to deliver our very basic health service rights. But when you see only three TDs pictured with the Minister, is it any wonder that this South East “Crisis”, is seen by those in the Dáil as wholly Waterford’s conundrum?

Could I produce a few more TDs from behind the Minister? “Abracadabra”, I shouted, but without my magic lamp to rub, no more appeared.

There are 158 TDs in the Dáil, yet only 3 turned up for the launch picture. That represents less than 2% of the total number seated in Dublin. If all 19 regional representatives had shown up, that would have increased the proportion to 12%!!!!

Or to put it another way. I win €1,000,000 on the Lotto and offer a lucky reader the chance to get 2% or 12% of these winnings. €20,000 or €120,000 – what would you choose????

Percentages matter in Irish politics. It’s very simple. The bigger representation you have, the greater the slice of the pie - Ts and Cs always apply. 

Are we lacking in political talent?

Over the last few weeks many, many column inches have been written, relating to our Junior Minister John Halligan’s recent faux pas. Thus, widened the debate further, as to whether or not Waterford has the political talent to actually make a difference to the City, County and wider South East region.

If you look at our neighbouring counties, the numerous political “Big hitters” across our borders are well publicised. These TDs are aligning themselves for significant portfolios in the next Irish Government, be that 2018, 2019 or 2020.

Waterford’s long term hurling foe, Kilkenny, have a five seat constituency. Both FF and FG will probably be targeting three seats in the “Black and Amber” county. Out to the “Wesht” we have the super constituency of Cork. The two main parties of FF and FG are well aware that this very large geographical area is a key battle ground. Eighteen seats are available, across the various compass points, Tipperary has five seats on offer and so does Wexford.

We are quite literally surrounded, by much bigger political sharks and that in itself is our greatest challenge. The main two parties and probably SF, albeit behind closed doors, see the Déise as fish bait. Nothing too important and far enough away from Dublin headquarters to ignore....most of the time.

We have seen economic report after economic report shelved, or used to prop up wobbly old desks or used as doorstops, in dusty corners of Leinster House. From a rushed “Talk Talk” report, delivered by Richard Bruton and announced on WLR FM, during “Winterval on Ice” outside broadcast, in December 2011, to the most recent South East Economic reports. These have all come and gone. They have all been launched with much razz-a-ma-tazz, promising a subheading of “This is the one to fix our woes!” Yet many, many years later we are still stuck in the same Groundhog Day.

Our latest golden ticket promise of a “Proper” cardio review, has now been found wanting in the terms of reference. These by all accounts having been by-passed by our own TDs apparently, they are now arguing the terms need to be changed? The bigger questions is, is it just the four Waterford TDs asking that these be changed or are our political neighbours doing the same?

Surely, 4+5+5+5=19, makes a more powerful argument than the lone voices of four individual party members?

Despite the rhetoric surrounding the apparent working together on the “Three Sisters” bid. I do wonder, will we ever persuade the likes of Kilkenny, Wexford and adding in Tipperary, to really support the betterment of the region. The TDs in these neighbouring constituencies see themselves as THE regional players and do not wish to bow down to Waterford. They do after all have significantly bigger population centres and more TDs in the Dáil.

So what of Waterford’s political talent pool? Do we have the right people in Dublin to persuade our hostile neighbouring tribes to support the Déise? Well at this moment in time that would appear to be a big fat NO!

We have two TDs in Government. One has decided for some unknown reason to become John Ford’s “The Quiet Man” and our other Junior Minister the complete opposite. You know you have made it as an Irish politician, when Mario Rosenstock satirises your every move!

With two TDs in Government you would think that we would have some chance of succeeding. Alas, like so many of the reports that have gone before, their promise has been fleeting and ephemeral.

Will Waterford ever be a political force in Dublin? In truth that probably won’t happen, unless we return three, yes three, main party TDs. Or better still four from the same party! This of course, will not take place as we are voters of habit. Come election time we tend to vote the same old way.

We do need our current elected representatives to pull their socks up, whatever happens in the next year or two. They must start meeting and dealing with our “Hostile” neighbours.

They meet regularly themselves. Maybe now is the time to invite a few more to their tea party?

What if Simon says “No!”

We have already seen the appalling decision made by a certain Simon H to conveniently disregard the highly respected Higgins report on University Hospital Waterford (UHW), in favour of his own Government’s Herity Report. A Report, which we were told, if the readers can recall, was merely a formality. It was a very simple matter of ticking a few boxes, crossing some “T’s” and dotting a number of “I’s”. This would confirm what we already knew. That a second Catheterisation Laboratory for UHW should in fact be delivered, funded and built, ASAP.

But, we now know that we were sold a pup.

The second lab would not be forthcoming and to appease those Deise hordes, it was announced in Dublin, that a mobile unit would be diverted down the M9, to UHW and used to take up the “Slack”. Unfortunately, this mobile unit cannot, at the moment, seem to find its way to Waterford. To add insult to injury, this unit would be “Shared” with other just as needy regions. A big kick in the teeth to us on this matter, from Simon H!

But there would be light at the end of our dark tunnel.

We could, in the short term, forget not securing a second Catheterisation Laboratory, as good news was in fact, just around the corner. Waterford in recent weeks, has bounced back, in a big way. Wonderful, joyous and fantastic news that a €300,000,000 development of the City’s North Quays, would categorically take place, with investment of many, many Middle Eastern Riyal. In fact we would get TWO retail centres built for the price of one – happy days are ahead.

This news, in conjunction with the 2040 National Planning Framework, announced by Minister Simon C, would see accelerated development of our Strategic Development Zone (SDZ), to help double the City’s population. At last we could collectively take a breath and it now looked like Government was listening to the people of Waterford. They were actually going to put their hand in their collective pockets, to find some much needed fiscal money, to feed our economy.

Just like London buses, a third piece of good news landed on our doorstep. That hotel on the hill had finally been sold. The promise of a five star development, garden rooftop bars, largest function suite in Waterford, conference space....the list was endless.

Were we finally beginning to turn the corner? Waterford was surely on the up, or are we?

Amid much whooping and hollering we have to remember that to develop our North Quay’s SDZ we need Government money. Some say €50 million, but in Ireland that probably means that what is needed could well be in excess of €60 million, possibly €70 million. This loosening of the exchequer purse strings will not be easy. It will not be without its challenges and rest assured the political “Flat cap” clout from other regions will be doing their very, very best to divert this money elsewhere.

The bottom line is, that unless this money for the earmarked infrastructural work in our SDZ is not signed, sealed and delivered by Government. Where is this money to come from?

Waterford Council certainly do not have the funds, or the means to allocate anywhere near this level of funding. I suspect that our nearest neighbours in Kilkenny and Wexford will not be too much help either? So we are once again relying on a Government whose track record in supporting Waterford INC is to say the very least sketchy.

We have recently had one Simon saying “Yes” and one Simon saying “No”. A bit like that game we used to play as kids. An outcome completely randomly based on chance. 

Does Simon C really want Waterford City to stand any chance of doubling its population, for the betterment of the whole of the South East? Will he really get Old Father Time (Noonan), to open his dusty wallet and find €50/ €60/€70 million for this City?

The very recent delivery record for Waterford has been extremely poor. The onus is on our Junior Minister, 3 TDs and 2 Senators to now earn their stripes. 

A New Year revolution – I mean resolution!

As we move into 2017, I wonder just what is in store for Waterford and its people.

2016, as many have pointed out on social media, has been another year, which could only be described as an “Annus Horribilis!” The year started off with so much promise. A very early general election was announced and there was much talk about “New Politics” for 2016. But alas, there was absolutely no movement away from the traditional parish pump political delivery of old. Something unfortunately, we in Waterford seem to be particularly bad at.

One of our nearest neighbours has this down to a fine art and perhaps we should take a lesson or two from him. People vote in their thousands, for the Teflon Mr Lowry, because he is like a tin of Ronseal and does exactly what it says on the label. Apparently, he does a good job for all his constituents, runs a very efficient constituency office, unequalled in the whole of Ireland, gets involved with public bodies, service providers and tackles the inefficiencies of officialdom, all for the good of his beloved County.

In fact, whilst our newly elected TD’s were enjoying themselves in Dublin, arguing amongst themselves or waving various pieces of paper, a certain Mr Lowry was working the corridors of power. He was achieving as much as he could, for the people who allowed him to return to Dublin. The fragile Government, that he found himself a part of, could be manipulated to his sole benefit and that is exactly what he did. In under a year he has delivered in spades for his constituency. All it seems even more impressive, having managed somehow, to do this with no significant negative media coverage. He also appears to have been able to get blood from a stone and all without having to “Be bought and sold for foreign gold”.

This is one politician, who has quite clearly has put his people first. First above all other matters and that is why he has been so successful at the ballot box.

In addition to a world with yet more blatant “Parish pump shenanigans”, that other sin of Irish politics, namely cronyism now seems to be de rigueur. There have been people appointed, on a seemingly “willy-nilly” basis, to boards, committees, quangos, high profile roles, senior civil servants posts and so on. Now, in theory, there should be no real issue with this, but when friends, family members and people with little or no experience are shoe-horned into roles, we have to ask “WHY?”

It is against this backdrop, we need to look more closely, at just what 2017 might or might not bring to Waterford and the wider south east region. Clearly, we have some very serious, continuing issues. There are NO political heavyweights, punching for us, in Dublin. In truth, we have no one fighting on the undercard.

Regionally we are suckered. There are just too many Mr Lowrys surrounding Waterford, all looking after and protecting their own patch to worry, or be concerned with Ireland’s oldest City. We appear to have found ourselves in one of Mr Boyle’s vacuums and getting out of it will unquestionably take more than a few New Year resolutions. I fear we’ll need a whole political revolution, to get this City back to its rightful place as the fourth City of the Republic.

But just how do we go about making that revolution happen?

The non-stick Mr Lowry knows, from the many thousands that interact with him, whether he is or isn’t delivering for Tipp. The people of his constituency are, quite rightly, involved with their very local political affairs. They want to know what is being delivered, locally and nationally, for their taxes. Making sure that Tipp gets not only a look at, but is allowed to choose from the A La Carte menu.

My hope for the year ahead, is that we the people of Waterford, simply get involved to make sure that those elected on our behalf, deliver for us and not for themselves.

Here’s to 2017 and some new politics. Happy New Year.

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. 

“Until the lambs become lions”

“Rise and rise again,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To this extent our representatives should be ashamed.

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

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

Lashings of Ginger Beer!

I was lucky enough to return to the local airwaves last weekend and appear on the panel of WLR’s Maria McCann’s Sunday review show, known as “The Week”. My fellow panel guests were Brain Swift and Tadgh Williams. I also brought, to share, some salted caramel cookies, which appear to have been a favourite of Maria’s – future guests please take note!

Some say I have the perfect face for radio! What I do know, is that not only do I appear to sound like Shrek on the radio, with my retreating hairline I am beginning to look, well facially at least, like the big green ogre as well!

The review of news from the week that was, was lively, direct, straight talking, humorous (I hope) and expertly directed, as usual, by our host Maria. During the review we discussed many topics and subjects. Naturally we also talked politics.

A challenge was laid down to our four sitting TDs and our newest Senator – our very own “Famous Five!”

The Famous Five were of course a series of children’s adventure books, written by Enid Blyton. The Five in question being Julian, Anne, Dick, George and of course George’s dog, known as Timmy.

These Five would get together in the County of Dorset. Every summer holiday recess, upon returning from their various boarding schools dotted around the country. Embarking on many an unlikely adventure in the twenty plus books penned by the author. No matter what difficult challenges lay ahead, these Five would inevitably succeed and do what was necessary to “get the job or task done!” There was no second guessing, they just rolled up their sleeves and literally got stuck in. With a vim and vigour that would put most adults to shame.

Their adventures would later make our silver screens in the mid eighties as a Channel Four spoof series, from “The Comic Strip Presents”. Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Peter Richardson would play the lead roles. This tongue in cheek homage to the original stories would parody Blyton’s books and in a cruel twist of modernisation they added racism to the children’s characters, sexisms and even managing to incorporate some extremely right-wing political views!

With our continued regional position at the top of the third tier of Ireland’s economic recovery, supported by the recent quarterly figures, showing a rather alarming 12.5% unemployment rate across the South East region. Radical thinking is needed in order to drag Waterford, kicking and screaming, and the wider south east region out of the malaise that we find ourselves in.

It was with this background, that the panel on Sunday’s radio show came up with the novel idea that perhaps, just perhaps, we could ask “Our Famous Five” to come together and champion the three, four or five key economic issues/drivers for Waterford, and the wider region?

To do this they would have to ditch the dinosaur party politics that have failed us and come to the table, to work together, for the betterment of the City, County and ultimately the wider geographical region. A region that has once again been left short of a full Ministerial Portfolio, from the cabinet shuffle and therefore we will still be feeding off the occasional crumb thrown to us from the top table!

This type of giant step political thought needs bravehearts and committed political resolve to barter a better deal for the very electorate that put an “X” on the ballot paper way back in late February.

Richardson, Saunders, Edmondson & French.

I would happily facilitate and take the chair at this meeting. In my capacity as Chair of the Waterford Business Group, with no political affiliations or, being apolitical in this instance. When we see other regional TDs banding together and racing ahead of Waterford and the south east, we need “Our Famous Five” to step up to the plate and I am happy to help get this ball rolling!

“A clown needn't be the same out of the ring as he has to be when he's in it.” Enid Blyton.

Programme for Government OR Room 101?

Remember this?

Room 101 originated as a BBC Radio Five programme in the early nineties and was hosted by the comedian Nick Hancock. The concept eventually moved to mainstream BBC Television and the show is currently being hosted by comedian Frank Skinner. There are also the endless repeats being shown on a “continuous loop” on the satellite channel Dave.

Room 101 was of course inspired by the novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, author George Orwell, where ALL the worst things in the World would be gathered, placed and forgotten.

The current BBC series allows us to view an endless stream of celebrates, in a panel of three, placing all manner of objects, themes, ideas, people etc into Room 101, having discussed the merits for inclusion with host Frank Skinner. As a “dip-in viewer” I have often wished that Skinner had placed all three celebrates into Room 101!

Over the years there has been an eclectic mix of “things” that have ended up in Room 101 including; the FA Cup, Postman Pat, Ferrero Rocher, Margaret Thatcher, cyclists, golf, novelty underpants, hangovers, moths and even poor old Bono!

Clearly then, Room 101 has become synonymous with somewhere to place “things” that clearly do not matter to you, me and our TDs.

I have a sense that the new Programme for Government will become Ireland’s very own Room 101!

There has been great interest in the new Government’s minestrone soup of a Programme for Government, which can be viewed on the good old interweb, through various sources. This huge 155 page document, aptly titled “A Programme for a Partnership Government” outlines ALL and I mean ALL of the proposed plans that will be carried out during the term of this 32^nd Government.

In realty this is just a big wish list or our TDs equivalent of a Dear Santa letter!

Sarah's cats.

I recall a meeting in the Granville Hotel many, many years ago when I was CEO of Waterford Chamber. The event’s Top Table was Enda Kenny and a young (younger) Simon Coveney, with George Lee conducting the proceedings. You will recall that George Lee was trumpeted by FG as the new kid on the block, the new face of FG’s Irish politics and would be the man to shape the future of FG economic policy to ensure stability and drive the country’s recovery!

In the end the dinosaur that is Irish party politics made him resign; “For the last nine months I've done my best to have an influence on that (FG economic policy), but I have to confess that I have virtually no influence, no input whatsoever.”

At this meeting we were promised in FG’s Programme for Government, should they be elected in 2011 to the 31^st Dáil, that amongst other “things”, Waterford Hospital would be suitably resourced and funded as a regional hospital, Waterford Institute of Technology would get “University” status, the south east would be supported for economic development etc etc.

In reality ALL of these promises were nothing but election husting’s spin and when push came to shove everything that was promised for Waterford was literally dumped into Room 101!

I fear that we are yet again reliving that Groundhog Day, and strangely enough the same people are promising to deliver for Waterford, yet their track recording in doing this is, well to be polite, diabolical! Yes, we have had some small wins, and these have been small wins, but the big ticket items have just not been delivered.

Who would you put in Room 101?

Proof that this Government is NOT serious about delivering for Waterford and the South East is the complete and utter lack of a FULL ministerial role for a south east TD. The last ministerial portfolio for Waterford was Cullen and our current crop of TDs are not even making the team sheet.

Rest assured that our Dublin centric TDs are lining up plenty of entries for Waterford and the south east for Room 101 – I just hope that our big ticket items do not end up back in there once again!

“E-A-R-L-Y” – we all know how to spell that word Enda!

It was suggested by Enda Kenny in last week’s national news that the 2016 General Election would be held in early spring and, just to emphasise the point, the Taoiseach actually spelled the word for us just to make it easier to understand, “Early in the Spring. E-A-R-L-Y.” he stated whilst at an event in Madrid.

Anyone would think he was a school teacher – oh wait a minute, he is!

At least now we know that the country is on General Election footing and have no doubt that ALL the political parties and independent TDs are gathering their troops and starting to plan their election campaigns. And this will give an opportunity to all of us, who have registered to vote, to plan our own questions for those putting their names forward for the 2016 General Election.

For those who have not registered to vote, there is still time to make sure that you can have your say and let me be very clear that everyone should register to vote and then everyone will be allowed to have their say and ultimately influence the result next year. There will no doubt be many sitting TDs hoping and praying that new voters do not appear on the register and, in fact, I am sure that many of these TDs are in fact quite happy at the very poor levels of political engagement seen across this country. This means that they will yet again rely on diehard traditional voters to come out and vote. Thus, returning the same average number of electoral votes we are now used to seeing year after year after year.

Coming back for 2016!

Now, just for one minute, imagine that the whole of Ireland were to become enthused with politics over the next six months and then just imagine how much effort and engagement our political representatives would be forced to make with every single voter. We would all feel the better for increased levels of engagement and therefore we would all be able to grill and demand a better performance from our representatives. You only have to look across the Channel to see what difference higher levels of public engagement has made to the political map in Scotland and in the UK in general. And only when higher levels of public engagement are made can we really hold our representatives accountable to us the V-O-T-E-R.

If we are to make changes for the better in Irish Politics then we, the V-O-T-E-R, must be more vocal, more interactive and we need to benchmark just how our representatives are performing.

We have heard over the last few weeks promises of this funding and that funding for Waterford City and County when, in reality, once you read the very small print, many of these headline grabbers are in fact “pipedreams!” If these are not pipedreams then the promise of funding and game changer investments must be delivered and delivered now. If they cannot be delivered prior to the next Election then Government’s promised investment in our City and County must be ring fenced and we need our existing TDs to “SHOW US THE MONEY!” before E-Day in 2016.

 

I fear that, as we move ever closer to an “E-A-R-L-Y” spring election, we will start to read and hear more and more spin about what has been delivered and what can be delivered in the future.

However, if we are really to see our representatives making a R-E-A-L difference to Waterford, then we, the electorate, must once and for all engage with everyone who puts their name forward for the 2016 Election. We must tell them what we want and let them know that we will be monitoring their performance, their promises and we will ultimately judge their honesty.

What we cannot do in the 2016 General Election is revert back to our old “traditional voting preferences” as that is just what we are expected to do.

Let us “C-H-A-L-L-E-N-G-E” the mediocrity in 2016!

Mr Browne's boys made us look like a bit of a joke!

The per-referendum headlines last week were all centred around “The People’s Debate” with Vincent Browne, which was aired on Wednesday 20^th May.

I attended the live recording on Monday 18^th May having been asked to do so by the show’s producers. I was not sure what to expect but I was pretty sure, as with all these types of pre-recorded and edited shows, that what would go out on the evening of Wednesday 20^th May could either be great for Waterford’s stock or detrimental to Waterford’s stock.

Unfortunately, we got the later.

To set the scene. On the evening of the recording Vincent set the tone with the audience well in advance of any actual recording and he skilfully asked the audience what they wanted to discuss and debate. He steered us though all the hot and spicy topics for the debate and then brought in the three victims (TD’s), like gladiators entering the Coliseum. Only our Gladiators were armed with pen and paper and there was not a gladius or trident to be seen. Minister Paudie Coffey, John Halligan and Ciara Conway all entered the arena together, to a mixture of one or two muted cheers, lots of boos and much heckling from an audience clearly baying for blood.

The shows concept has now moved on from a debate to a shouting and venting match with the each weekly audience getting progressively more vocal and I feel that every week the new audience is trying to outdo the previous week’s show. There are approximately 24 more shows to be recorded and aired and I would hate to think what the audience’s mood or fervour will be as the show nears the end of its run. Clearly, the whole concept of debate has been lost and there are many angry voters wishing to vent and express their displeasure at their local TD’s and this platform is an ideal opportunity to do just that.

Regrettably, what we then get is a show that like so many others is edited to either be positive or negative about the City or Town where the recording took place. We must bear in mind that Waterford has to be even more positive than our competing Cities and Towns if we are to fast track our economic recovery, and the negativity that came from this recording will do Waterford’s stock absolutely no favours at all. And we have all seen the reality TV shows where clever editing has made contestants look like angels or devils, and when said contestant is evicted or voted out they are surprised that they have been portrayed in such a bad light. This unfortunately is the result of editing and often many of the good positive parts of such programmes are literally felt on the cutting room floor.

On the evening of the recording I know that there were a number of international business people, visiting Waterford, not too far from the programme venue and had they happened to wander into the debate I would hate to think what impression of Waterford they would have taken back to the States or Europe.

We have to be very, very careful of the PR we are producing for the City and County if we are in fact serious about bringing the City forward, seeking investment and ultimately reducing our unemployment rate. Shouting and berating politicians on national primetime television is not the way to go. Whether or not they deserve such vilification the circa 90 minutes of negative TV coverage is the last thing Waterford needs at the moment and we as citizens should be aware of that.

And just to emphasise my point of how positive PR makes us feel better and makes the Country look better we only have to assess at the impact the referendum vote on Friday 22^nd May will have on Ireland Inc. There can be no doubt that this voting issue received worldwide attention and will well and truly put Ireland on a very positive footing as the only country in the world to pass such constitutional change.

And what this says about this for every green county goes way beyond the actual vote and this change will, in time, make Ireland a much better place for investment and I am absolutely sure that the issue of equality will be one of the investment criteria that many a multi-national will now look at when seeking investment in Europe. As real equality says an awful lot about a country and its people and this will NOT go unnoticed.

Back to the debate. I received a phone call on the morning of Wednesday 20^th May asking me what I thought of the Monday night recording. I stated the obvious and said that I felt there was a lot of negativity in the room and depending on how the programme would be edited it could show Waterford in a good or bad light. I also commented on the performance of our TD’s and on the strength of this I was asked to appear on the live post-show analysis programme. I duly travelled up to Dublin to, in my mind, set the record straight about all the positive stories around Waterford at the moment. Alas, there was simply insufficient time to get all my points across and in the very short time I was given to speak I tried to get in as much positivity about the City and County as possible.

The lessons to be learned are very clear. If we are to put Waterford on a national television platform those participating must be mindful of the audience that will be watching the final edited programme. As I have said on many occasions we are ALL responsible for job creation, positive reinforcement and talking positively about this great City and County. We ALL have negativity in our lives but when the opportunity arises we must switch on our positive gene for the betterment of everyone and sadly for “The People’s Debate” we missed that opportunity.

 

Finally, I could not sign off without once again saying a gargantuan “Well done Ireland” in the referendum vote on 22^nd May. Whilst, I could not vote myself the overwhelming YES vote was a huge endorsement by the people of Ireland and to see so many people engaged in the debate was extremely positive, upbeat and heart-warming. 

I wonder if there will be as much enthusiasm for the next General Election!