Please Use Your Vote

Waterford is a great little city. It offers a great quaity of life from pre-school to St. Patricks Hospital, from night-life to leisure centres, from parks and playgrounds to libraries and museums. The motorway is coming and that will change our perception and opprtunities.

Whatever you think about Waterford, good or bad, please take the opportunity afford by our democratic society to cast your vote. Whether you vote for me or not, please get out and exercise your franchise.

Each of us are equal at the ballot box. We have one vote, no more and no less. And those of us who put our names forward for election, do so at the complete discretion of the voter. Whether you think we have represented you to the best of our ability or not is now up to you to reward or punish.

To my Council colleagues, to a man and woman I wish them all good luck. They have been a pleasure to work with for the past 5 or ten years (depending on when they were elected). To new candidates I say well done for making the decision to throw your name into the pot. It takes a lot of guts.

Saturday will be an interesting day that will decide many futures. Some will be delighted. Some will be devastated. This can be a cruel business and I can still recall the upset on the faces of former colleagues from this day 5 years ago. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy - much less on people with whom I had served on the City Council and whom I respected for their personal committment to the city.

But that's politics and you have to accept whatever the voters decide. So please: if you want to have a say in the future of Waterford; if you want to make a difference; if you respect democracy and the people who fought for it PLEASE come out on Friday and use your vote.

Thank you.