More Tourism Potential

With my maritime connections, I have always been conscious that we need to make more of our magnificent River Suir which wends its way majestically through our City. It is something also, that people constantly refer to.

But what? The river is too fast-flowing and tidal for it to be safe for many water based activities. It is also a very wide river and all in all not someplace you could safely be recommending for swimming or even canoeing or such!

Also you don't want to do anything that would mitigate against the use of the river for Tallships and the like which need deep water, turning circles etc.

Would it, I wonder, be possible to use the river to install an impressive fountain? I have been and seen all over the world, fountains which can be really magnificent and evocative in the impression they can create.

I'm not talking about a monument or anything but one which uses the water itself, perhaps complimented by lights and music to create an actual performance, which could be timed to run at any particular time - say each evening after sunset, or at high-tide, for example.

I think that this would be a most beautiful and cost effective way of providing yet another visitor attraction - and a reason for people to come into the city in the evenings (or indeed all the time?).

Also the cliff-face on Mount Misery - or the North Quays, any surface - could be used for a laser light show. This is done with great effect in our sister city of Rochester in upstate New York. (I know I certainly am not the first to suggest this!)

We need innovation and some lateral thinking in order to capitalise on the amount of tourists that come here and to extend their visits, using the hook of Waterford Crystal getting them here in the first place. We want them to walk around, eat in our restaurants, shop in our shops, stay in our hotels and guesthouses as well as visit our museums and galleries (and Waterford Crystal of course). The longer we can get them to stay here, the better.

Finally, I have been speaking to many people with tourist ideas of late and one obvious gap it seems (to me and them) is a Viking Festival. If we are serious about capitalising on our Viking heritage and making Reginalds Tower into a Viking Museum, then surely a Viking Festival (perhaps with links to Norway, Denmark etc.) would be yet another way of underpinning our 'ownership' of the Viking title in Ireland. There could be academic, cultural and plain old fun events catering to a broad audience.

These are just some ideas that it shouldn't be necessary to move a mountain to put into place. There are very many more out there. Think of them. Do them. Come forward and speak out. Speak to me. Speak to anyone. In the absence of anyone else coming to our economic rescue, this is one way we can help ourselves out of the gloom we find ourselves in at the moment.

Manufacturing is not within our control (although the return of manufacturing of Waterford Crystal next summer has the potential to deliver so much, and the city council - specifically the City Manager - was instrumental in delivering that) but tourism is one area that we can develop ourselves. Ask yourself: is there anything I could do? Any little job(s) I could create on foot of that? Then go on and just do it!