Cllr Mary Roche

Out with 2011. In with 2012

2011-12-29T18:36:00.002Z

As we head out of an old year and into a new one many people (me inlcuded) have a little more time on their hands and I suppose time inevitably leads to reflection - particularly at this time of year.

And I suppose its fair to say that 2011 has been a seminal year for me - and indeed for the country.

Personally, the first six months saw the second half of my Mayoralty of Waterford City; my home City and a City which I love and am immensely proud of. It was a great privilege to serve in that role for a year and an experience which I will treasure and be grateful for, for the entire length of my life. Forever!

On the home front, we welcomed our first grandchild, little Mia - an angel and treasure; daughter to our eldest Ailish - who has done and continues to do a smashing job as a young mother. She is dedicated, loving and capable and I hope that I can give her as much help and support in that role as she generously and uncomplainingly gave to me when I was working as Mayor.

Our own youngest, Carein started school in September and is happily settled in with her big brother in Newtown Junior School where they both have a happy, open, multi-cultural experience in the Quaker run school.

My parents continue thankfully to be well - although we still miss greatly Liams' parents Michael and Irene, both taken suddenly from us in the last five years.

I have lost some of my love-affair with Facebook - although that has largely been replaced by my new obsession with Twitter! (You can follow me @maryroche lol).

Through friends I have learned that people are there for you when you need them - and if you let them and that you cannot take life for granted. It is fleeting and precious and you ought not sit around waiting for it to happen to you but go out and shape it into your own signature life. It is all any of us have so try to live in the now. Try to appreciate what you have and not to worry about the future if you can help it. Things have a way of working out - and if they don't, sadly, worrying about it changes nothing.

I am grateful for all the good things in my life and although I'm not too good at the silence (lol) I try to keep the lovely Desiderata in mind:

Go placidly amidst the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love; f
or in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy

If we can do that, we can survive whatever 2012 has to throw at us. I wish you
all a healthy and a peaceful 2012. Be happy :)

Mary x

Submission to Local Government Committee concerning the Amalgamation of Waterford City Council & Waterford County Council

2011-12-11T13:07:00.002Z

For the attention of the Waterford Local Government Committee

From: Councillor Mary Roche, Waterford City Council

(Representing the Independent Grouping, including Cllrs. David Daniels & Laurence Cha O’Neill.)

Date: 1st December 2011

To whom it may concern:

I refer to the call for submissions from interested parties concerning your commissions role of making a recommendation to Minister Phil Hogan on whether Waterford City Council and Waterford County Council should be unified and set out my objections to said unification. I have tried insofar as possible to stick to the questions raised for your examination under the Terms of Reference.

My submission, while stand-alone, can be read as part of a larger submission which is being made in separate parts by several members of the City Council. The larger submission covers the areas of History & Heritage; Drain on Resources, Finance, Organisation and the Status of the City as a Regional Driver – the latter being my focus.

We have looked at the areas including

• The potential outcomes to be achieved, including likely benefits and costs.
• The actions and arrangements that should be implemented in order to maximise savings, efficiency and effectiveness and achieve desired outcomes generally with regard to key elements of local government.
• Key issues that are considered likely to arise in the implementation of revised arrangements and how these should be addressed.

And we have come to the conclusion that the merger would not deliver substantial savings to the exchequer but could indeed do great damage to the City and its ability to deliver on our focus of renewal and economic development for our citizens.

Context

If this is merely – as is alleged – a cost saving exercise (we ‘being where we are’ etc.) then by all means save costs. Offer a voluntary redundancy package for staff and cull the number of Councillors if need be. Eliminating Town Councils might tick that box. But please do not break what isn’t broken by ending Waterford as a City, or hindering the City’s ability to deliver to our ‘customers’ through a diversion of focus and resources. (The irony is that towns with a far smaller population than Waterford City may be left with Town Councils while the City would be left without a dedicated administration.)

In the recent amalgamation of Limerick City & County Councils the issues were different – as were the sentiments. And indeed I would question where the suggested savings of €15m will come from, without substantial costs also being factored in. It certainly has not been detailed in any documentation I have seen and seems rather to have been a fanciful figure which no-one is quite sure if or how it can be attained. However time will tell.

Waterford City is the oldest and most historic City in Ireland – and has a proud heritage which should not be sacrificed for short term and spurious financial gain. Is the year 2014 in which Waterford City celebrates its 1100 year anniversary to be the year of its demise?

I do believe that the City needs to expand. It needs to expand not just into its natural environs in the East of County Waterford, but it should also logically extend for administrative purposes into South County Kilkenny.

The future administration of Waterford City and County - and indeed the entire local government system in Ireland which badly needs an overhaul - should be looked at as part of a strategic, national framework rather than Waterford being singled out in some form of ‘pin the tail on the donkey’ exercise. There is simply no gain - but much energy to be wasted - on merely replacing on an ad hoc basis, old irrelevant boundaries with new irrelevant boundaries.

We need to look nationally at where we ought to be and how we can get there in a way that will instill confidence and encourage ‘buy in’ from all the citizens and stakeholders. There is simply no public ‘buy in’ for the demise of Waterford as a City.

Saving that, I believe that there are effective efficiencies to be gained in some sharing of back office functions on a National, Regional and joint basis between the two Councils. These could include, at National level, some Human Resource Functions, Payroll, Third Level Grant Applications, Motor Tax and some Information Systems. At a Regional level Waste Management and Major Emergency Planning. And on a joint basis, Procurement, Veterinary Inspections etc., some of which is already in place.

It makes no sense that citizens in the environs of the City, for example, should have to travel to Dungarvan or Kilkenny to tax their cars. However it is not clear if even these efficiencies could be merged or delivered without significant costs being incurred.

After that, saving office closures – with consequent redundancies and service diminution, it is hard to see where further significant savings might be delivered. Roads will still have to be swept and housing stock maintained.

The last point I wish to make before I get onto the topic of the status of the City is the drain on the resources of the City that this unification would give rise to – with one small example. I am certain that had the Councils been unified already, Waterford Crystal would not have been saved for the City.

Firstly, the financial resources simply would not have been available – taking into account the financial situation in the County (€6m deficit) and its statutory obligations. Secondly, I wonder would there have been much sympathy or understanding from amongst the majority of the unified Council – who would come from a County perspective – on the importance of such an investment in the City?

There would also, beyond doubt, be diminished resources available - from an already ever diminishing pot – to deliver for the day to day needs of the City from housing, to road repair etc. This could in time become a source of resentment from the citizens of the City.

Status of Waterford City as a Regional Economic Driver

The Status of Waterford City and the City’s ability to act as a driver of regional growth are paramount – even gaining special mention in the terms of reference for your consideration:

• The need to maximise the capacity of Waterford City , in particular, to act as a strong and dynamic focus and generator of growth for the wider hinterland under the National Spatial Strategy, and that of other urban and rural areas to contribute in that regard in the context of balanced development.

• The need to enhance the capacity of local government to promote the economic and social development of Waterford City and County as a whole.

• The need to ensure that that the particular status, identity, character and heritage of Waterford City are maintained and where possible, enhanced, within a balanced overall system of local government for Waterford City and County.

Waterford is a City in transition. It is moving from an old, strong portal and manufacturing base to a new economy based on the knowledge industry and tourism as our two strong economic drivers. Historically the City has suffered from the lack of a number of strategic game-changers which are now either in place or on the way. These include the Motorway to Dublin, the new Suir Bridge and Outer Ring Road, the waste water treatment plant, water supply, flood defenses and last but by no means least, a University. Indeed, everything that the IDA’s of this world have historically pointed to as impediments.

With this investment, the City is well positioned to take advantage of any upturn once it arrives. The City is a focus for the region with the majority of citizens from as far away as 30 kilometers relying on it for jobs primarily as well as shopping and other services. In the 2006 census - the most recent document for which these figures are available - there were 25,389 people working in Waterford City, with 11,685 of those jobs being filled by people not from the City. That amounts to over 40%. It is fair to say that anything that risks the City’s capacity to be able to provide and maintain jobs for that kind of workforce is not to be welcomed.

Waterford City Council only recently won the Council of the Year Award for 2010/11 from the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland – along with 3 other wins and several placings in other categories. The City was also voted a few short years ago as the best micro-City in Europe. These serve as independently verified reminders of the dynamic leadership role the City Council has played in recent years driving Waterford through this transition period.

Waterford has all the ingredients of a successful micro City. This is possible because of a number of things – but crucially because of clarity of purpose. Any analysis of successful cities which have regenerated themselves, from Barcelona to Bristol, reveals that they have certain things in common:

 clarity of purpose
 clarity of leadership
 clarity of governance and
 clarity of investment.

If you take away that clarity you will fatally damage Waterford City s’ ability to deliver - not just for our own citizens - but for the citizens of the region who depend on us to be able to attract and provide employment.

It is a simple equation: the majority of the population is in the County, meaning the majority of representation would come from County, meaning a majority of resources would go to the County, therefore reducing spend in the City. It is a truism that ‘all politics is local’ – and that is even more true of local politics. Is it fair or reasonable that Genzymes rates would be spent in Kinsalebeg? How would future potential investors view this?

Another element affecting our status as a City is Mission. Both the City & County Councils have completely different Missions – ours being as a Gateway City, expected to lead and drive economic growth in the Region but also to deliver relevant services and supports to an Urban population.

The County Council has a Rural Mission which is completely different in character and culture. Will there be any capacity or democratic will to maintain the investment in communities, in the Arts or, for example in social supports such as our refuse waiver scheme? Individual County Councillors have already cited publically the availability of the resources of the City, for the County, as a positive argument in favour of the unification. This would inevitably mean the City would be left with fewer resources for social, cultural, historical, economic, and day to day requirements.

The South East Region is unlike any other region in Ireland insofar as there are four other urban centres of considerable size all within 60 kms – Kilkenny, Wexford, Dungarvan and Clonmel. Any diminution of the City’s status and resources will hamper our ability to lead and drive the region and could damage Waterford City and the region to a serious extent.

As one of the five cities in Ireland Waterford City has a clear role and is competing not just nationally but internationally with other micro-cities. If we lose that status we make it that much more difficult to compete and indeed to deliver. Investors comparing a future down-graded Waterford with the dynamism of Galway, Cork or Dublin cities could not fail to make an unfavourable comparison. It would be much more difficult to compete.

Is the South East to be left as the only Region without a City? Regardless of what it would say on paper, an amalgamated Waterford City & County would NOT have the same status as the stand-alone City of Galway or Cork, for example.

Any unification would also mean the City having to deal with the Counties €6m deficit. This would inevitably lead to a severe leakage of resources – in an already stretched fiscal environment – from the City to the county and a consequent reduction in both focus and delivery. It is equivalent to putting an anorexic on a diet. The City would suffer enormously from lack of investment – which in an urban environment would become apparent quickly, and in a concentrated manner - as soon as the first pot-holes went unfilled due to lack of finance.

Waterford City has reduced our budget by €7m in the last four years and is - and has always been – at the lower end of the numbers of employees scale. We have no deficit to speak of. Huge efficiencies have been delivered. Why now should we be lumbered with a massive debt which would impoverish our City for who knows how many years to come?

If the object is to save money (as we can categorically say that it not part of any strategic plan) then that realistically and simply means diminished resources to a diminished body and inevitably, a diminished City. We will be left with a City with no leadership or focus, no administrative body with sole responsibility or capacity to drive the City in these difficult times. A City with massive debts and no finance for investment or delivery of our many projects from the Viking Triangle to the economic growth we are trying to nurture here and to attract. A City dominated by a governing authority with a majority who would have no understanding of or affinity with it.

Conclusion

I am begging the commission to consider the true cost of the proposed unification for the City. Not just fiscal, but also the perception it would give rise to, that Waterford City would not be on a par with other cities in Ireland; that our 1100 year history as a City would come to an end in 2014.

I would also consider that the timescale allowed simply does not give sufficient time to examine all of the issues in enough detail.

I ask you to protect Waterford City and its future. To protects its ability to deliver for the region and the country and not to throw away the proud heritage of our ancient and beautiful City for the 30 pieces of silver which it is sought to save.

It would be a short term and small saving, with, in my opinion, long term, negative consequences for the City, for our citizens and for our children and their children.

Please consider this issue with the utmost diligence. A truly weighty responsibility lies on your shoulders – one which future generations will reference for good or ill with the benefit of hindsight.

I am asking you to recommend against the unification of Waterford City and Waterford County Councils.

Thank you.

Prepared by: Councillor Mary Roche and submitted on December 1st 2011

Actions Not Words For Waterford

2011-09-08T10:37:00.001+01:00

You will have heard the unprecedented coverage from Waterford since yesterday, when the horrible news about TalkTalk and the 575 jobs which are to be gone in just 30 days, broke. There have been a lot of words but I still have heard nothing concrete that, in my opinion will actually create one single job. And while there are very many aspects of this story that one might rightfully rant about (the speed of TalkTalk's exit; how the employee's found out; the lack of govt investment during the good times, etc. etc); really the only show in town in jobs. Jobs. Where will they come from; how can they be attacted to the city/region; how can they be kept here?

Lets start with a little background. Yes unemployment in Waterford is high. Higher than other parts of Ireland. Yes the uptake of third level education in the region is low. Yes the level of companies locating here is miniscule. Yes locally created jobs growth is low. So how do we change that? What specific measures are companies looking for? We score well, from my discussions last year as Mayor with businesses on a number of fronts: we have a young, available, educated work-force. We now have far superior motorway infrastructure and an airport linking to major International hubs. We have an array of fantastic companies with International reputations already located here. It is a fantastic place to live, work and play. We are on the Eastern seaboard with good portal access to the UK and Europe. There is superior IDA grant levels available to companies who locate here. But despite all this, they have not come. Why?

Well firstly let me take Barry O'Leary of the IDA to task. Barry said on Morning Ireland this morning that he didn't think that the lack of a University was a corse issue in the lack of jobs coming to the region. I disagree. But if that is his opinion, Barry did not elaborate (and was not asked) what is the core issue then? He also said that he accepted that the bulk of investment goes to Dublin, Cork and Galway. There are only three things as far as I can see that distinguish us from all of those locations. One is size, scale. They are simply bigger than us. The second is an International Airport in Cork and Dublin although less so for Galway but with Shannon within a short distance you could argue (and I'm sure they do) that they tick that box also. And thirdly, a University. And while I'm not suggesting that a University is the cure for all our ills, it is definitely, unarguably a key component. And anybody who tries to tell you otherwise is being political, underestimating your ability to figure it out for yourself and quite simply, denying the obvious. Look at Galway, which a short few decades ago had a smaller population and far less industry than Waterford. That has changed - thanks to the University. In fact you could even make a plausible case that Galway has far fewer other advantages than Waterford being located as it is on the Western seaboard, away from ports and quick access to markets (and with worse weather!). But they have passed Waterford out. If it's not a University, Barry - then please tell us Barry, what exactly is it???? Tell us. We're willing to do it.

So that's the first thing. University designation for WIT. Simple. Clean. Do-able. Promised to us by the current Government parties in the run up to the election only a short 8 months ago. And absolutely crucial for our future development - and not just future development, but also to try and mitigate against further decline - a scary thought but a real possibility.

So. Stop waffling Government and don't bother coming down to visit us ulness you're bringing something worthwhile. I am amazed at how quickly those parties are now accepting the line that there will be no more Universities in Ireland - and selling it. While I will welcome a Technological University if it delivers equality to us with the Unversities, I sadly suspect that that will not be the case - as there is currently no such thing as a Technological University in Ireland - we can but speculate. But on past performance - of this exact same governmental coalition make-up - I wouldn't hold out that much optimism. (All politics is local.)

So. What else. Well firstly scale. We are very proud of our city status - rightly so. But in International terms, Waterford City at under 50,000 population is small - and while there are some great companies here, there are not enough to represent a so-called cluster. What's a cluster? Well, you know that 'birds of a feather flock together'? Well companies like to locate in an area where there are like industries. Now where we can win on this score in my opinion is to have a more REGION based approach. You zoom out a little from Waterford City, onto the South East Region, and suddenly you have a population of 470,000 people and an even better and more impressive industrial 'cluster' to sell, incorporating a whole plethora of International companies.

But the region is not marketed and does not operate as a recognisable unit. This, I believe, has to change. It is one of the things that has shifted in my view since my trip to the States on the Trade Mission for Waterford. The South East needs to get together, sell together and attract together. And yes, Waterford is the regional capital and gateway but we cannot operate on the basis of ancient, administrative, tribal boundaries. We need to stop working and pulling against each other and start fighting alongside each other. This, to my mind is crucial - because if there is one thing that is more important in my book than anything else - it is selling. Selling the City, selling the region. The Trade Mission proved it to me but it needs to be worked, nurtured, relationships built, information passed. If we had far superior attributes (and we do have many) what does it matter if no-one knows? And whatever Barry O'Leary says about the IDA office in Waterford having 5 people in it - it has not delivered and those people from my information - are more administrative positions. There used to be an IDA representative on the City Development Board and there is not now - because there is no IDA rep in Waterford. Simple. In fact my information is that Waterford is now 'looked after' from Athlone and not Cork - but that's neither here nor there. There use to be an Enterprise Ireland representative on the Board of the City Enterprise Board and there is now not one - because they too have no EI rep in the city. So both the IDA and EI have restructured to downgrade Waterford and they want us to believe it has no effect? Bullshit.

My idea is that the South East Local Authorities should adopt our Doing It For Ourselves motto and get together to fund (along with local private sector funding) and do the job themselves. This has beome something of a clarion call for me in recent years but it is the only way at this stage. Do it ourselves. Cut out the middle man. Develop our own contacts and leads. Sell directly to the market. We did it for tourism (and the City Council continue to do fantatsic work in this area - and I apologise to no one for saying it - that is and will create real opportunites and real jobs). But how much more important is it to do in the area of job creation?

It should concentrate on three areas; attracting jobs into the region; seeking expansion and diversification opportunities for locally based companies and it should cover the Services Industry - for which no state agency exists and seek to work with and develop new markets for their services. There is also the area of grant allocation etc. but I am trying to focus on what we can achieve ourselves. Who in the Far East knows about the new billion euro motorway? Who in Silicon Valley knows about our International industries located here? The IDA are selling Ireland Inc. We need to sell the South East Inc.

Incidentally there are local projects that could be fast-tracked which would create direct employment. The Coursthouse needs serious upgrading and has been on the waiting list for years. For this to happen the new Fire Station needs to be provided - and it's been on the waiting list also. Perhaps local companies could compete for these contracts if they were brought to the top of the list. If the Government is serious about helping us - and not just filling our ears with words - there's something concrete they could deliver. Same with the multi-education campus in Gracedieu. All would create jobs. Now.

I'm sure there is more and I will come back to it again but - the baby needs changing - so that must be seen to. My sincerest sympathies to those in TalkTalk and their families. I think they have been treated abominably by TalkTalk and it should not be allowed. But there you go. That's just words and we need actions. I hope that some of what I have suggested sparks some more thoughts and ultimately, actions. Waterford IS a great place to live, work and play. We love it. We will survive but we need to move and move quickly. And we need help. Is that too much to ask for? Actions. I have started a hashtag on Twitter #actionsnotwordsforwaterford and I intend to keep 'tweeting' it until I hear something concrete. I wonder how long that will take. But for now that's my warning...listen critically....where are the deeds that will help us? Words mean nothing. Keep safe.

Waterford City & County Merger?

2011-08-04T13:08:00.005+01:00

Firstly, let me say a few things to contextualise my thoughts: (i) I love County Waterford. I think it is a most beautiful place with much to offer for people living there and tourists alike. (ii) I think change can be a good thing when it is done as part of a well thought out strategy that has a purpose and delivers improvements and (iii) I believe local government (and indeed all governement!) in Ireland is badly in need of drastic change - change that would deliver more responsibility and accountability closer to the people who avail of those services.

All that said, I am NOT in favour of change for change sake. Change that is part of a cut & paste 'pin the tail on the donkey' non-strategy or change that is merely moving the deck chairs, as it were. Change that doesn't deliver improved decentralisation and decision-making closer to the people - and that, I fear, is what is proposed in the mooted Waterford City & County merger for which a commission is about to be set up by Phil Hogan (who of course, has our best interests at heart) and which is due to report as soon as October this year.

Hands up, anyone who thinks that this is not a foregone conclusion? Hands up anyone who thinks the commission will recommend against merger? Hands up anyone who thinks this will be better for Waterford City? Hands up anyone who thinks this isn't an effort to give the EU/IMF what they want in a minimum way without looking at the bigger picture and sacrificing or downgrading Waterford City (& County) into the bargain? Hands up anyone who thinks this is part of a well thought out strategy to deliver better local government to the people of Ireland? And finally, hands up anyone who thinks that this isn't merely replacing old irrelevant boundaries, with new irrelevant boundaries???

I'm sorry to say but I think all of the above. I know that this is not part of a greater strategy. If it were, why isn't a merger of Galway City & County being looked at - despite the fact that the City Managers position in Galway has been vacant for a long time now - yet Galway City & County have been told they are not being looked at with regards to merger. Surely Monagahan - where the County Managers post is also vacant would merit a look at merging with, say Cavan. Surely the entire 26 counties would be being looked at in a complete way - rather than this 'commission' on Waterford City & County before the ink is even dry on Ray O'Dwyers retirement card - and he isn't even officially gone until September.

Sadly, I am long enough in politics to know that 'all politics is local' and I have a horrible suspicion that Minister Hogan from our neighbouring constituency, is using the merger mallet to crack a local nut. In order, not to cede part of South County Kilkenny to Waterford City (which makes sense and needs to be done), he merged Limerick City & County - without ceding the small part of County Clare that the City actually only needed and he is now proceding with Waterford. So, we will have control of what happens in Touraneena - but still no control over what happens 200 metres across the bridge! Call me a cynic if you like. You'd probably be right.

In practice, all a merger will mean is less focus on the city - think 2 1/2 days in the city and 2 1/2 days in the County for the City Manager and other senior officials! Is this better for Waterford? Think of our status as a City with a separate City Council - will this be downgraded from full city status leaving us in a weakened position in relation to the other cities in the State?

Think of our history and culture - we have had Mayors of Waterford CITY since the 1100's - and indeed we can even name them. Is that about to be ended - will the 2015 Mayor of Waterford hail from, for example, Tallow, or Stradbally? (No personal inference intended but politicians in those areas would have no affinity at all to the city in my opinion.)

Does any of this deliver a better service for anyone, City or County? Not in my opinion. Will it in fact, even deliver any significant savings? Are we being used as pawns in a 'don't mind the forest fire - look here at the pretty fairy lights' kind of excercise to fool people into thinking we are delivering 'efficiency' and 'savings' in local government for our economic masters? Will it mean Waterford Cities position will be strengthened or enhanced, or will it be diluted and weakened?

I am not convinced it is a good thing. I know it is not being done as part of a well thought out strategy to deliver better local government. I worry that we are being sacrificed in an experiment in obfuscation - and I have a great fear that what is about to be delivered up for the people of Waterford is a red-herring, dressed up as delivering 'efficiency' but really only delivering us back to the level of non-city status.

Normally I try to steer away from being a conspiracy theorist, but in this instance I can't help having a horrible sense of foreboding. And moreover, I think that no matter what we say, or think, or do - there is probably nothing we can do about it. Does anybody care?

The Monday After the Tallships

2011-07-04T09:19:00.003+01:00

What a great day today is. Today, the people of Waterford - from the event organisers to those of us who put up someone on their sofa - can take a huge pat on the back. As long as I have lived in Waterford, I have never witnessed anything the likes of the weekend that we have just delivered! I have never seen a team - a huge team - work so hard and so well; never seen the city look better; never seen the people as happy and relaxed; in short Waterford was heaving, buzzing, welcoming - and all the while bathed in glorious sunshine. Take a bow, one and all.

I'm sure there were issues. I know people had to adjust but not one thing stopped the incredible Tallships event which we had dreamed about for so long and prepared for for so long and waited for, for so long. It was incredible, amazing, spectacular. Waterford sparkled.

I felt so proud as I walked the Quays, right up to early on the last morning as I went into the city to watch the beautiful tallships leave go their mooring lines and head silently and majestically down the mighty Suir. The streets - even at that hour (6.45am) were clean! After a day on Saturday which had seen up to 200,000 people make their way comfortably and safely around our city. It was perfect!

I hope you enjoyed the Tallships Festival. After all, it was for you. I hope the 200 young people currently sailing up the East Coast of Ireland have the experience of their lives. I hope that the Tallships will be back before too long again. But mostly I hope that the people of Waterford are as proud and happy as I feel today. I suppose because of the position I was in, I had the privilege of seeing at close hand just some of the preparation and planning and sheer hard work that went in to making the whole event run so smoothly. I know how much stress people were under. And the potential for it all to go horribly wrong. But, thanks to the planning and the work and the attention to detail it has all paid off handsomely.

I am quite sure that people will be back. I am quite sure that visitors had a unique experience. I am very confident that visitors saw us at our very best.

But for now, it's probably just enough to say well done. Thank you to every one who worked, volunteered, planned, visited, hosted, walked, enjoyed and took part in what was a signal event for our city. We suspected and hoped and prayed that we could do it - and by God we did it. We surely did it. This week - kick back, relax, reflect and rest. You did good people....really really good: thank you.

Mayor of Waterford, Cllr Mary Roche, speaking at a presentation to Richard M. Daley, Mayor of Chicago of his family tree, Chicago, Mon April 4th 2011

2011-04-19T20:57:00.003+01:00

Mayor Daley agus a cairde go leir: distinguished guests and friends – it is now almost a cliché for a Mayor to begin a formal speech such as this with the words ‘it gives me great pleasure’ but on this occasion, it really is a deep and heart-felt pleasure for me to come as Mayor of Ireland’s oldest city to be here today to meet you, Mayor Daley, Mayor of this great city of Chicago on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. We are here to mark you out: mark you out as ‘one of our own’. A Waterford man – almost through and through – who has made and continues to make an extra-ordinary contribution in the world – and more specifically here in your home city of Chicago.

It is almost a cliché of equal measure for Irish and American politicians to talk about the strong bonds of culture, history and heritage which connect the United States of America and Ireland – the old country. Again, today’s event here in Chicago could not be more powerful in demonstrating that a cliché has its foundations in the greatest truth. Little did your great-great Grandfather, Richard Dunne envisage a day like this when he bade farewell to his home country in 1865 and headed for a new life and whatever that held for him in the bleak years that followed the great famine.

We have with us the Daley family tree and when I was discussing its details with Waterford genealogist, Tony Hennessy, who researched and created it, I was astounded by the strength of bonds which Mayor Daley’s family has with Waterford City. We joked that we could fill City Hall with the Mayor’s cousins – particularly those descending from your grandmother’s father, Richard Dunne – who are still living in Waterford.

This is not an Irish exaggeration – we could indeed fill a large room with Daley cousins for we were delighted to discover that Mayor Daley can trace not just some but ALL of his ancestors in America right back to Ireland.

It is not unusual for American politicians to say they are Irish if they have a grandmother or great grandfather of Irish origin but Mayor Daley is totally Irish in ancestry – on his fathers side John Daly hailed from Old Parish in the west of County Waterford while on the Dunne side, Richard Dunne hailed from Waterford City. While on your mothers side of the family Sis Daleys grandparents Patrick Guilfoyle and Kitty Conroy emigrated from County Offaly! By co-incidence the descendant of another County Offaly emigrant is also a prominent US politician – of course I mean President Barrack Obama. I know that the Daley-Obama connections are also very strong. We wonder might he slip Waterford onto the Presidents itinerary for a couple of hours when he visits Ireland in May?

Some of the most interesting and ‘live’ links we discovered while working on the Daley family tree date back to the visit to Waterford of your father, Richard J.Daley, in 1964. During that visit, he met his cousin Thomas Dunne, who had been Mayor of Waterford in the forties. The Dunnes and Daleys were obviously dedicated to public service and politics – one Lillian Dunne, your Grandmother was also active politically in her own right in the Suffragette movement, working for the democratic right of women to vote.

In fact a cousin of yours, Michael Dunne who is still alive and well and living in Waterford city was present at that great family reunion almost 50 years ago. He’s just one of a clan of Dunne cousins who continue to live in Waterford.
We would like to take this opportunity to formally invite you Mayor Daley and your family to visit us in Waterford City.

And in this respect, I would like to say a few words about Waterford today. Many residents of the USA may get the impression from media reports that Ireland and Waterford are deeply depressed. We have had our economic difficulties, there’s no denying that, but Waterford is resurgent and is successfully fighting back. We got a wonderful morale-boost from the resurrection – yet again – of the historic Waterford Crystal industry which, with the support of the New York based KPS Capital Partners and Waterford City Council, has begun a new chapter of its history close to my office at City Hall. It has always been a magnet for visitors, particularly for American tourists, and continues to be.

It will soon be boosted by a new museum in one of our gems of Georgian architecture, The Bishop’s Palace, and we have exciting and ambitious plans for building on our Viking heritage by developing our ‘Viking Triangle’ the oldest part of the city linking us directly to our foundation by Norse invaders who became settlers and traders when they founded Vadrefjiord - now Waterford - in 914 almost 1,100 years ago. Just as you have focussed on making Chicago a Destination City, so we too in Waterford are working towards that goal. This year alone we expect to welcome around 1,000,000 visitors to our small city – beginning what we hope will be a resurgence in tourism and by default creating many more jobs in the tourism sector for our citizens.

We are told that an amazing 35 per cent of US citizens claim Irish ancestry and we have a message for all of them: “Ireland is not closed either for business or visitors”. Come and visit us, we are proud to show you modern Ireland and we believe that every visit should of course, encompass Ireland’s oldest city – Waterford.

Ta cead mile failte roimh – a hundred thousand welcomes to you all.
I will close with a quotation which we felt was appropriate to include on the Daley Family Tree. It was written by the late John O’Donoghue and is in the form of a ‘beannacht’ or traditional Irish blessing:
“May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.”

Go raibh mile maith agaibh go leir - thank you very much.

From Shopping Centre to Conference Centre?

2011-03-16T16:44:00.006Z

Having looked at Failte Ireland's www.meetinireland.com conference and events website for the Island of Ireland I have to say that yes, I am indeed disappointed at Waterford Citys' omission from it. Having said that and having read Gary Breens response to the issue in today's Munster Express it does seem a little more than obvious, that, rather than jumping up and down about our omission, we would be FAR better employed looking at our hotel and conference offering and asking ourselves: how can we come up to the Faitle Ireland standard of 4 and 5 star hotel rooms, large scale conference facilities and a trade association/conference bureau which would engage in selling Waterford (with the assistance of Failte Ireland) to the lucrative International Conference market?

I have a suggestion: it seems to me that the Ferrybank Shopping Centre (artists impression above) is an ideal venue to be converted into an International Standard Conference and Events venue, with conference facilities, hotels, dining facilities and services all on one site, conveniently located adjacent to Waterford City (albeit within the County Kilkenny boundary). It seems to me that this would bring back to life an otherwise dead duck project which, in my opinion, has little to no possibility of ever opening up as a shopping centre in its own right as the population simply does not exist in Ferrbank to sustain it.

Ideally, I would moot for these type of facilities to be placed on the North Wharf, however that too is highly unlikely to happen and as the famous phrase goes; we are where we are. It seems to me that it is an obvious solution which would deliver a world class conference and events centre on one site the likes of which a city which considers itself to be a Gateway should have, as well as a solution which matches a need (for such facilities) with their possible supply. Could it be that two plus two really would add up to four in this instance?

It would appear to me to be a win-win situation. The building, if left in its current state will, sooner or later deteriorate a la the Ardree Hotel and Waterford badly needs to rise to the challenge laid down by Gary Breen (a Waterford man who does Trojan work for this City and the South East in his tourism role) in his letter.

Perhaps, the Waterford City Chamber of Commerce might consider setting up a group to explore this and/or other ways of ensuring that Waterford meets the criteria and will be able to compete for conference business and perhaps then they might facilitate the setting up of a conference bureau or undertake themselves - as a Trade Association - to do that work?

That way we would be moving forward in a positive and constructive way. The rates would go to Kilkenny County Council for sure, but the business spin-off would certainly benefit Waterford City. And isn't it time that we started having a few wins as a team here in the South East? Because, whether we like it or not we are going to have to work more closely together if we want to compete not just in Ireland, but globally.

This would, of course, involve a change in direction for the project and for both Councils but we either change and evolve - or we die, and we certainly are not competing (or even featuring at the moment in the citys case) on the world conference map. So do we want to stay off the map and hold onto that white elephant shopping centre....or could we make something of it and open up another market for ourselves?

Thomas Francis Meagher to be Remembered on St Patricks Day

2011-03-14T12:30:00.005Z

Waterfords' Agnes Aylward will be remembering Thomas Francis Meagher and the historic year of 1848 when the Tricolour was first flown here in Waterford City on RTE Radio 1 between 9 and 10am on the morning of Saint Patricks Day. For those who are interested, please tune in!

1848 Tricolour Commemoration Keynote Address

2011-03-06T23:03:00.002Z

Fellow Councillors, Members of the Oireachtas, City Manager, His Excellency the Canadian Ambassador Loyola Hearn, Monsieur Cairet, representing the French Embassy, Mayor Charles Gautier of Saint Herblain and party, Colonel James Tierney and members of the 69th Regiment, Church Representatives, ladies and gentlemen:

On 9 July 1849 an order for the deportation of 4 prisoners to Australia - the penal colony of Tasmania or Van Diemen’s Land as it was then known - arrived at Richmond prison in Dublin. Among the prisoners was a young Waterford man Thomas Francis Meagher.

1849 was indeed a dark year for Meagher personally and for Ireland.

Having narrowly escaped the death penalty for his involvement in the failed 1848 rebellion, he was, at 26 years of age facing a very uncertain future – transportation from his native land for the rest of his life. This year the National Museum of Australia are mounting a major exhibition celebrating the Irish contribution to Australian society. It gives me great pleasure as Mayor of Waterford and as a member of the Board of Waterford Museum of Treasures to announce that we have been asked to loan 2 historic objects from the Meagher collection to this temporary exhibition, recognising the importance of Thomas Francis Meagher.

This weekend we are celebrating Thomas Francis Meagher and especially the national flag of this country. In proposing the tricolour of Green White and Orange as the flag of an independent Ireland Thomas Francis Meagher turned for inspiration to that country on the continent of Europe which was seen as the as the bastion of freedom. France - that nation of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity where the Blue, White and Red of their flag had, since the Revolution acted as a potent symbol of liberty, not only in France herself but across the world.

In 1848, Meagher went to France and returned with the new flag for his nation - a tricolour of green, white and orange made by and given to him by French women sympathetic to the Irish cause. That flag was first flown in public in March 1848 during the Waterford by-election, from the headquarters of Meagher’s "Wolfe Tone Confederate Club" at No. 33, The Mall, Waterford just a stones throw from where we stand today.

It is also significant that following his escape from exile in Tasmania Meagher chose the United States of America as his refuge. As an escaped convict he would never again be able to return to Ireland or his beloved Waterford where he would have faced arrest and imprisonment.

For Meagher America was that other great bastion of Liberty - a new nation which had emerged at the end of the eighteenth century and which he referred to in the course of his famous Sword Speech as;

“A giant nation that sprang up from the waters of the Atlantic, a fettered colony which became a daring free Republic.”
It is also ironic that when Meagher arrived in New York in 1852 and settled there he was returning to the continent where his father was born – several hundred miles to the north in Newfoundland.

Meagher’s grandfather, Thomas Senior, originally from County Tipperary, had settled in St John’s Newfoundland at the end of the eighteenth century where he prospered. He was part of that great wave of settlers from the south east of Ireland – all from within a 30 mile radius of Waterford city – that settled in Newfoundland. Today over half of Newfoundland’s population are of Irish decent and it is no wonder that one nineteenth century politician referred to Newfoundland in the middle of the nineteenth century as ‘merely Waterford parted by the sea.’

So for Thomas Francis Meagher America was his second home and like many other Irish people who settled there it would come to have first claim on his allegiance.

At the outbreak of the Civil War in America in 1861 Meagher called on his fellow Irishmen living there to volunteer for the Union army to defend the Union.

It is also significant that another famous Irish American – John Fitzgerald Kennedy who paid an official state visit to Ireland in 1963 as President of the United States of America should choose the example of Thomas Francis Meagher of Waterford, when in his address to the Joint Houses of the Oireachtas he summed up the contribution of the Irish community to the development of America. He paid tribute to General Thomas Francis Meagher’s Irish Brigade in the Union Army and in particular the 69th Regiment – Meagher’s own regiment.

President Kennedy referred in particular to the Battle of Fredericksburg.

At this battle the Irish Brigade wore sprigs of green boxwood in their caps – that famous ‘Sprig of Green’ and when the brigade suffered huge casualties the field was littered with those same sprigs of green. One of these sprigs in now on display in the Waterford Museum of Treasures – perhaps one of the most poignant objects from the Meagher collection.

As a fitting recognition to all those who fought to preserve the Union Thomas Francis Meagher was asked to be one of the pall bearers at President Lincoln’s funeral following his assassination in 1865.

The Ireland that Meagher left in 1849 was going through the most catastrophic event in its history. The Great Famine was entering its fifth year– a famine which would see 1 million Irish people dying of starvation and disease and another million forced to emigrate.

The very last letter that Meagher wrote in Ireland and which is now on display in here in the city – holds words which are as important and inspiring today as they were 162 years ago:
“in the darkness which covers the land we hear but the wail of the dying, and the supplications of the penniless and the breadless. Never, never was their country so utterly downcast, so debased, so pitiful, so spiritless.

Yet I do not, could not despair of her regeneration. Nations do not die in a day. Their lives are reckoned by generations, and they encompass centuries. Their vitality is inextinguishable. Their sufferings are sometimes terrible, but they survive the deadliest plagues, the red inundation of the battle-field, the storms which topple towers and pyramids, the fire in which millions of wealth is melted down, the earthquake which engulfs cities and buries a whole people in one indistinguishable sepulchre—they have been known to survive all.

Thus too, shall Ireland survive all her sufferings, her errors, and disasters, and rear one day an ‘Arch of Triumph’ high above the wreck and wilderness of the past.”

In 1848, Meagher had gifted the tricolour to the future Irish nation. That flag was, and remains a powerful symbol. Its adoption as the National Flag in 1949 gives Waterford and Meagher a presence in perpetuity. It remains a potent symbol of reconciliation and assimilation.

We can but hope, as we stand here today that the Irish flag will continue to inspire our people; that it will continue to symbolize a continuous engagement with our emigrants and diaspora and that the errors and disasters of which Meagher spoke and which appear to echo our nations challenges once again today will inspire us all to strive to re-imagine ourselves, our beloved city and our nation and that we will rear again our own ‘Arch of Triumph’ over the wreck and wilderness of our more recent past.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I commend to you a great Waterford son, Thomas Francis Meagher, who in his short 44 years of life was forever true to himself. Here on the Mall where is ghost may hover today I commend to you the green, white and orange and all that those colours symbolize for our people and our nation, flown for the first time in our ancient city in on March 7th in 1848 - the tricolour: the Irish flag.

Thank you.

University Here We Come.....?

2011-02-28T11:03:00.003Z

I must say I welcome the change demanded here in Waterford - as evidenced by our historic selection of 3 new TD's in the General Election. I am delighted that they are all articulate, capable, bright, tuned-in and, largely, young and energetic. I am also especially delighted that we now have our first woman elected to the Dáil in this constituency in a mighty mighty long time. Fair play to Ciara Conway, John Deasy, Paudie Coffey and John Halligan.

Now the fun starts. Now the hard works starts. Now the expectations of jobs, EU deals, stimulation and whatever-you're-having-yourself starts for our four and every other TD elected.

And Waterford still has a lot of needs. We have the highest unemployment levels - truly startling. We have had very little in the way of new jobs in a decade. We still don't have a University.

But on that last one I can surely rest a little more confident than before. Surely with THREE Government TD's (assuming Eamon actually listens to his answerphone messages) in the constituency - all from parties who have committed publically and proudly about their pro-University of the South East status - surely we can now be assured of the delivery, at last, of that self same promise?

Surely we can expect to see that committment published in the programme for Government which will, no doubt emerge over the next few days. I, for one, remain confident. I, for one, remain hopeful. I look forward to perusing the document and being able to know that at last, a national Government understands that the South East needs equality on this issue not just for our benefit but so that we, as a region can play our part in the rebuilding of Ireland Inc. We need it so that we can become contributors and drivers in the fight to restore our small but great nation to its rightful place as a Country of innovation, drive and creatitivity. We want to be able to play our part.

Until I hear differently (hopefully never) I will be assuming all of the above. And I remain, as I said, confident.

Meanwhile, the people have opted for change. They have opted to punish those they saw as responsible for our plight. They have chosen to fell those who once saw themselves as mighty. Let us hope that everyone has seen and heard. Let us hope we have no more arrogant, insular Governments populated by those who saw themselves as somehow superior to, and knowing more than, the rest of us little people. Let us hope that the message of Government 'in the interest of and at the will of the people' will have been noted and that we can now look forward to a time when our interests and not those of particular parties or interest groups are looked after. If that happens then we will have had a particularly good weekend just gone.

Lets be positive and give Enda his chance. The man surely deserves that and our four new TD's surely deserve the same. I, for one, will not be part in pulling them down before they've even had the chance to make a difference. I hope they do make a difference. I sincerely hope it. I wish them well and I look forward, on this lovely Spring day, to a brighter future for Waterford, the South East and, of course, for Ireland. If she wins, we win. Good luck to all.

Official Opening of new City Cemetery - Mayors Speech

2011-02-16T12:42:00.002Z

Members of the Oireachtas, Fellow Councillors, Church Representatives, ladies and gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure, as Mayor of Waterford, to officiate at the opening of the new Kilbarry Cemetery and to formally declare the cemetery open.

In a way, it is unusual to have a celebration at a venue such as this. Most of our visits to cemeteries are tinged with sadness and regret. But this is indeed a celebration – a celebration of Waterford City Council’s commitment to our citizens and a celebration of the real sense of community in this city of ours as well as the importance of family, loved ones and the memory of those we love who have departed.

It is not without reason that the cemetery has been named Kilbarry Cemetery as, by so doing, the Council is continuing a tradition from the ancient early Christian burial ground of Kilbarry, which is just down the road from us here.

The cemetery also, of course, celebrates a continuity of a different sort. A continuity from St Otteran’s Cemetery in Ballinaneasagh which has served this City for well over a century and which has acted as a resting place for the souls of thousands of the city’s inhabitants.

And there is further continuity and consistency. Soon the new nature park will open on the site of the remediated landfill just a stone’s throw away. It will be a lovely spot. A place to celebrate life and living juxtaposed with the cemetery here - a place to remember our dead. Between them, these two important projects represent Waterford City Councils commitment to the development of new quality community infrastructure in this, Irelands oldest city.

As I look around here, I cannot but be astounded at how lovely the place is - even without one headstone or memorial. It’s a gentle place. Over 3,000 trees and shrubs and over 30,000 daffodil bulbs have been planted here. Well laid out roads and avenues and plinths for the headstones are all in place. There is enough room for almost 5,000 graves. A columbarium for the ashes of cremation and a Plot of the Angels, which will provide dignity to parents in the saddest of losses – those of our children who will suffer death before knowing the joys of life.

This is a place where we will be able to remember them all. Whether in the sharp coolness of morning, or at the going down of the sun. It is a place which has a feeling of significance and serenity. And, over the years, its importance to all of us will grow. We will meet here often as citizens of this great city, as neighbours and friends and as a support to one another. We will meet here as people with a common purpose and, ultimately, a common destiny.

This is not so much a non-denominational cemetery but rather a multi-denominational one. A place which respects all beliefs rather than respecting none. I am delighted to say welcome to the church representatives who are here today, representing not alone their own religions, but also representing all beliefs, including those of other smaller churches and creeds.

As Mayor, I wish to thank those who have made this cemetery happen. Including Wills Brothers, the main contractors, associated sub-contractors, quantity surveyors GNKA Consulting and Bryan McCarthy & Associates who led up the design team. But also to City Manager, Michael Walsh and to Colette Byrne and their officials as well as to the on-site resident engineering staff.

I would also like to pay recognition to the staff of the Council, who, over many years, have looked after the graveyard in Ballinaneasagh and, especially, to its caretaker Liam Lanigan.

Finally, I hope that everyone recognises that Waterford City Council has designed and built this place in the hope that, over the years, it will provide solace to bereaved families, dignity in loss and an opportunity for prayer. Regardless of the language of that prayer or the beliefs of those who pray the words.

Nothing can replace a loved one departed. Nothing can take away the grief of a bereaved family and loved ones. But let us at least provide to those people a gentle place, a dignified place, where their loved ones can truly rest in peace.

I hope sincerely we have provided that place and today; it is my honour to declare Kilbarry Cemetery officially open.

None Of The Above!

2011-01-23T18:11:00.004Z

The running of this great little country of ours has now, quite simply, descended into farce.

I'm not going to enumerate the reasons - you as an intelligent reader are well able to list them all by yourself with no help from me I am quite sure. We have been bombarded by them over the last few hours, days, weeks, months and years....if not even longer.

What is really worrying though is that while the crew are squabbling on the poop-deck, the ship of state is rudderless and no-one even seems to be noticing the storm we're weathering.

Fianna Fáil are cathartic now in their scramble to try and have a new leader in time to mount some sort of challenge in the General Election in order to try and save some semblance of their existence.

The Greens are running to make sure that the back bench Fianna Fáil-ers weren't seen to bring down the government before them thereby making them look more loyal to FF than even their own disgruntled members.

Fine Gael will have a fight on their hands to try and erase from our memories the fact that most of the TD's have no faith in the abilities of their own leader - as expressed by themselves - as recently as last year.

The Labour Party are happy going around telling everyone what they want to hear and perpetuating the myth that we can continue to spend more than we earn.

Sinn Féin - even leaving aside their questionable principles - have their jaded ideology of the bad rich guy in a never-ending struggle with the good poor guy.

It has to be said that our political parties and Dáil Éireann have left us down very badly. I have no faith in any of them to save us. I have no faith in the systems we have here in Ireland which mean, effectively, that the majority of the people whom we elect to represent us can not do that simple job. Either they are stymied by party whips and so-called principles or they are stymied by the Dáil itself which has become a place where TD's effectively have no power.

Back bench TD's are nothing more than voting fodder, and opposition TD's are worse - mere vessels, echoing out their bleating in an empty, irrelevant chamber or in whatever newspaper will give them a few column inches. It is pathetic and sad and in no way serves the needs of a small, vibrant, open and innovative country.

That is the legacy that the parties have brought us here in Ireland. I for one cannot see that changing in the future - because its not in 'The Party Interest' to do so. (For Party you can insert the name of any political party that you like, the principle remains the same.)

I don't normally watch The Late Late Show but I caught Olivia O'Reilly on as a panel guest last Friday and she spoke with sense, passion - and more importantly - suggestions as to what we might actually do to improve the situation. While others simper on about 're-imagining ourselves' and such like, Olivia proffered a few, simple, effective ideas. None of them are rocket-science; none were even new. But none are done either. Lessen the number of TD's and make it so as they all have a real role to play; strengthen local government; balance to books.

Will any of the parties listen to Olivia's suggestions? Will they hell! Sure that wouldn't be in 'The Party Interest' at all at all!

I say shame on all the political parties in Ireland. A plague on all your houses. Who will I be voting for in the General Election? NONE OF THE ABOVE.

The Hunt Report

2011-01-11T18:09:00.003Z

So here we are. The Hunt Report - as it has been titled (and much leaked) is finally here. Early mutterings do not appear positive from a number of quarters academically and politically. Personally I am holding my fire as I have been unable to access the report itself either through the HEA or Department of Education websites. Perhaps there is so much interest in the report that demand has caused systems to fail?

Indications for some time though have been that WIT is not mentioned in the report directly but that it recommends that the option of 'University Status' as applied for by WIT six years ago now (yes you read right: 6 whole years!) under Section 9 of the 1997 University Act is to be taken off the table. In its place is the notion of (a) amalgamations of colleges - IT's specifically and (b) the potential to become a 'Technological University' an institution which does not currently exsist under Irish laws or structures. Can I say I am happy about this? No I cannot but as I have already stated I haven't yet seen the report so I am not dismissing it out of hand either.

Lets examine why the issue of University status was and is so important for Waterford and the South East. Universities, quite simply, are engines of economic growth in their regions. They attract investment, jobs, companies, brains and money. Now WIT does this too - but with one hand tied behind its back through the constraints of lesser funding, inferior autonomy and confused branding to traditional universities.

What we need in this region is for our engine to deliver at least equal horsepower to that being delivered in the other regions by their Univserities.

So will the recommendations (as reported) in Dr Colin Hunt and his committees report do that? What will be required to acquire this Technological University status? How long will it take to even deliver on the legislation required to implement such a thing? What research and economic mandate will the Technological Universities have? How will they be funded? Does Waterford IT need to amalgamate with some other college in some other location in order to achieve that status? Would that enhance or diminish its role in delivering economic growth to the South East region?

Crucially, will a Technological University deliver equality to this region? That is the test question for me. Do the recommendations in this report deliver equal (or superior???) finance, autonomy and branding to that enjoyed by other Universities, cities and regions in the state?

Both Fine Gael and Labour have indicated their support for full University status for Waterford IT (or so they say) uner the current legislation. What is their reaction to this report, which, lets face it, is being produced in the dying days of a most unpopular and most unlikely to be re-elected regime. Will its recommendations be accepted by the new government or will it go the way of most reports and gather dust on a shelf in some vault in the bowels of the Department of Education?

Time will tell. Meanwhile, lets hope that the links to the report are fixed so that those of us interested enough can at least see the full document and make our own minds up on the contents - as opposed to listening to the spin and reportage coming from some vested interests!

Meanwhile, as Mayor of the City I intend contacting Dr Colin Hunt directly (he is a Waterford man) and inviting him to meet with me to discuss his report in further detail. I will keep you posted!

Mayors Christmas Message

2010-12-20T23:19:00.001Z

Christmas is a time for families and friends to share the best and for everyone to think about our fellow man and woman and extend the spirit of peace and goodwill. Luckily, we live in a city with a proud history and experience of making the best of everything. The people of Waterford city have a tremendous community spirit and resilience .

Our City is blessed with talented people in business, the arts, and in the community and voluntary sector. Our workers are hard working and decent. Our entire community of people deserve the best and we will continue to achieve in 2011 and build on our efforts last year in spite of the adversity facing our city and country .

Let this Christmas time be about the celebration of who we are as a city, a nation, as mankind and together we can enhance the celebration of this season for everyone and look to 2011 with confidence and hope.

In these challenging times, it is easy to forget what is the essential Christmas message, the message of hope for a better future. Let us not become isolated in our own thoughts. At Christmas time in our city we have the opportunity to value and celebrate the community of Waterfordians; locals, those who have settled in our wonderful city and those who have settled abroad and who cannot be with us at this time. Our thoughts and wishes go to all of you.

I would like to remember those individuals who for whatever reasons may not have the opportunity to enjoy Christmas in the way the majority of us do.
My thoughts are with those people are who are ill and hope that better health comes to you soon. And to those who have lost the security of employment. My wish is that our resilience and drive will create opportunities for positive change for all our citizens.

In my mayoral election speech in June this year I expressed a desire to work hard to inspire and bring hope to our citizens. Reflecting this Christmas, as Mayor, I have been privileged to see first hand the contribution of organisations, individuals and volunteers who work hard throughout the year to assist others. This has had the effect of filling me with great hope and pride when I have witnessed the contribution they have made. I have been inspired to continue our important work for the city; my sincere thanks go out to each and every one of them on behalf of all Waterford people.

At this Christmas time may I express the desire that peace and hope will be more than just aspirations at this time of year but that it will become a way of thinking for our people and city in the years to come.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for a Happy Christmas and a healthy and peaceful new year. Thank you.

Thanks to Everyone for their professionalism during the snow!

2010-12-09T13:26:00.003Z

I want, as Mayor, to pay tribute to those people working in Waterford City Council who have kept the city up and running during the recent spell of snow and ice. Many worked long, cold hours gritting streets in the early hours of the mornings. Many made it to work in difficult circumstances themselves in order to live up to their commitment to public service.

I also want to acknowledge those in the health services who ensured our hospitals and health facilities remained open, safe and accessible. I know many who could not get to their own homes bunked in with colleagues locally, shifts were swapped and indeed every effort was made to make sure the public were able to access a full service.

To the Gardai and Emergency Services, and all the volunteer services including the Civil Defence, the Order of Malta and the Red Cross all of whom have been providing necessary assistance over the past week and a half a big thanks is also due.

On behalf of the people of Waterford and the South East I think it is important to let you know that we are aware of the work you did and continue to due, the extra efforts you made and to let you know that we appreciate those efforts on our behalf very much.

Mayor to open 'Book of Dissatisfaction'

2010-11-25T16:05:00.003Z

The Mayor of Waterford City, Councillor Mary Roche has announced that she is to open a 'Book of Dissatisfaction' at City Hall in Waterford.

"I see this as something which will allow people, in their own time and in their own way, to register their dissatisfaction with the current government and their handling of Ireland and Irish affairs," said Cllr Roche. "It is quite common for Mayors to open Books of Condolence when a great catastrophe is visited on a community or a country. It allows people, collectively to record their dismay and have it passed on to the relevant authorities.

That is exactly what has happened to Ireland. We have suffered a huge catastrophe at the hands of the current and previous Governments - and now, to add insult to injury, our health, welfare and social care budgets are going to be slashed in order to pay the money back. It is a disaster for this country and people want some way to release their frustration, and vent their annoyance and have their voices heard. I hope that the 'Book of Dissatisfaction' will allow one avenue for people to do that."

The book will allow people to sign record their name and address and will have a space for people to comment and have their say - pass their verdict, or just send a message - to those who have led us to this pass.

The 'Book of Dissatisfaction' will open at City Hall on Monday next, November 29th and will be available for people to sign from 9am to 5pm daily.

"I would ask as many people as possible to come and sign the book" said the Mayor "and through this simple means, to send a message to the Government that we are not happy with their performance on our behalf. To tell them 'we are dissatisfied'. This is something everyone can do in their own time to have their voice heard."

The 'Book of Dissatisfaction' will be open from 9am to 5pm daily for people to sign at the City Council Foyer, City Hall, The Mall, Waterford from Monday 29th November. The Mayor is inviting all the people of Waterford City & County and from the South East Region to make the effort to come in to City Hall and record their dissatisfaction.

General Election Isn't the Answer

2010-11-23T12:21:00.002Z

Ok....the government is unravelling and rightly so. I'm not going over the reasons or what got us here because personally I'm sick of hearing about it but in the interests of this Country of ours and our people we need to look a little more closely at how Ireland needs to shape up for the future. I'm not talking about financially either, as we have ceded that right to bigger, international agencies and it's outside of our control, in honesty.

So what am I talking about then? I'm talking about the fundamentals. How do we run our country. How do we elect those will run our country. How we 'do' our politics. Anyone who has followed this blog for a while will know that I believe that the political system we have here is broken; not fit for purpose - and so it has turned out to be.

We elect the nice guys, the guys we know, the guy we've perhaps always voted for (or his son!), the guys who (say they) got the house for your daughter or maybe the guy who (says he) sorted out your medical card. I use the word 'say' because the reality is that nobody can get you anything that you are not entitled to in your own right. Not a TD, a Councillor or even the Taoiseach himself. If you qualify, you qualify and that should be the way it is. A country that doles out favours on the basis of who-you-know is one that we should have no aspiration to be a part of in the grand scheme of things.

And what kind of service are we running if you need a TD to get you a medical appointment? That is ridiculous, wicked politics. What your TD ought to be doing is ensuring that our health, welfare and social services run efficiently, and fairly and in a timely manner so that people are delivered their rights as a matter of course and in a prompt and courteous way.

But no, they are happy to run around, like an errand boy, doing favours in order to get your vote. Is this really the way to ensure that we get the best people, with their heads in the game and focused on how best to run this tiny country with a big reputation? No is the answer. It isn't.

So we need to change it. And having a General Election - much as I welcome the opportunity to give FF a good kicking as much as the next person - will not deliver that change. We will change the bums on seats but not the country and we will still deliver up the same old faces, working the same old system, with only one thing in mind - and that is to hold onto their own seats.

So what would that change look like? Well, I don't profess to have all the answers but it must do a few things in my opinion. It must take the focus off individual TD's and put it onto policies and politics. It must make TD's less dependant on small numbers of votes and it must allow for talented people to enter the system. I'm not sure any or even some of this is possible. But it is the only way to make sure that Ireland is equipped for the future.

In most of Europe they use a 'list system' to elect their local and national governments - so, my party fights your party. And if my team wins, the people on my 'list' get in and if your team wins then it's your list. It puts the focus onto policies rather than people and also delivers a better 'team' approach with more balance in terms of skills, women, and leaders.

We need, it goes without saying, fewer TD's. About 66 should be enough I would think. (Perhaps we could reach that in stages - I'm thinking of turkeys and Christmas here!) That would give a much larger electorate meaning that the focus could not be on the mundane or the minuscule. That would have to be left - as it should be - to local politicians. This would make TD's less vulnerable to local self-interest issues and much more capable of working in the National interest.

The list system would also allow for bright people - who perhaps might not want to fight elections - but who have a hell of a lot to offer this country, to be brought into where they are needed.

But what do we want as a country? Do we want things to be the same? (I suspect yes.) Do we want proper leadership, with talented TD's focused on running the country? (I suspect not.) Even though almost everyone I speak to calls for 'proper leadership' - nobody actually, really wants it. They want things to go on the way they always have. I suspect there will be a low turn out for the next elections. I suspect that will suit the 'same old' heads. I suspect we have no appetite to really change and grow as a Country....but I live in hope that I am wrong.

And so I ask 'we the people': what do you want? I question that sacred cow that any politician must not question if he or she values their own seat: the electorate. What do you want? Do you want and modern, nimble, can do country that puts the people of Ireland first - as a people? That sometimes tells us things we don't want to hear? That guides the ship of state away from 'pothole land' and into a proper republic? That takes the tough decisions that 'the locals' don't like. That spends our resources wisely and not on the basis of getting them re-elected?

I can't answer the questions myself. But I know what I fear. Perhaps I shall have my question answered sooner than I think.

We need to re-think our politics, our republic, our country. Or else the only thing positive that may come out of all this mess - which is the opportunity to change a broken system, consciously, mindedly, together and rationally - will pass and will be lost.

A General Election will not do that. Will anyone - and does anyone want to even try? I, for one, do. I feel I should be calling people who are like-minded to action. The sensible, silent, thinking majority. The people who despair at the rent-a-picketers and those who are calling for disruptions and civil disobedience! They are only distractions. Thinking a General Election is the solution or can deliver a solution is deluded at best and completely infantile at worst!

I want to say lets get this conversation going. But alas I fear it wouldn't even be heard. So I'm putting it out there. These are big questions and we are in a time of great opportunity for ourselves if we can answer them. But who is willing. Who.....

Mayor Attends Tall Ships Conference in Norway

2010-11-10T18:35:00.002Z

And on a positive note, as Mayor of Waterford City I am off tomorrow morning bright and early to Norway for the last International Tall Ships Conference before those beautiful vessels will arrive here on June 20th next year.

It's our last chance as a city to get all the main players in one place, to woo them, if you like, to come to our ancient city. We will go bearing gifts and with a great story to tell, with fantastic plans afoot and with the whole city simply simmering in anticipation of what is sure to be an amazing event - the largest festival on the Island of Ireland in 2011.

Des Whelan, the Chairman of the event locally is also attending as is Olivia O'Reilly who is the chief organiser of the entire event along with a few representatives from the Port Company and some sub-committee chairs. I look forward to a busy, productive few days in what I expect to be a cold Norway. Suffice to say that a warm coat, furry boots and hats 'n gloves are being packed!

We intend to also host some meetings at the event to explore the possibility of kick-starting the re-introduction of the Sail Training programme to Ireland which I am keenly interested in. Lets hope there will be something to report. While the return of the programme is my ultimate aim, it would be really fantastic - and what a legacy of the event next year - if we could have a Tall Ship operating out of Waterford City? Wouldn't that be something?

On a slightly downbeat note I and others are still working hard to ensure that there will be an Irish Tall Ship at the event next year. Many of you will remember the line-up in 2005 when the gorgeous and much lamented Asgard II (pictured above) was in attendance, graced by the company of the Dunbrody which came down from our neighbouring port of New Ross and also the Jeanie Johnson. Three Irish sailing ships was a sight to behold and sadly it will probably never been seen again. However I am anxious that some Irish vessel will be here to fly the flag proudly in our name. Here's hoping. However it is surely hope, rather than expectation!

In the meantime, it's an early start for my first spin up the brand new motorway to Dublin and on to Norway. Roll on the summer!

Dear Voters of Donegal South West

2010-11-08T23:12:00.002Z

Dear Voters of Donegal South West,
I am writing to you as a voter in Waterford where we too have been denied the right to equal representation in Dail Eireann for quite a long time. Be that as it may, you are now being given the opportunity that we continue to be denied and I have a favour to ask of you. Could you send the Government a message on behalf of all of us in the Country? Do you think you could find it in your heart to tell them to shag off? You are in a great position because they think they might have a chance to win a seat in your constituency and if they lost and lost heavily, it would really hit home. You would be doing us all a great service and it would leave them under no illusion as to how dissappointing, disgusting and disgraceful we feel that their behaviour has been over the last few years.

We were a rich country and at every hands turn they made the wrong decisions and they continue not to seem to know what the real story is or how to get us out of it and now every man Jack of us is going to have to 'feel the pain' or so they tell us so that they can pay back every gambler, sorry I mean bondholder, at the expense of the future of our children.

So if you could find it in your heart to deliver a sound, swift democratic kick in their electoral family jewels I think you would find yourselves being feted in every county in the country. Please consider my request and I look forward to your response on voting day. Remember, we're all counting on you.

Yours in desperation and anticipation,
The Waterford Electorate

Holy Cow - or should that be Laughing Cow - I'm Cheesed Off!

2010-11-07T22:39:00.003Z

I can't say what exactly it is about the cheese that has angered people so much. And I'm not doing any puns either. This is a serious business. It's like they have just taken the insults they are prepared to launch on this small nation to a whole new low. Cheeses! Jesus! Can they not just go away?

I have blogged before about the need now for a General Election and I repeat that call tonight; in the interests of this Country they must surely see that the best thing is for a new government to be formed either before or after Christmas which has a mandate for the next four or five years?

Decisions need to be made and implemented over that period that the current government simply is not and will not be in a position to implement. At longest they can last another 18 months but I don't think that even the most optimistic amongst them see them lasting even that long. They are going to put us to the expense (eventually) of 4 bye-elections....can they not just go for the big one and release the powder-keg of upset, annoyance, disappointment and outright anger that people are feeling? At least a General Election is a valid way to let off steam.

Go Fianna Fail - and take your cheese with you. Go - and maybe you can nibble on it as you contemplate the fiasco which you have brought upon this country - when there was no need. When we had resources which you squandered. When you should have made the right choices for the Country but you put yourselves first. Go - if you have any dignity or shame left. Go - and give us a General Election now.

Government now Moving to Gag Waterford!

2010-11-03T21:56:00.002Z

It is really beyond belief that the Government, while moving the writ for the Donegal SE bye-election, are still attempting through their Supreme Court Appeal, to ensure that the voices of Waterford voters continue to be unheard! How dare they!

They have been given one almighty slap on the wrist today that they weren't expecting and still they want to thwart the very democracy on which our increasingly floundering state is built. It's beginning to look more like a dictatorship every day! Either call all the bye-elections or better yet do the decent thing and the right thing for Ireland and call a General election.

This Government has neither the mandate nor the right to make decisions for the next four years. They were either elected on lies and spin or incompetence and they are in their dying throes. They either saw this coming and decided to ignore it, or they didn't see it coming in which case they are guilty of criminal stupidity!

And to add insult to injury they are using our money to silence us! Is there not some way that Fianna Fáil can be forced to fight their political battles with their own money at least??? I mean they're telling us till we're blue in the face that we are up the proverbial creek without so much as half a paddle and yet they can, in our name, spend probably hundreds of thousands of our money - in trying to silence us!

I, as a tax-payer am saying NO. You may NOT spend my money on this appeal. There is an implicit contract between governments and the governed. We pay our taxes and generally trust that they will be used for the good of the Country. That trust is gone. That contract is broken. This case is certainly not for the good of the people.

Call the bye-elections or call the General Election. Call a halt to spending hard-earned money on your vanity projects. We know you don't care about us but please, call time on this Government - even if it's only to save yourselves! I don't care what the reason is: just go.

Every Primary School Child in Waterford now a Waterford City Ambassador

2010-10-21T23:39:00.003+01:00

Traditionally in Waterford City the Mayor visits every school to hand out School Attendance Certificates for children who haven't missed one, single day. This is obviously a great opportunity to speak to the children but in truth I was a bit worried about it. As a mum I know that kids can spot something phoney in about 10 seconds flat so I wanted to do something with them that would be real for them and good for the city. So I came up with the notion of making them all 'Waterford City Ambassadors'. I wrote the following pledge:

Waterford Ambssador Pledge

I am proud to be from Waterford
Irelands oldest City.
I promise on my honour
To always represent Waterford as best I can.
I promise never to litter our streets
To always treat others with respect
And to learn our history.
Waterford is my home
And from today I pledge to be a
Waterford City Ambassador.

All this week, in every Primary School in the City, children have been taking this pledge. They stand, with their hands on their hearts and they are so proud when they are doing it. I have been bowled over by their reaction, their enthusiasm for the idea and their pride in the city and in themselves. I sign and date the pledge and present it to the Principal and declare that 'through the authority of the Mayors Office, it is decreed that you are all now Waterford City Ambassadors'.

And you know what? The kids get it. They are keen to have a meaningful role and to have a purpose in the life of the city.

I now have plans to spin the Ambassadors Pledge out into the adult world (with a more adult version of the pledge perhaps). I have spoken to the Lions Club in Waterford City and they are very interested in the idea too. I am looking at having an exclusive 'Waterford City Ambassadors Pin' designed that people could wear on their lapel wich would signify their committment and hope to roll out this project very early in the new year. The Lions Club have agreed to sponsor the pins.

Perhaps this idea will grow and we will have a city full of Ambassadors all being proud of this ancient and mighty city of ours. Next year, we expect around 1,000,000 tourists to come to Waterford City. Wouldn't it be great to have a couple of hundred - or even thousand - Ambassadors ensuring that they get a once in a lifetime experience when they are here?

From little acorns......the children can show them how it's done! Thanks to all the schools for their huge welcomes and to all the children for being so inspirational!

General Election In The Wind!

2010-10-03T17:26:00.003+01:00

Sometimes the apple just ripens and simply drops off the tree. That is how it is beginning to feel with this current government and their tenure in office. It's feeling very much like they are about to just drop off the Government tree. A couple of things have made me feel that way. Some are tangible - others less so.

Firstly the announcement that the by-elections would be held in March/April. No way. That is virtually 'game over' and I suspect the Governement knows it will have lost its working majority before then. It seemed to me an almost coded acceptance that there will be a General Election in the Spring (although I would not be surprised if it were before Christmas in fact.)

Secondly, we have suspended bond auctions until next Spring. That would cover the period of 'instability' that an election would inevitably throw up so it gives a window of opportunity.

Thirdly, Fianna Fail know that they have no mandate to be introducing four-year budget plans; plans which seek to commit future Governments! I suspect the European Union is behind the four-year plan and that they will insist on a stable government to see it through. That means the GE would have to be brought forward as FF/Greens/Inds cannot deliver that - even if they were to go full term.

Then we have the whole issue of reduced pensions for those who retire after the end of this year! This, I would imagine would weigh heavily on the minds of certain TD's and Ministers who are likely to either not run again or would lose their seats. Next year those entitlements will be considerably reduced. This is a crucial one in my book. If there's going to be an election next year anyway (and by the looks of it that is inevitable) then why would you throw away your superior pension for the sake of four more months in office???? Especially when you are of the 'kind of grabbing mentality' that some of our elected represenatives have demonstrated!

Then we have the jumping jelly-beans known as the Fianna Fail backbenchers many of whom can smell an election in the wind and will be nervously trying to do everything to save their own seats. Unortunately for the Government that means distancing themselves from this current administration. Watch for the rats deserting the sinking ship I say. And a flurry of 'I put my constituency first' or 'Independent' runs.

The Government heads are down. The senior civil servant heads are down. If nothing else this Country needs an opportunity to let off steam and the 'machine' of the permanent Government needs an infusion of new thinking and new blood.

The signs are there. The election clock is almost at midnight from where I'm looking. Let's see who blinks first.

It's simple, Minister Hanafin - It's FAB!

2010-09-19T19:04:00.005+01:00

So Mary Hanafin is re-iterating once again at the so-called FF mini-think in at the Forum yesterday that WIT already has everything it needs? Ah me. Mini think in is right. Mini ideas; mini leadership; mini understanding.

Let me explain (again) to the Minister why WIT needs equality (nothing more). It's FAB! Finance; Autonomy; Branding. Simple enough for Mary? Yes. Just remember FAB.

Finance - because yes, as the Minister says, WIT is an extra-ordinary Institution with Awarding Authority up to and including PhD level. Problem? WIT is carrying out that mission with FAR less funding than all the Universities and even many of the other ITs. Institute of Technology Funding isn't based on anything. Not a per student payment. It's just historical. There is no fair yard stick. If you were always well funded, you continue to be and if you were historically badly funded - then you continue to be. So we are being treated unequally on the finance front with every other region in Ireland - and don't forget that outside of Dublin, the South East is the largest REGION in the country without a University at almost half a million people.

Autonomy - so that WIT can make its' own decisions and chart its' own course designed for this region without having to go cap-in-hand to the HEA (Higher Education Authority) for permission to run courses, change direction, respond to regional needs. Universities are autonomous. WIT and the South East needs that too. Why should we accept that our region not have the decision making power of every other region.

Branding - because yes the word 'University' does matter. It is an internationally recognised brand that allows the world understand instantly what you are. But alone, the branding would mean nothing. The name is important but we should be fighting for what the word means - equality of treatment and funding - rather than just for the word itself. If it were just a word we could have simply bought ourselves a new sign and gone out and rebranded years ago. We want what the other regions have Mary. What is so wrong with that? (That's why I am concerned about the leaks from the Hunt Report which allege that we are to be given some second class branding without any equality!)

I bet if Mary was still living down in Tipperary she'd be far more supportive of our bid than she is up in Dublin with their extremely well provided for University Sector. What's sauce for them up in the Capital is obviously too good for us down here in the South East!

Well I for one have had enough of Mary, and of Fianna Fail and of their 'we know better than you' pomposity. I am heartily sick of them. Go to the country Mary I say. You and your merry band and see what the thinking people of Ireland think of you.

People of Waterford and the South East: how will we get our University? By voting Fianna Fail out of power. Bring it on!

WIT - LESS TALK, MORE ACTION

2010-09-10T11:44:00.003+01:00

While I welcome Enda Kennys statement in Waterford yesterday committing Fine Gael to a University of the South East, I personally would still prefer a form of wording which committed to the 'designation of WIT as the University of the South East' but perhaps I am being pedantic. My faith in political promises is at something of a low ebb.

I also note that the process which Mr Kenny seems to be proposing is to develop criteria for the creation of a University and the the examination of WIT's or any other case through Section 9 of the Universities Act 1997. And I have to ask: how long is that going to take? On my experience it sounds like a 3 - 5 year process. WE CANNOT WAIT THAT LONG!

Jobs are being lost this city and region today. Our young people and their talent are being lost to this region every day. We are operating at a disadvantage every day. How long more must we be expected to do this?

So while I welcome Fine Gaels seeming comittment, I still say we need this now. We need this issue to be the number one issue that is being talked about and fought for in the city. Why? Because it has the capapcity to deliver jobs. End of.

We need to rack the University issue up as an election issue and make it clear to Fianna Fail that if they don't deliver this to our region immediately they will face electoral annhialation. We need the people of Waterford to get up on our soap boxes and to really push for this.

Why should you be raising your children for export? We need jobs for them here. The best way to get that is to have a University. Today. Now. By this current government. Why should we accept any less? We need government to deliver for this region and I will continue to rattle cages and upset any politician in the land of any party in order to keep the pressure up for the designation of WIT as a University and I make no apologies to anyone - regardless of what they may say about me - in my effort to do that.

The debate is on again. We can tease out the niceties and debate the nuances to our hearts content but what we really need is action. Action. Give us a University. Designate WIT or suffer the consequences. People of Waterford I am asking for your support for this campaign. Together we can bring this issue to the fore and it is critical for the future of our children and our region - and Ireland - that we have equality and can contribute to, rather than be a drain on, the recovery that will need to be fought hard for, for our city and for our country.

Second Anniversary of Sinking of Sail Training Programme

2010-09-09T14:48:00.003+01:00

I know that September 11th is a striking anniversary, being as it is the date on which the Twin Towers were attacked and 3,000 innocent people lost their lives in New York City. Nothing can compare with that event. The world will forever remember the terrible events that took place as the unspeakable tragedy unfolded before our eyes. Our sympathies rest with all those who lost loved ones.

September 11th also marks the second anniversary of the sinking of the Irish Sail Training Ship, the STV Asgard II. Thankfully, due to the professionalism of the crew,the calmness of the trainees and the generosity of the rescue services in France no lives were lost that day but it is nonetheless a sad day for our small Island nation. Because we didn't just lose a ship that day, we also lost our national Sail Training programme.

Sadly, nothing has been done by the Government in the interim to ensure its continuance - save of course, pocketing the insurance money into central coffers. Now Ireland, a maritime nation, with the International Tallships fleet due to visit us twice in the coming years has neither a ship nor a sail training programme. As it stands currently, there will be no Irish sail training ship to take part in our name in those events.

If Irish young people are to get the opportunity to take part it will have to be aboard the ships of other nations. I am calling on the Government to initiate this discussion immediately and in time for the International Tallships Festival in 2011.

While the entire country is convulsed with Anglo Irish Bank and talks of recession, we cannot allow everything good that had been built up over decades to be simply taken away from us by those who can't see beyond the next IOU to the bank manager and the bondsman!

Sail training was an immense, life-changing experience for most of those who were lucky enough to be able to sail aboard Asgard. We owe it to all of young people to do everything we can to restore it - considering it was funded through their own contributions and through Lotto funding! The Tallships in Ireland without Asgard is a hard enough pill to swallow. The Tallships in Ireland with NO sail training vessel would be a disgrace.

Mayors Picnic In The Park - You're Invited!

2010-09-05T13:45:00.004+01:00

I am inviting everyone who has a few hours free on Saturday, September 11th next to attend the 'Mayors Picnic and Play In The Park'. Weather permitting it is going to be a fun day for all the family with theatre, crafts, drumming, games and lots more to keep everyone entertained - from the tiny toddlers all the way up.

Caulfields Supervalu will have some ready-made picnics for early arrivals but why not put your own basket of goodies together - from the simple fresh rolls and bananas to something that takes a little more preparation if that's your thing!

It may be the last chance we'll have to lark around in the park until next spring! So come on, bring the kids and the blanket and let's all celebrate the harvest together!

Don't say you weren't asked!

We are so lucky to have so many people working on festivals here in Waterford and the Autumn and early Winter are no exceptions. We have, of course the Harvest Festival for 10 days with as fantastic a programme as I've ever seen; Imagine Arts Festival comes soon after and the the Waterford International Music Festival (incorporating as it does the 50th year of the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera) but now also boasting a high-school musicals festival, a gospel festival, Design Week and the re-invigorated Fringe Festival. Mostly organised and arranged by volunteers.

To assist their huge efforts Destination Waterford has put in place series of supports for festivals in the form of both Deirdre Molloy and Lynn Cahill who are putting their combined considerable energies and talents into developing the festival products and marketing them. I am sure the dividends from this investment will be hugely beneficial!

I sincerely hope that the good people of Waterford and the South East will come out and enjoy everything that we are working so hard to put in place for their delight and delectation (to coin a phrase!). Waterfords Arts & Cultural scene in hopping at the moment and is the envy of many other places. Lets support it and make sure it stays vibrant and indeed continues to strengthen and grow.

And don't forget now - see you next Saturday in the park. You Are Invited. (I'll be the one with the simple basket that needs virtually NO preparation....now I'm off to buy a few bananas!)

Visit www.waterfordharvestfestival.ie for more information on whats going on from September 10th - 19th.

2010-08-31T21:21:00.003+01:00

Mayor of Waterford, Councillor Mary Roche, today called on the people of Waterford to support Aer Arann, the passenger airline at Waterford Airport, as it goes through a period of Examinership. The Mayor stated her firm belief in the importance of the airline to business and tourism in Waterford and praised the services that Aer Arann continues to provide to and from the South East.

According to the Mayor, "the key routes to London, Manchester and Birmingham are critical to business investment in this region. In my recent round of discussions with large businesses based in Waterford, the importance placed upon direct access to key air routes is striking."

"Over 50% of traffic at the airport is now passengers visiting from the UK for business and leisure – in the context of our citys renewed focus on inward tourism, it is critical that we do all we can to support these services into the future. Our airport is a vital element of our infrastructure and we need to underline its importance to Government and seek to build upon the asset that we have."

"Recent studies have shown that Waterford Airport supports approximately 560 jobs in the South East, before considering the impact of air services on business location decisions."

"While I know that Waterford Airport has long had excellent custom from Kilkenny, Wexford, South Tipperary and Carlow, the new road infrastructure has greatly added to the airport usage in the region and to the convenience for inbound visitors to the Southeast."

"From my contacts with airport management, I am assured that it is business as usual at the airport and that all Aer Arann flights in and out of Waterford will continue through the Examinership. As Aer Arann uses the Examinership process to seek new investment, it is very encouraging to hear that the routes at Waterford Airport are among the best performing in their network and that Waterford is central to the future plans for the airline."

Reaction to the Hunt Report - No Second Class Solutions Acceptable!

2010-08-25T12:44:00.001+01:00

The Mayor of Waterford Councillor Mary Roche has issued a statement commenting on the recent leaks from the National Strategy Group for Higher Education chaired by Dr Colin Hunt. The leaks claim that the group has rejected WIT’s case for University Status and will instead offer the entire sector the prospect of designation as ‘Technology Universities’ once stringent criteria have been met.

Councillor Roche states “The City of Waterford and the South East Region will speak once the Hunt Report is published. However, what we expect from the Hunt Report is nothing less than the ability of WIT – under whatever name or designation – to be able to deliver equality for this region. We will not accept anything that keeps us in the second tier and importantly would not deliver the same operating structure and autonomy as full University status.

We insist that WIT must have the remit to deliver inward investment into this region and the same capacity for research, development and innovation as every other region. The South East Region, more than any other needs that capacity to be unleashed.

“How many jobs,” asks Mayor Roche “have been lost to this City and this region as a result of the Governments’ prevarication on this issue? How many more will be lost if the Hunt Report doesn’t deliver? I want to send out a clear signal that we expect the Hunt Report to deliver nothing less than equality in terms of autonomy and finance for WIT – after that they can call the Institution whatever they like. The name is not important it is equality of opportunity for the region, for the city and for future generations that we demand.

Essentially if we are driving with the same engine it doesn’t matter that the bodywork might have a new coat of paint. I would urge the Government to take careful note of this message and not to attempt to deliver anything less for Waterford and the South East, ” she said.

North Quays

2010-08-16T23:01:00.004+01:00

I think it's probably fair to say that we have faint hope that the North Quays will be developed any time soon under the current economic circumstances. They will, of course be tidied up and made safe for the visit of the International Tall Ships Fleet next June.

But what of the immediate or even medium term? I believe that there must be a useful purpose that the North Quays could be put to in order to restore them from dereliction and bring them into use for the people of Waterford and South Kilkenny.

My suggestions would be simple enough and simply achieved if people had half a mind to. They include either a simple park layout or a series of sports courts & pitches or even the dreaded parking.

Personally I favour the sports courts, followed by the park. One way or another this would tidy the area up until some other use is found for them. It will be an awful shame if they are allowed to fall once again into disrepair (see above and that photo was taken a year ago - I don't know what they are like right now but I'll bet it's not better)!

If all parties were willing the North Quays can and should be brought into use. There may even be a job or two in it.

Thanks Lads!

2010-08-15T21:57:00.003+01:00

Yes it was a disappointing day for the Deise. The lads didn't play the way we know they can and in fairness Tipp were the better team. I wish them luck now as they meet the giants of Kilkenny - they're going to need it!

But it has to be said; it was another great year for Waterford. Munster Champions! Another All-Ireland semi-final!! We keep a-knocking and sooner or later we're gonna get in!!!

I have no doubt but that the Deise will have our day. We're up there competing with the best teams year after year now. And every year we learn a little more and get a little more experienced and sometime - soon I hope - all the work and sweat and (probably) tears is going to pay off and that monkey is going to be off our backs for good.

We've waited a hell of a long time and we can sure as hell wait some more. At least now we are competing. Every year we have rightful expectation and hope. Every year we get to Semple Stadium and Croke Park. How many generations of Waterford people never saw that? Haw many counties can never even hope to see that?

Well done to Davy Fitzgerald and his backroom team. Well done to the mighty Waterford warriors. Sure it would be easy to be gracious in winning but what Waterford are doing is building, building.... and building character. And it's working. You can't deny we've made enormous strides!

You get nothing for sympathy or because you 'deserve it'- in sport or in life. You have to go out and fight. And I know that the Waterford team will tend their wounds and their dented spirits and then next year they'll don the white-and-the-blue and they'll go out there again with pride and that justifiable expectation in their hearts. And so will we.

Thanks for the great year lads! Thanks for the hard work. Thanks for the time and the loyalty and the effort and the pain. Someday it's gonna come right for us and until then we just have to keep believing. And we do.

We live to fight another year......Roll on 2011!

Could 2010 Be The Start of Waterfords' Decade?

2010-08-10T18:33:00.006+01:00

Okay so. Lets get the nasty truths out of the way.

Our International reputation as a Country is shot (evidence the increased cost of borrowing for Ireland Inc.) Ivor (I will one day be President) Callely is making extremely heavy weather of this whole expenses saga. Ministers are traipsing around the country in heavy duty jets while their Ministerial Mercs are tagging after them on the road network.

The Anglo Irish Banks bill is heading for just under €25,000,000,000! Yes that's 25 BILLION if you've lost count of the numbers. The HSE are closing beds and wards and hospitals wherever they can. The cost of doing business just went up this weekend with the energy levy. The Cystic Fibrosis patients are still dying without their isolation rooms. The elderly and cared for are having their support hours cut. Special schools are having their budgets cut.

Irish Rail are doing their best to close down the Rosslare Waterford railway line. We STILL have no decision on a University for Waterford. And all of this is just taking in the last month or so for news! The list goes on.

The Country, it seems, is up the creek!

So what can we do in our little corner of it?

What can we do for ourselves? What decisions are within our power to change, influence or implement? Those are the decisions that we should concentrate on.

The City Council has led the way using tourism as a driver with the delivery of the House of Waterford Crystal, the improvements on The Mall (pictured above from an unusual angle), the development of the Tourism product (festivals & marketing etc.) and the new www.discoverwaterfordcity.ie website (a real gem).

We are continuing that focus and adding in an Enterprise focus to hunt down jobs for our city and to promote an enterprise culture. We need people to create jobs both for themselves and if possible, for others.

We continue to try and bring improvements to the public realm and either encourage or force others to do so also. However the powers available to do this are limited and will not in truth deliver the kind of radical solutions that some people (including me) might like.

By the end of the year Waterford will be the only City (possibly the only place in Ireland) to be able to say that we are 'flood proof'. By September we will have a Motorway all the way to the Capital with the tourists and market that it opens up to us.

Bad and all as things are nationally and even Internationally I believe that 2010 could see the dawn of a prosperous and visionary decade for our City. If we all put our shoulders to the wheel and get our brains in gear - then I know it will be. It is up to us to capitalise on these many developments because no one is going to do it for us.

So ask yourself this: What can I bring to the party? And then bring it!

Reassurances from FG locally on University

2010-07-27T19:20:00.004+01:00

I note in a comment to my earlier blog and indeed in the local press, Senator Paudie Coffey (pictured above) has expressed his unhappiness with my blog last week concerning Fine Gael leader Enda Kennys comment on the designation of WIT as a University.

Enda said that (and I'm paraphrasing) once in government they would trigger a mechanism to have the case for WITs designation as a University examined. Now this seemed to me - and many others - to be a clawing back of the previously stated and much heralded (locally) policy adopted by Fine Gael, that if in Government, they would designate WIT as a university.

I gather from the statements by both Senator Coffey and Senator Maurice Cummins, that this policy has not changed. That being so, then I have to ask why Enda was so ambiguous in his statement which clearly in my opinion sent out the wrong message.

However I do accept Senator Coffeys assertion and I must add, in fact that I have the greatest of admiration for Paudie and in my opinion he would make a most able TD for this constituency. Paudie is very clued in on local issues, very vocal, very pro-active and articulates his message very clearly.

So while I am happy to accept that the FG policy has not changed I wonder why then Enda sent such a weak message? Clearly - and some of the history is fairly laid out by Senator Cummins in his letter to the News & Star this week - we have been led a merry dance on this issue for many a long year and not entirely by Fianna Fail either it must be said.

That being said, due to much lobbying locally, FG did adopt the designation of WIT as Party Policy. For it to actually proceed though, it would have to make it into a Programme for Government post the next election (assuming as predicted that FG are part of that Government), which one must be hopeful for considering that the Labour Party also claim to support this designation.

Although it will be recalled that the move from WRTC to WIT by a FG/Lab coalition did not exactly deliver what we all were led to believe that it would at the time but we won't re-hash old arguments. Let us hope that the FG and Labour TD's locally and their parties nationally mean what they say and that what they say is what we all understand it to mean; namely that WIT will be designated as a University with the autonomy, branding and finance that that designation brings and that there will not be another fudge as there was the last time which effectively tried to please everyone and ended up pleasing no-one!

Finally I make no apology for having a finely tuned antenna on this issue. Yes, I am uber-sensitive about it and why wouldn't I be? A University is the crucial piece of regional infrastructure that the South East desperately needs in our efforts to end the educational and jobs apartheid that we have suffered for decades. We have been messed about on it several times over many years - for much longer than I am involved - and anywhere I see a threat or potential threat or any ambiguity, I will call it.

That being said, the biggest threat of all comes from our lackadaisical current Government which has placed obstacle after obstacle in the way of WITs just claim for University status. They have yet to produce the report from the Strategy Group for Higher Education. I hear now that the report will be with the Minister by the end of the month and will not be published until September.

We await its deliberations with bated breath and hope that it will not merely provide the government with further cover to both do nothing and extend the time before which we will have our University.

However I do not wish to be negative in advance of knowing its contents so until we see it (or hear the leaks) I can but express the desire that they have been convinced, as were the many International experts who examined our case, of the validity of WITs claims for University status.

As Dr Jim Port put it (the Governments own appointed expert) "WIT is already operating at University level". We all know it. Will our work be rewarded? Time will tell.

What Is Enda On About - Massive About Turn on WIT

2010-07-20T23:37:00.004+01:00

What the hell is Enda up to? Up to the weekend before last he and his party were committed to the designation of WIT as a University. Then I hear on radio during the week how he will, when in government trigger an examination of that question (or some such other jibberish but you get the gerneral jist of it)!

Now that's what happens when a party leader in weakened. He is now prey to the whims and parochial preferences of those who 'saw him over the line' in the recent leadership heave. And no one did that moreso than the man known as 'big Phil'. Deputy Phil Hogan of our neighbouring parish of Kilkenny who is well known to be anti anything Waterford. And who was Endas right hand man in the battle which saw him save his leadership - and to whom he is now obviously beholden???? Cue bactracking on giving Waterford City University status. If its not enough to make your blood boil and detest politics then I don't know what is.

So is this what we have to look forward to if and when Fine Gael come into power? Enda, giving in to every local yokel who supported him on the promise of either promotion or preferential treatment? Government by gombeen men!

The change in Endas position on University status for Waterford would indicate that it is indeed so.

In that case, the sooner the majority of his Dail colleagues who already voted against him and who see him as weak dispose of him altogether, the better. We need a strong, principled leader with vision and not one who is compromised by 'owing' everybody!

At least John Deasy, to be fair to him, is being honest about whats going on and not blathering the obvious lie that all is now happy clappy in FG-land!

Well, the fight goes on. We are not accepting anything other than a University for Waterford and for this region. The most annoying thing about the whole debacle is that some people are prepared to deny what's right - even though it hurts the very people they purport to represent! All of our futures are highly dependent on this issue - whether we like it or not and WIT is the only show in town!

Well Done Munster Heroes!

2010-07-18T20:32:00.004+01:00

Okay I admit it. I'm usually an armchair watcher of sport. So it was with some trepidation that I took to the highways and headed for Thurles for what turned out to be two great sporting occasions 'in the flesh' as it were over the last two weekends. The GAA are kind enough to give the Mayor of the City two tickets for the Munster Final (both of them) and I must say, having 'followed' the team for years via television or radio I'm a convert to the live game! Nothing compares to the atmosphere of a heaving, heart-pounding, high-speed hurling game played out by a team you care so much about!

True, you miss a lot of the detail: I didn't know who scored the winning goal until I heard it on WLR on the way home (good man Dan, you showed them all - what a hero!) and I will admit to missing the replays and the close-ups! I'm not well up enough to know the lads by their numbers but luckily enough I had Michael Walsh (City Manager) on one side of me and suffice to say he's well up on them all, numbers or not! Although with all the squirming around in his seat he was doing I didn't want to interrupt him too often. Obviously the man was feeling every puck and if will power alone was enough to put them over or under the bar, then he would have topped the scoring list himself!

It was hard to resist joining in with the chants, so I didn't (resist that is)! It was hard not to let a few shouts of 'Up the Deise' out of you when you felt there as a lull and the lads could do with knowing we were there for them, so I did. I whistled, boo-ed, ate my nails, shouted at the referee, willed the shots over the bar, jeered the Cork lads behind us at half time for making such a racket and had an all round excellent time indeed.

The GAA, I must say, had it all extremely well organised. Plenty stewards on hand, good programme, just back far enough in the stand to miss the rain and of course, the cuppa and sarnies at half time across in the Dome. I had an uncle with me who travels quite a bit to games and he was mightily impressed with the treatment received in the guest enclosure.

Of course, it helped enormously that Waterford won! Waterford people in the run up to both games were quietly confident although almost all 'neutrals' seemed to think that all Cork had to do was turn up! Of course, that scenario always suits Waterford down to the ground for some reason.

Our seats were quite close to the magnificent Munster cup so over I went to take a photo. I assured those in the really posh seats directly behind it that we would be bringing it home to Waterford later that evening and they seemed pleasant - if somewhat dubious of my claim. Oh how I love it when a plan comes together!

When Stephen Malumphy, Eoin Kelly with his baby son, John Mullane, Tony Browne and all the lads filed up past me to collect it, well it was just magic. Looking out over the pitch which had been invaded by the white and blue of the Deise was just magic too. And while next year I won't be in the posh seats, with their half-time cuppas and I might have to brave the rain in my face, I think the whole experience is worth it.

It lifts your spirits to see those men battle so hard in the name of Waterford; to see the determination and character it takes to never give up; to take the knocks, the pushing and shoving, the sheer physicality of this most magnificent of games and to keep going. To keep putting the sliothar up the field, keep aiming over the bar and hoping your chance to put one under will come. To never give an inch to the other team no matter how they might try to force you by skill or by skin and bone. To hear the infamous 'clash of the ash'.

It was a pretty intense evening and may I say a heartiest congratulations to all of those who put themselves on the line; who put their personal lives to the side and who stand out there and fight the fight for us. To all the backroom team and the Manager Davy Fitzgerald who has worked so hard for us.

But the fight is only half done. There are other, bigger battles to fight and scores to settle. So like as we would to light the bonfires and salute our Munster Champions we defer it to another day - a day perhaps later this year in early September when the men of the Deise could possibly, maybe, who knows....bring home the big one? The one they deserve. This is a great team, with great heart and courage and fire so for now we'll just wish them well. We'll keep our powder dry and who knows....if they are determined enough, if they are strong enough and if they are fierce enough then dues will be paid, pride will be restored to those who have suffered and a too long gap will have been bridged.

Who knows the future. But one thing is for sure; the glory is theirs to take and God knows, they've earned it.

We wait with bated breath!

Speech Made at Mayoral Election Tonight

2010-06-29T00:23:00.001+01:00

Fellow councillors, Members of the Oireachtas, City Manager, former Mayors, distinguished guests, Directors and staff, family and friends:

I wish to begin by thanking my proposer, Cllr. Cha O’Neill, my seconder, Cllr Davy Daniels and all the members for their support here this evening.

I’d like to begin by dedicating my election tonight to the memories of my grandparents William & Bridget Roche and William and Margaret Walshe all of whom I knew and loved well. While my family has no political tradition, it has a long tradition of service. Service to family and neighbours and to the wider community. My grandparents were decent, hard-working, ordinary people in a time when they knew what it was to have to struggle to make ends meet and to earn your living with your own sweat. I’d also hate to let the evening pass without mentioning my late in-laws Michael & Irene Keating who would most certainly have loved to be here this evening. Finally thanks to everyone for coming here and especially those who have travelled from as far as the Canary Islands! Your support is never taken for granted and is much appreciated.

This evening is the start of a year long voyage for me but I can’t begin without mentioning the formidable year that my predecessor John Halligan has just put in. Indeed he has set the bar so high that I will be able to limbo dance under it with no difficulty at all and as for trying to raise it even more, well I wouldn’t even try. Congratulations John. You were a credit to yourself and your family but most of all you were a credit to the historic office of Mayor of Waterford City.

The best I can hope for and what I intend to do is to put my whole heart and soul and effort into this job for the next 12 months and hope that I can, through that hard work, inspire and bring hope to our citizens. Hope that the sparkle of a new beginning that has been the opening of the House of Waterford Crystal across the Mall will signal the beginning of bright days for our city and for the people who share it.

While I want to strike a positive note tonight I do want to mention the plight of the workers who, when the old factory closed, lost their jobs and especially those who have lost their pensions. At a very late stage in their lives those men and women have found themselves cast adrift and I sincerely hope that they will be successful in their fight and will get the pensions that they have paid into with their own money – no more and no less and surely that is not too much to ask.

Waterford is a fantastic city, a beautiful city and I want all of our citizens to be proud of and feel part of the new energy and buzz that we are trying to create here. I want Waterford people both living here and abroad to become ambassadors for our city. I want them to visit and experience our attractions. I want them to make sure that they talk to their friends from outside about us.

I want people to sell Waterford and to make sure that when visitors do come here, they go away knowing that that Waterford is the oldest city in Ireland, that the Irish flag was introduced to this country by a Waterford man Thomas Francis Meagher and that it was flown for the first time in 1848 from 33 The Mall – directly across from here, just as is it once again flying tonight. Even that it’s thanks to Waterford that the world now enjoys the cream cracker and the rasher and of course, not forgetting the infamous blaa!!

I want them to know that Waterford has museums, galleries, theatres, parks, shops and restaurants to rival any other place and that our people, Waterford people, are the friendliest, warmest and decentest people in Ireland – as I surely know that we are.

There is much I would love to achieve during this year; University status for Waterford – very dear to my heart and something we have fought and will continue to fight for. We must leave the powers that be in no doubt that we will only accept a ‘yes’ answer on this issue. The spine of the education system in Ireland, from primary to University is based on a document written by Waterford MP, Thomas Wyse in the early 19th Century. This city has contributed so much nationally, particularly in the area of education, that is past time when we should be recognized with University status.

We will no longer stand for anything but the best. The M9 is almost complete, the new bridge is built, the Airport and Aer Arann are keeping us connected by air, and the port is continuing to grow, our Quays are about to change the very face of the City.

We have a story to tell and a city to sell! I intend to engage with the business and industrial community to see where there are synergies that they in partnership with us in City Hall, can deliver more for the benefit of our city. Waterford is open for business and I am exploring the possibility of leading our own trade delegation in search of jobs. We should not be prepared to sit back anymore and wait for other people to do this work for us. They have not been delivering.

We need to take that bit between our teeth, pack our courage in our suitcases and get out and sell ourselves to the world.

To those businesses who have survived these tough economic years – we salute your acumen and tenacity and the jobs that you have maintained and created. I would ask every business locally to look to the future and to consider whether they could possibly employ - even one more - staff.

I would also like to encourage and congratulate those who have set up their own businesses and taken the leap into self-employment.

Together we can and will fight our way back to prosperity and opportunity for more and more people. To our communities and volunteers and the wonderful work that is done helping people on the ground I say, well done. Your work makes a great difference to us and our city.

I also have plans to invite our schools to twin with schools in South Africa and I’m working on another linkage in that area which I hope will come to fruition during this year.

Traditionally, the Mayor has hosted a Mayors Ball in the Spring and I intend to continue this tradition. The charities that I have chosen are the Saint Vincent de Paul and the Solas Centre – both for obvious and very deserving reasons.

However I also intend to add in a third beneficiary and that will be a new fund which I intend to set up in memory of the late Nicky Fewer, Freeman of Waterford. The Nicky Fewer Memorial Sailing Scholarship will be used as a bursary to enable young Waterford people to go sail-training. Sail-training is a wonderful way for young people to begin to experience the world and make new friends as well as to start to know their own worth. It builds character and they will hopefully discover that the only limits are those we put on ourselves.

I have spoken with Nickys’ wife Maria and I am delighted to say that she has allowed me to proceed with this project in Nickys’ name and memory. And I would like to welcome Maria and Nickys sister Anne and her husband Michael, who have travelled to be here this evening.

Nicky was a proud Waterford man and one whom we should not forget for his vision, for his hard-work, for his never say die attitude and for his sheer determination to go out and make his ideas come to life.

We should not forget that it was Nicky who brought together the group of Waterford stakeholders who initiated the idea that Waterford Crystal must not be allowed to leave our city. He passed that mission onto the City Manager, Michael Walsh, who so ably led - indeed drove - its delivery. We need men and women like Nicky Fewer today more than ever. I hope that the Scholarship will go on in perpetuity and that Nickys’ name will be honoured and remembered through it.

I also hope to use my year as Mayor to encourage the Government to re-instate our National Sail Training Programme. The fact that the sail training programme sank when the STV Asgard II was sadly lost, almost 3 years ago now is a national disgrace, especially considering that it was funded by the National Lottery and not from central funds. Perhaps we here in Waterford, given our strong maritime heritage, can lead a campaign to have the sail-training programme re-instated. It is nothing short of disgraceful that, ahead of two visits by the Tall Ships fleet to our shores over the next two summers, we as a nation do not have a Tall Ship to replace the Asgard II, to fly the Irish flag and to continue in the role of Ambassador for Ireland which she carried out so magnificently during her 27 years of service.

I also believe very strongly that sport and the arts and culture are a very important part of our heritage here in Waterford.

I would like in particular to mention our mighty hurlers who continue to steadfastly chase and achieve glory in our name. I wish them God speed – and of course that elusive ‘bounce of the ball’ as they contest the Munster Final.

I am delighted that my friends in Red Kettle and Jim Nolan have come here tonight. The work that Red Kettle, Spraoi, the beautifully restored Theatre Royal, Waterford Youth Arts, Garter Lane, our writers, poets, painters, musicians and many others do, does so much to enrich our lives and I would like to take this opportunity to encourage people to become involved.

To do, to go, to see, and to enjoy the many performances and exhibitions that happen in this city each and every week. I would also like to congratulate Red Kettle and Waterford Youth Arts both of whom celebrate their 25th year of delivering joy and challenges in equal measure this year. We’ve all come a long way from Janey Mac!

I am particularly delighted that during this year we will see the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera return for its 50th Anniversary, incorporated as it is now into the Waterford Festival of Music. I have been energized and impressed by what I have heard of the plans so far and wish the organizers every success with this venture. May it be the beginning of another 50 years of success for the festival as well as celebrating those 50 years already gone.

Waterfords’ light entertainment heritage and talent should not be forgotten either and I have a number of plans for the year including an attempt to try and re-instate our own much beloved and once extremely popular and successful Tops of the Town. More anon!

There is so much that I want to do, but tonight is not a night for lists. Please God – and with the help of WLR fm and the Munster Express, Waterford Today & the News and Star – there’ll be plenty of time for that during the next 12 months.

I am anxious to build on and capitalize upon that new hope and confidence that has been peeping through over the past week here in the city. I find it impossible now not to walk along the Mall without an enormous sense of pride. I want all Waterford people to feel that pride – justifiably – in their city, in our city, in our home. I want the world to see and feel Waterford re-emerging with a new confidence.

As we build up to the magical Tall Ships Festival which will once again grace our noble quays next summer, I invite all of you and all of Waterford to come aboard; to fill the decks; to clamber onto the yards; to cling to the anchor if you have to because the good ship Waterford is taking sail – she’s been berthed in the shallows for too long and now with the wind beginning to fill her sails she’s heading towards brighter shores.

I invite you all to join with me on that journey.

Thank you.

Does the Boundary Issue Need to be Re-visited?

2010-06-19T20:55:00.002+01:00

Waterford is indeed a historic city, with continuous settlement here since 914. We will have an historic anniversary to celebrate come 1014.

The work on The Mall and soon to be redesigned historic mile-long Quays are changing the way we view Waterford ourselves and the way Waterford is viewed from outside. At last, I believe the city is standing up, dusting itself off and beginning to look to the future with hope an confidence. The magnificent Tall ships will once again grace our city come next summer and with that and the activity surrounding the soon to be officially opened House of Waterford Crystal, things are beginning to feel right in Waterford.

But that is not the full story. Our neighbouring local authorities have demonstrated by their actions in the last few years that not only do they covet our prosperity, but that indeed they are prepared to put in place strategies which look to actively damage our historic city and along with it, our potential to deliver not just for for the narrow audience of our own citizens but also our ability to be a driver or the entire region.

This is demonstrated through, for example the huge Shopping Centre - one of the Celtic Tigers' worst examples of bad planning - now lying idle (as they were warned it would be) just outside the northern boundary of the city and also by the TK Maxx debacle, which was eating up jobs from our city centre on our western boarder.

Now it is my estimation that we have enough to be doing in looking after our own affairs that to be trying to fight rearguard actions on our flanks watching what those who refuse to implement proper planning are up to next. This is why I believe that if John Gormley is to make any meaningful changes in local authority systems, rather than just tinkering around and simply putting in place new unrealistic authority boundaries instead of old ones, any change that doesn't take a much closer look will be both a waste of time and a wasted opportunity.

Waterford City should be the administrative authority at the very least for the PLUTS area of South Kilkenny (leave them keep their addresses and GAA loyalties) and also for a large chunk of County Waterford out to and including the dormitory towns of Tramore, Portlaw, etc.

This would, I contend, lead to far better and more cohesive planning and balanced development in the entire area. I have long argued that East Waterford (County) has more affinity with, and in common with, the City than it ever has with those areas in the mid and west of the County.

What about regional authorities? Too many people on them continue to operate with a parochial mindset for them to ever be effective or indeed to place the good of the region over the good of their own small area.

So does the boundary issue need to be re-visited? Yes I would say. Will the boundary issue be re-visited? Well, that's the six-million-dollar question, isn't it?

Just So You Know

2010-06-18T17:17:00.002+01:00

In case anyone needs reminding, among the news stories that happened this week but becuase of the Fine Gael leadership heave, you may not have heard them.....

....there was a motion of no confidence in An Taoiseach
....the financial controller of Anglo Irish Bank said that the €22bn that has been pored into the bank so far was a waste of money and
....the Minister for Finance announced that they will extend the bank guarantee to the end of the year. And the value of that guarantee? Four-hundred-and-forty-billion euro.

Just so you know.

Four Roads To Fianna Fáil (to be sung to the air of Four Roads to Glenamaddy)

2010-06-13T23:22:00.003+01:00

Whether you choose banking, developing, regulating or politicking, all roads in this current debacle lead to Fianna Fáil! And stop there. They are the common denomintaor -where all roads meet, if you like.

And I blame them more than anyone, because is was their job to watch out for us, for Joe citizen in their role as this countrys elected government. None of the others mentioned above have as a central role, the protection of the citizens and their future. Not the banks - their role is to make money. Not the builders - their role is the same. Not even the regulators as they are neither appointed by, nor answerable to us.

Sorry to be going on about this but despite the polls, the public mood, the direct culpability - and even despite the fact that there are many decent hard-working Fianna Fáilers out there - Fianna Fáil itself seems to be either blissfully or deliberately unaware of their central, devastating, sycophantic role in this. Thinking maybe they can distrct the masses....not any more. The game's up now for sure.

They were so delighted to be sitting at the same tables as those they thought were bigwigs, that they allowed them to destroy the country. T.H.E. C.O.U.N.T.R.Y!

This is my last post on this subject. From here on in I intend to be inanely optimistic and positive. Okay.......??????

Three Lovely Laddies

2010-06-11T19:06:00.005+01:00

Three TD's in recent months have been very vocal in their criticism of An Taoiseach Brian Cowen TD. Now we have had two seperate reports lay much of the blame for the countrys current economic meltdown at the feet of that self same Taoiseach.

Will Mattie McGrath (Tipperary), Ned O'Keeffe (Cork) and John McGuinness (Kilkenny) have the integrity to back up their words with action?????

Mattie has had a lot to say.
Vote of No Confidence to take place next Tuesday Mattie.
What will you vote?

Ned O'Keeffe has made a lot of noise in recent months.
Vote of No Confidence to take place next Tuesday Ned.
Will you have the courage of your convictions?

Now is John McGuinness' chance to show us what he's made of.
Vote of No Confidence to take place next Tuesday John.
You've done a lot of talking.
Now what are you actually going to do???

Is The 'Big Cheese' About to Pass His 'Best Before' Date???

2010-06-10T16:47:00.002+01:00

So; the government and Brian Cowen personally have had a large part of the blame for our current travails laid at their/his door. End of. Now we KNOW.

This raises a few points. Namely; is there now any reason for a prolonged, expensive enquiry to tell what has already been established?

Why has Bertie Aherns' name not come into this (that I have heard)?

Considering Brian Cowen sought resignations from Fianna Fail based on such things as expenses claims and house painting, surely the enormity of these latest 'wrong-doings' merits a similar response from An Taoiseach? Where is his credibility? He should resign as Taoiseach and a General Election should be called.

End of. As they say.

Cyclists v Drivers

2010-05-20T15:05:00.004+01:00

I went into Waterpark Primary School this morning to talk to the children in Mr Dalys 6th class about their ideas for improving the city that they live in. They were anxious that their ideas would, firstly be listened to, and secondly, taken on board if possible.

Their ideas were all very interesting and while not all were actually do-able within current constraints, they all had merit. I will detail them in brief a little further down.

But one thing struck me most forcibly was the story told by one boy who cycles to school every morning along the Dunmore Road. He detailed how, while cycling one morning, a motorist had slowed down, rolled down his passenger window, all the while bipping his horn and shouting abuse at the child, out the window! Now I am not sure about you but it made my blood boil. Aside from the utter ignorance of it; there was an obvious danger in that it could have caused the child (only 11 or 12 years old) to perhaps wobble and fall and maybe even get injured or worse.

Why is it that we feel as drivers that we can engage in the type of behaviour that we would never dream of engaging in, when we meet people face to face on the path for example? What kind of idiots do some people turn into behind the wheel of a car?

I have asked the City Council to put in place an awareness campaign to educate drivers mostly about the fact that cyclists do exist, they have as much right to be on the road as any driver and that drivers are going to have to make allowances for them - and indeed that we hope there will be many more of them on the roads in the near future.

We in the Council have made a firm commitment to cycling (and public transport) particularly on the Green Route which is currently being put in place on the Dunmore Road and be under no illusions but that the ultimate aim is to get children and even aggressive drivers out of their cars and onto bikes or buses.

I had one driver approach me just the other day demanding to know what would he do if there was a cyclist on his side of the road and a lorry coming against him which wouldn't leave enough room (in some places) for all three of them? I answered that he would just have to slow down and drive with due care and attention - and perhaps even be ready to stop! Well, you would think I had asked him to bite the head off a budgie!

Please drivers. You are simply going to have to drive while taking account of all other road users. End of. And please don't tell me about all the ridiculous things that cyclists can do. I know. But they are the vulnerable road user and it will sound very hollow indeed if you hurt someone - particularly a child - because you didn't drive with due care.

We are trying to get a substantial amount of people to make a modal shift out of their cars. Perhaps instead of yelling at unsuspecting children, that obviously wound up driver would have been better to walk or cycle off his stress or even take the bus. It is going to take time for all the ducks to line up but we are working on them all.

Meanwhile please take extra care with cyclists - remember they are vulnerable, many are children and one day, it could be you or your child. Drive accordingly!

The other ideas the children had included the renovation of the old cinema in Patrick Street as a kind of drop in/arts centre/cinema for younger children; the provision of mini-allotments aimed at children (about 1 metre square); bins at all bus stops; the instigation of a licensing system for Busking Boxes to be located in 8 or 9 places in the city centre and which would guarantee live music on Friday nights and Saturdays; a volunteer odd job scheme for people on social welfare and, of course an awareness programme for motorists about cyclists and their needs!

I hope to follow up on at least some of these ideas. I already have with the cycling awareness idea.

Thanks to all the boys & girls in Mr Dalys class for inviting me in to have the benefit of their ideas and I hope they will take with them through their lives the need for them to be responsible citizens who play a positive role in what is, after all, all of our homes: Waterford City.

SOLAS paddle 2010 - please help!

2010-05-19T15:39:00.003+01:00

Below is the story of a very old friend of mine, Bian Fanning who, having been through a hell of a lot in recent years, is about to embark on a 'cross the Irish sea' paddle to raise money for the Solas Centre along with Mick O'Meara who currently holds the record for the crossing. If anyone of you would like to contribute to this fanatstic fundraising event please contact me or the numbers below. Good luck to Brian and Mick - here's hoping you break that record!

Brian Fanning has lived in Waterford and Tramore all his life. He is husband to Anne and father of Lily (10), Anna (8) and Tommy (3). He’s, an electrician in Waterford Regional Hospital, a keen cyclist and a marathon kayaker. He’s fit, athletic and loves life.

In December 2007 Brian was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer. Some time after an initial surgery to remove the tumour and multiple cycles of chemotherapy further cancerous cells were found in his thyroid gland. In January 2009 he underwent further surgery to remove his thyroid gland and subsequently received internal radiation treatment. During Brian’s illness and recovery he was supported by the South Eastern Cancer Foundation which provided counselling and alternative treatments to assist in coping with the stress and side effects of the diagnosis and treatment.

Set up in 1999, by Oncology doctors and nurses in Waterford Regional Hospital, the SECF is a charity which primarily provides practical support to cancer patients and their families by offering counselling and relaxation therapies. The organisation is currently based in a temporary rented suburban home which is without the expansion potential to cater for the increasing demand for its services. Contractors for the Solas Centre are now appointed and building work is to commence this month. However the South East Cancer Foundation requires further funds to fit out and finish the building and to continue to provide the support services to cancer patients and their families.

To mark his return to health and fitness Brian has formed a plan to raise money for the new Solas Centre. His plan is to kayak across the Irish Sea (from Rosslare to White Sands Bay, outside Fishguard) and beat the existing record of ten hours and seventeen minutes. The record was set in 2002 by two intrepid paddlers from Waterford– Brian himself and his long-time friend and paddling companion, Mick O’Meara.

Brian and Mick have paddled together since 1985. Together they have circumnavigated Ireland and Iceland by kayak and won a third place in the legendary Devizes to Westminster 125 mile kayak race and participated together in numerous Liffey Descent races. Together, in 2002, they set the record for the fastest time to paddle across the Irish Sea between Rosslare and St. David’s in Wales. The crossing is one of fifty miles and took 10 hours 17 minutes to complete. The plan this time is to aim for nine and a half hours at an average speed of about five and a half miles an hour and raise as much money for the Solas Centre as possible.
For more information on Brian and Mick’s paddle and/or to help raise funds for the Solas Centre contact Mick O’Meara on 087-2686529 or by email on info@seapaddling.com.

Cathederal Square: Discuss

2010-05-18T23:06:00.005+01:00

Every time I throw out an idea it seems there's someone only too willing to knock it. However, undeterred I now propose to set out an idea for Cathedral Square - an area of the city currently in a sad state but which is due for renewal within the next short while as part of the Viking Triangle and the 'One thousand Years in One Thousand Steps' idea - the one thousand steps being between Reginalds Tower and the Franciscan Friary and the Millennium of history contained therein.

Firstly as to what we can or cannot do. We do not own the currently derelict properties in the square although steps are being taken to try and get those properties improved at worst, and at best into active and beneficial use so don't go suggesting that we sort them out. They're awful: we know - we're doing what we can. For what its worth I would suggest that restaurant usage would be ideal - for that entire side of the square which is currently houses. Obviously I'm not talking about Christchurch Cathedral itself or indeed the Motor Tax office.

What I would love to see would be the development of the square as an almost informal venue for performances. As somebody suggested to me today; the acoustics are fantastic there and it would make a gorgeous venue for singers and small acoustic music sessions.

Of course with our weather we would have to make it somewhat weatherproof and I would suggest some type of tensile structure a la the Millennium Plaza on the Quay. Alternatively a series of umbrellas could be located there a la the (lower) photograph above which is actually of a square in Barcelona. The top photograph is of Cathedral Square itself.

This would bring life and usage to a beautiful area of the city and the opening of one or more restaurants or cafés in the area would be enhanced by having a facility for their customers to sit outside and enjoy some evening warmth (assuming we are to get any but with global warming and all that perhaps!) while listening to a little gentle music.

This could be achieved relatively easily and it could also incorporate the retention of the trees in this area.

But please.....discuss and let me know your ideas or what you think would work in this historic area of Waterford City. All comments and suggestions will be carefully considered and suggested to the relevant meetings. Either leave your comments here on my blog or feel free to email me directly at cllrmroche@waterfordcity.ie . Thanks!

Should You Work For Dole?

2010-05-16T18:58:00.003+01:00

This is one of those areas that seems obvious and makes sense to me. The dole in Ireland is a living. It is enough to live on and is designed to keep people in the basic needs. And although it isn't PC to say it, it is a lifestyle choice for some. Some people do not work, have never worked and will never work - by choice. They do quite nicely. Some even have cars and holidays. Housing is provided for many and lots of other supports. Living on the dole in Ireland - for some (not all) does them very nicely thank you! And much more nicely for example than the £80 or so you would get in the North of Ireland.

Just as there are those arguing that it would be a crime not to pair empty houses with those in need of housing; how can it be any different to suggest pairing people with no work, with work that needs to be done?

And yes I know all the arguments about the fact that this system could be abused - so I would suggest that none of this work could be carried out for the private sector. Only public authorities or those dealing in the social economy i.e. Partnerships, CDP's, Family Resource Centres etc. etc. would be able to identify work to be done and apply for workers to carry it out. If any one of those workers subsequently got a job in the private sector then they could leave with no notice.

People should also be given a choice and not merely have to accept the first 'job' that comes up. They should be consuted about their talents and interests. There should also be sensitivity about the type of work that is undertaken and thought should be given to peoples skill levels and talents.

Local authorities and community projects are under huge funding pressures and staffing levels being reduced (hugely in some cases), with we keep being told, more cuts to come. Many people who would love something to do all day long are currently on the dole - many because of one reason or other, are unlikely to find work again or at least in the near future. Some simply have no work ethic and need to be introduced to it.

Meanwhile we have elderly people who will never be able to afford it, needing to have some work done in their homes or gardens. We have community centres not being able to afford to get the place redecorated or perhaps improve the landscaping. You have community projects with ideas to run fantastic programmes but not enough staff to carry them out; there are people who need to learn to read & write; there are people who would love to do a gardening course; there are children who need help with homework or stories to be told to them; art to be taught, languages to be learned! There are an hundred million things that people could, with dignity, be asked to spend their time doing. Many would welcome it as the solution to a life without work or stimulation or mixing with other adults.

It's time we started making a few common sense decisions in this country. This, I contend, would be one of them.

Banks! Banks! Banks!

2010-05-14T14:30:00.004+01:00

The above sign has been erected outside Anglo Irish Bank on St Stephens Green and I don't think there would be too many would disagree with its sentiments (mis-spellings aside). It's a kind of 'a plague on all their houses' against the bankers, politicians, unions and pretty much everyone except the poor taxpayer who is delivering the moolah to bale them all out. All very justified.

I still have a major problem though in that the banks are merely trying, through all of whats going on, to get back to where they were and what they were at before the proverbial 'merdre' hit the fan. Is this progress? The bankers are still being paid exorbitant amounts of money and paying themselves bonuses for Gods sake! Is this justified?

Surely if you are in line for bonuses there should be a corresponding sanction for the people who have delivered the banks, the economy and the country down the tube! If this was the case then most of them would end up owing their place of employment money, such is the extent of the bad job they have done for which they have all (paradoxically) been handsomely paid!

People keep telling us that we have to save the banks without telling us why. Every international competitor on the banking scene, who were introducing some (much needed) competition into the banking market, are now running away like scalded cats. This means that as soon as the banks get enough money into their coffers again (from us) they will be back to business as normal. They are all private companies with their main focus as delivering 'shareholder value' - profits into the private sector. They have no responsibility (imho) to 'get the economy rolling again' as we are being told - notably by politicians as the banks themselves are making no such claims!

Interestingly Vincent Browne on TV3 last night covered a new TASC report which detailed the amount of cross-pollination of directorships held by a small few people mostly in Dublin who populate the board rooms of the biggest companies in Ireland. Each non-executive director was likely to be paid (€66,000-€130,000) a huge amount for their part-time work and each was likely to hold around 10 other non executive directorships!!!!!!!!

This is absolutely extra-ordinary and applies, no doubt, in great part to the boards of our banks also! Whats the bet that many of those directors also have contacts/appointments related to our great independent media and political spheres also? I always think it would be a most interesting task to 'map' as it were all the connections, through marriage, family, appointments etc. between business, media and government. Wouldn't that make for interesting reading!

I won't even go into the extremely low levels of women sitting on these 'old boys networks'....oh, sorry I mean 'boards'!!!!!!

Anyway, as these self same people are forever telling us (although for very different reasons) none of this gives us the rope to drag ourselves out of this very deep hole! That I think will be provided by neither the banks, nor the government. It will be provided by the ingenuity of the Irish people who are already showing signs of imagining themselves out of this mess.

I say this because, as you may know, I am a judge on the Deise Den competition currently running on WLR fm which is offering a €25,000 prize pack for some lucky new or nearly new business in this area. I have been very enthused and heartened by the range and amount of entries to the competition and while unfortunately there can only be one winner, many of the entries and finalists offer the potential for people to at least create employment for themselves and who knows, even expand and possibly provide much much more than that in the not too distant future.

One thing is for sure though: there is a wealth of ingenuity and imagination and determination out there amongst people! They are all to be encouraged and congratulated on their bravery and their spirit. I salute them all. We need more like them!

Ard RÍ Hotel An Eyesore - City Taking Action

2010-05-05T18:55:00.002+01:00

Below is a Press Release issued by the City Manager today:

For immediate publication

Ard Rí site entered on Derelict Sites Register by Waterford City Council

Waterford City Council is to take action to have the old Ard Rí Hotel site cleaned up and put in good order. The prominent multi-storey building overlooking the city has been closed for several years and has now been entered on the Derelict Sites Register by the City Council.

The Council today confirmed it will now be pursuing the owners to have works carried out ‘to remove the site from dereliction’. A formal notice specifying the works to be carried out will be served on the owners in the coming week.

City Manager, Michael Walsh, said that unfortunately, the former Ard Rí Hotel has now become ‘a blot on the landscape’ and he will, with the support of the members of Waterford City Council, pursue all avenues legally available to have the owners carry out necessary works.

Mr Walsh added that he will be reporting to the Council at next Monday’s meeting and if the owners of the Ard Rí site fail to undertake the works specified within an appropriate time, the City Council will carry out the work and seek to recover the costs from the owners.

The City Manager added that, at a time when so much work and effort is going into presenting Waterford city at its best, he is not prepared to tolerate derelict sites such as the Ard Rí.

ENDS – May 5, 2010.

Is Cowens' Term Coming to an End?

2010-04-21T10:19:00.004+01:00

Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my behalf but I can't help feeling that the rug upon which our esteemed Taoiseach has placed himself, is unravelling beneath his very feet - at a rate of knots! Bit by bit his tenure is looking more and more shabby and threadbare and unlikely to last.

Everything he has done right back to 2004 when he was promoted into the Finance portfolio is under examination and at every turn he seems to have made the wrong decision. I think that, sooner or later, this Anglo Irish noose is going to tighten around his neck - both for his sins of ommission and indeed, of commisssion.

Perhaps that is why, even his voice is beginning to sound a bit strangulated and I'd say he's feeling the pressure.

Watch this space as I have a feeling that the rug is not far from being pulled altogether.

Litter Litter Everywhere!

2010-04-06T01:06:00.005+01:00

Litter. Rubbish. It's disgusting. There must be something we can do to stop our beautiful Country from being dumped on by our citizens!

What is it about Irish people (not all, of course but a hefty minority) that they feel it is okay to destroy our roadsides, beaches, parks, streets with their dumped rubbish?

There are fly-tippers - those brazen, selfish - and yes, stupid - people who drive around in the dark of night waiting until there is no other car in sight so that they can horse a bag of rubbish out the door or window. There are casual litters, who throw papers out windows or drop them as they walk. There are rubbish families who think it's okay to leave nappies at the beach. There are teenagers who think it's cool to spit out your gum wherever you happen to be hanging out. There are dog walkers who see it as acceptable to leave dog faeces in parks and on paths.

What kind of a nation are we? Why do we do these things? Why won't we stop? We will whine til the end of time about things that we can't control and yet we continue to drop and to accept the dropping of litter, which is ruining our country! Take a walk or drive down any road, street, boreen, town, village or city in Ireland and just observe the litter. Now with the road verges cut and the new spring growth not yet in evidence the real scale of the problem is visible for one and all.

What kind of people do this? On what planet is this acceptable behaviour? None. What can we do? How can we make a substantial difference in a short time - because that is what we need to do?

The clean up of dumping and littering has cost this country dearly - and yet, some of the same people who are giving out about the billions going down the Anglo toilet are the cause of this particular cost to the nation. When are we going to stop tolerating it? The sooner the better I say.

What's the Anglo Story?

2010-04-02T21:04:00.002+01:00

Unlike 99.99% of politicians that I have heard in recent days, I will ADMIT that I don't understand this whole Anglo Irish Bank debacle. Problem here is that, while I'm admitting it, none (I'm convinced) of the other 99.99% understand anything about it either. But that doesn't stop them spouting off as if they had done their PhD's on the very subject.

They are merely parroting what they have been told - each given a few standard lines to throw out when they are asked about it. These include: "it would cost more to wind it down"; and "it's the lesser of two evils" and "it was the Lehmans collapse that caused all this not government policy".

They are the very worst of sheep, following dutifully into the Dail chamber and supporting the Government, as the voting fodder they are while ignorantly not knowing or caring about the well that they have thrown our economy down. Sure, it's the lesser of two evils they say confidently. Gobsh*tes! The whole damned lot of them.

Did the Government really guarantee all those debts in the midst of an emotional night of hand-wringing by the banks - with no more examination of the consequences for this country than that? Are they really that stupid? I don't know why I'm even asking that question: we know now that they did (according to Cowen) and we know that they are (stupid that is).

I want to know: what damage to Fianna Fail is contained in those Anglo Irish vaults? What skeletons lurk there that are so damaging to them that the whole country has been sacrificed to keep them secret or to keep those who know about them quiet? We're a mad little country all the same.

I don't understand it no. But I know a pup when I'm being sold one. And this is no pup. This is a foul, diseased beast that in my opinion is going to grow and grow with an insatiable appetite that is to be feeding from the trough of this tiny economy for decades to come. It will devour schools, hospitals, jobs, businesses... And the most worrying thing is that the people we elect to run this country haven't the damnedest clue how big it's going to grow, what it's going to cost or how to control it.

Gilmore was right. This is economic treason. This is self-harm on a national scale. Ho hum, and in the FFr's troop to do what they're told.

Remember now lads, all together: "it would cost more to wind it down; it's the lesser of two evils; it was Lehmans not us.....louder at the back!"

Follow The Money

2010-03-24T19:32:00.004Z

There is an end to the amount of money you can either take from people, or ask them to contribute. There is a bottom to the pit and in this Country at the moment I think that many people are reaching that place.

Excluding those at the top of the pile who will always have enough to fund extravagant lifestyles, the vast majority of people are now tightening their belts to the extent that it hurts - or are living quietly, fretting, becoming more anxious and desperate as the bills keep coming and there is nothing there to pay them.

This is happening to people who have worked all their lives and are now either earning less or have been made redundant; or their pension has been whacked out from under them a lá the Waterford Crystal workers; or self employed people who can't get cash flow or can't get paid and many are trying to live on little or no income and are becoming increasingly desperate not seeing where it will end or how they can get themselves out of this situation.

If you're trying to reach on a mortgage, loan repayments for say, a car, health insurance, home insurance, heating, phone, lighting - none of which are luxuries by any means.

Then you have to visit the Doctor (none of whom it seems to me have reduced their fees) or more expensively, the Emergency Room, or worse still, a Consultant and the school is looking for a contribution for running costs and the teenager needs a fortune just to keep ticking over, and the kids are growing out of their clothes, and the bins have to be paid for and the motor tax and the carbon tax and the.....well you get the idea.

Costs are not coming down across the board. Income is going down. That's never going to lead to a balanced situation. Many people are coming to the end of their tether and are clinging on by their fingernails often not seeing a way out for themselves or their families. Homes are being sold. Cars repossesed. Sick children going without that Doctors visit even.

People who have lots of money - aka our TD's and especially Ministers - will never understand how desperate people are becoming on this front. People falling behind on mortgage payments - most would do almost anything to ensure this doesn't happen but many at this stage just can't help it. After all shelter and food are our most basic needs.

There are a whole coterie of professionals who seem immune to cost reductions. And still the blasé attitude comes down from on-high. From those with a fortunes worth of money and the prospect of a further fortunes worth of pensions and lump sums insulating their backsides from the harsh realities most of us are dealing with day in and day out. Or giving payrises to those in the banking sector - particularly Anglo Irish Bank, for Gods sake!!!!

Then to add insult to injury they can't even do their jobs; they witter on about helicopters not flying in dark and clouds when that's a lie - and one that has been pointed out to them and yet they persist. Less is more they tell us! A 12 hour service will deliver more than a 24 hour service! This is actually what they're expecting us to swallow!

They deny us a University because maybe it mightn't go down well in ones own constituency; they fill the airwaves with so much drivel and noise that its hard after a while to decipher whats truth anymore. They can't, it seems, really do anything much at all except make an unmitigated mess of everything.

Their weapon of choice, is surely the boomerang!

A bit like the principle which says that there are less deaths when doctors are on strike I'm beginning to think that we'd all be better off without the lot of them!

Could Lack of Change Mean Lack of Talent in FF?

2010-03-23T15:39:00.006Z

Coughlan to Education & Skills (including Training element of FAS); O'Cuiv to Dept of Social Protection; Hanafin to Tourism, Culture & Sport; O'Keeffe to Enterprise, Trade & Innovation (including 3rd level research funding); Carey to Community, Equality & Gaeltacht (including disability) and Killeen to Defence.

That's as far as I picked it up on first hearing - don't take it as gospel just yet but its there or thereabouts.

Sean Connick - FF TD for Wexford is to get a Junior Ministry although I didn't hear what yet to keep the 'geographical' balance I guess. Sean is a good guy and well informed. He should be good and I wish him well. Pity there is no-one in the City who was thought fit for a Junior Ministry and this does not augur well for the future - as the situation with opposition parties is similar on that front unfortunately.

So! What does it mean for Waterford? Well, we have the Minister for a University in eemmmmmm...... Letterkenny in Education now.

I'm also assuming that Minister Coughlan hasn't changed her opinion since last May when she argued on a visit to the City that despite her officials in the IDA advising her that a University was required in Waterford she "didn't necessarily agree with them".

One assumes that this is a demotion in a manner of speaking for Mary - without it wanting to be seen as such - after all education is not one of the 'economic' ministries. So, someone who didn't do a great job in her last posting has now been rewarded with Education? Ho hum. Says it all really.

As to the rest? Killeen...who? Carey.....quiet! The rest is just musical chairs. Incidentally Dempsey is still in Transport so there's no silver lining for the Search & Rescue service either.

I'd call for a General Election but really....what's the point.

Minister Dempsey NOT Well Briefed on Search & Rescue Issue

2010-03-22T20:49:00.004Z

It seems that Minister Dempsey is not for turning. But I simply cannot let the evening go without challenging his, at best mis-informed and, at least mis-leading, comments on the reduced Search & Rescue helicopter service which he and his department intend introducing on the South & South East coastline in 2013 - the contracts for which are seemingly due to be signed in the next few weeks. He is so obviously parroting the(wrong)information that some suit in the Department is feeding him without having any real understanding of it himself.

The current helicopter service DOES fly at night and indeed, in clouds - contrary to what Minister Dempsey said on the Six One bulletin on RTE today. Where he got that one I'll never know - but it does back up my 'parroting' hypothesis.

It will NOT - according to my information - be 50% faster, but rather maybe closer to 15% faster to fly here from another base with the new helicopters. However, once an emergency is reported a crew from Dublin or Shannon will not scramble (wake, travel to base, be briefed, read maps and take off)any faster than before and regardless of the flying speed would not arrive as fast as a locally based helicopter - which, bear in mind, will also benefit from the faster speeds of a newer helicopter - arriving at an emergency even quicker than it does now.

Perhaps the Minister has been watching too many episodes of Star Trek and thinks they can be 'beamed' to the South coast?

So, imagine yourself in trouble on a trawler - perhaps after a fall, a heart-attack, a cap-sizing, a stroke - perhaps you are in the water...or clinging to the base of a cliff. Maybe you got caught in a rising tide. It's dark, you're cold and panic and perhaps hypothermia is starting to set in. You will now have to wait an EXTRA 30-40 minutes - potentially life saving or live taking minutes - on top of what it might take a local crew to reach you.

Those 30 - 40 minutes I have no doubt, will, some day, unfortunately cost someone their life. It could be your dad. Your husband. Your child. It could be all three as has happened before. Then it will be too late.

We must do everything we can to ensure that this decision is changed now, before the contract is signed. Especially as it seems to be based on entirely ridiculous information like that opined by the Minister above.

I wonder is there a record for how many incorrect facts you can state in a minute? If there is, then Minister Dempsey would surely have a fair shot at that title today.

If this is no big deal - then cut Dublin's service and see how a million people repay you. Are we being targeted because we have less population and currently - no political clout? Is it that parochial? Because short of seeing the justification and how a 30 minute EXTRA delay is a better service (according to the Minister!?!?) then I can see no other reason.

Please attend the Public Meeting on March 31st, 7.30pm in the Tower Hotel. We must unite and get organised across the entire South and South East coast to fight this move. Those who have lost loved ones deserve our commitment now. The brave men and women of the Search & Rescue service who, day in day out, go out to save lives - sometimes at great risk to their own - deserve it. We deserve it.

Could you halve a fire service, or an ambulance? Hell no. Then why this life-saving service? It just doesn't make any sense.

Are we to be condemned to a lesser service than any other coastal community in the Country? Yes if FF and the Greens have their way. This just simply can NOT be allowed to happen. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not EVER.

Millers Marsh Path Urgently Needs Widening

2010-03-22T16:58:00.003Z

Sometimes you have to focus on the things you CAN change. (Isn't that part of a prayer?) And one of those things for me, hopefully, is the miserly path crossing Millers Marsh Bridge heading from Johns Street to Storm Cinema.

As you can see from the above picture, the path is barely wide enough to take my slim seven-year-old, not to mention the two year old who was also with us, or indeed myself.

I intend to make vigorous representations to the City Council to have the path widened as a matter of urgency. It really is simply too dangerous. This route has become very well used - in fairness, much more so than it used to be - since the cinema based there and something has to be done to make it safer for pedestrians very many of whom are children - who can be expected, such is the narrowness of the path, to step off of it or even fall off of it in its current condition.

I know the road here is narrow also - just about enough for two cars to pass, but even if it meant making the road one-way or re-organising the traffic at this pinch point, I believe that this is absolutely necessary.

As far as I'm aware there hasn't been a serious accident as yet here but surely that is just a matter of time.

Many of the issues I discuss here are not within my power to do anything about - however, this one is and I intend to pursue it.

Hands Off Our 24 hour Search & Rescue Helicopter!

2010-03-16T18:46:00.003Z

Oh-ho they've done it now! They've just crossed the proverbial line in the sand. The people of Waterford - and beyond I'm sure - are hopping mad now. Hopping mad that the government has mis-managed this country so very badly that they now need to actually put peoples' lives at risk in order to save under a measly million euro a year. It is just incredible.

I am consoling myself by thinking that surely when someone (outside the Department of Finance) looks again at the facts here that they will realise the blunder they are about to make and make a more 'enligthened' decision. If they do, we will all rejoice.

I have been doing some digging and seemingly the rescue service based at Waterford Regional Airport were out more than 110 times last year with about 10% of those calls at night. Around 49 people were assisted with 9 of those rescued at night. It is surely acceptable to assume that at least some of those rescues prevented fatalities.

I would like to ask why Waterford was chosen? What is the difference between the Waterford service and that provided in other parts of Ireland. I understand that 2009 was the local services busiest year so far and that they were busier than other bases - although I don't have official confirmation of that. So did they just stick a pin in the map?

If you check out the 'Save 24hr Search & Rescue Helicopter Cover in South-East' Page on Facebook which was only started up yesterday, it currently has over 5,500 members - most with real people posting under their own names. Membership is going up at a rate of knots, to put it mildly.

I have written to the Mayor asking him to organise a cross-party open public meeting with Mayors and Chairs from across the South and South East where a campaign can be put together to save our 24 hour Search & Rescue Service. There aren't too many, but I do believe that this issue will garner regional support.

Most people who know me know that my husband works at sea on a tallship and manys the time he has been assisted in emergencies by air sea rescue services around the globe. What if he were to have an emergency in his home port waters....at night? If this is allowed to happen it is unconscionable.

I haven't seen an issue take hold like it for quite some time - this is what people are talking about in cafés, shops and workplaces right now.

To save a million euro (less from what I hear) a year???? My God has it really come to this?

Maybe this is the straw that will finally break the camels back; where the people of the south east will finally say NO MORE and get up and work together to save this service.

May it be the first of many such actions if that is so!

Should Cardinal Brady Resign?

2010-03-15T19:18:00.004Z

Should Cardinal Brady resign? Yes is the short answer. I am sure that he probably feels he is being hounded by a blood-thirsty press pack. And to some extent he is right.

However, as far as I am concerned he only has one question to ask and answer for himself: could I have done something to prevent the rape and abuse of boys and girls? The answer is yes. Ergo he should go. How can his own conscience allow anything else? How can he sleep at night with the stories of what happened going round in his head - knowing that he could have stopped such an evil man as Brendan Smith.

Young children were raped....has that word lost some its power even in all of the obfuscataion thats been so prevalent in recent months...Young children were RAPED and BUGGERED and ABUSED for almost a further 20 years after he as a 36 year old priest - a Canon Lawyer, not some uneducated, unwordlywise novice - knew about it AND WAS IN A POSITION TO MAKE SURE IT NEVER HAPPENED AGAIN.

He wasn't the only one, to be sure but if he accepts the principle that the Bishops who have already resigned as a a result of their sins of ommission (at the very least) then he too must go.

How many children and even lives could have been saved if he had only spoken up? Does he need to ask himself anything else? I don't think so.

Nobody is saying that he was an abuser - but he did nothing to ensure that an abuser was stopped. Not good enough. Enough said.

Bishops Have No Place To Hide

2010-03-11T10:41:00.002Z

I watched open-mouthed last night as Vincent Brown replayed on his TV3 programme last night, yesterdays press conference which took place after the Bishops Spring conference/meeting.

They seem to be thoroughly fed-up with the spot light and blame which is being put upon them in the wake of the Murphy Report which detailed the cover-up of extensive sexual abuse cases and the - as Vincent called it - complicity of the Bishops in not stopping and even allowing those abuses to continue.

Perhaps, with no escape, no one accepting their side, no-one caring how much this catharsis is hurting (some of) them and nowhere to hide the Bishops will finally get some tiny little inkling of how those children felt when the church failed to stop their abusers when they, as small, innocent children, in the care of (or at the mercy of) the 'Church' had nowhere to hide from their abusers and no-one would stop it or even listen to them.

Still no atonement obvious from the Church. Indeed they seem to be going backwards. Some of them just don't seem to get it at all. It's all about them. It's a terrible terrible shame - and those Bishops yesterday should be ashamed of themselves.

International Womens Day - Does It Mean Anything?

2010-03-08T12:25:00.003Z

Today, March 8th is International Women's Day and I suppose its a fair question to ask: what does it mean? Why do we have it? Is it needed? Well in my opinion, it is probably more needed now than ever. Why? Because I think we've gone way overboard with what we tolerate as acceptable for our daughters (and sons - but in the spirit of the day I'll stick to girls today).

What do I mean? Well, for example I was on the school run this morning listening to the radio (BEAT fm) when Rihannas (pictured above in a still taken from the video) latest song 'Rude Boy' came on. Now don't get me wrong I like Rihanna. I think she's beautiful, talented, smart and sexy. All good things. Now sexy is an objective thing and I was 16 myself once (yes, can you believe it?) but I have to say that I thought the lyrics of 'Rude Boy' were just way over the top. Listen for yourself I won't go into them here. The video is also quite sexualised with her looking down a guys trousers - among other bits of wriggling and overtly sexual movements.

So what's the relevance to Women's Day? Well it is this: women are once again - with their full knowledge and complicitness, it seems - being dragged down the 'you're only valuable if you're sexy, doing it, half naked and have a boyfriend who is 'big enough' (according to this particular song anyway). What are we doing to our younger women - Rihannas major target market? They are exposed every minute almost, it seems to these images in magazines, music videos, song lyrics - all the things that they enjoy - and those things are becoming baser and baser and more rude and lewd pratically by the minute.

Take a half an hour and watch your daughters favourite music video channel - I think you might be surprised by what you see - and she sees on practically every video: half naked women - each it seems competing with the next to see who can wear the least (or at least the most provocative), foul language, VERY suggestive movements. It's fairly unbelievable to be honest - and I can assure you I'm no prude.

But it does seem to me that we are losing ground here. Women - and mere girls - are once again being lauded not for their singing or song-writing talent, but for their bodies and the more suggestive the lyrics the better! The treatment of men in the same videos is almost entirely different (with some exceptions in fairness).

Am I being unreasonable? Is it okay for 8 year olds to be wearing Playboy clothes? Is is okay for young girls to be stripped half naked and simulating sex on TV - because make no bones about it but that's where we have gotten to? I say it is not - and I am beginning to agree seriously with the British researcher who called last week for certain music videos to be only allowed after the nine o'clock watershed. I would add to that that songs with overtly sexual lyrics should also only be allowed on radio after the 9 o'clock watershed! Next time it comes on I will certainly be switching it off if my seven year old son is in the car. But should I be turning it off when the 16 year old is in the car? Probably not. She is, after all, old enough to understand and put in context this type of sexualised song.....or is she?????

WIT WIT WIT

2010-03-04T00:25:00.004Z

I listened with interest as Mr John Herlihy of Google Ireland (left above I think) spoke to Mary Wilson on Mondays 5-7 Live on RTE Radio 1. He was lamenting the fact that first class degrees in Ireland are being devalued (in his opinion) because too many of them are being handed out by Universities.

When Mary asked him where Google recruit from he said, more or less, that they pretty much stop after the seven Universities! I nearly crashed the car!! Now aside from the fact that computing degrees from WIT are MOST sought after in the workplace and that WIT is the top college in the Country (including the Universities) for graduate employment I found Mr Herlihys words both disingenuous and dangerous - giving, as they seemed to do, the impression that degrees which were not received at University were not as valuable as those that were. What a load of old cobblers! Did I hear him right? Surely I was dreaming??

But it does bring into sharp focus the need - as if we need to be reminded - for WIT to be designated as a University. If the rumours about Martin Cullen handing over his Ministerial portfolio are true - and if we revert back to type, whereby places in Ireland that do not have a voice at the Cabinet table regardless of the veracity of their case, get nothing - then that indeed will have made the fight all the more difficult.

On the Martin Cullen issue - if he is to resign for health reasons I for one wish him all the very best. He has been a good servant to Waterford and has delivered for this constituency. We would like to have gotten more and I am quite sure he would like to have delivered more. Party politics aside, on a personal note, Martin Cullen, in my opinion was always a decent man and a very very able politician - who was given the wrong end of the stick by a Dublin-centric and biased media who seemed to hate him without either knowing him, knowing why, or caring too much either way.

But back to the University issue - perhaps as a parting gift the Government might reward Martin if he is to go in a honourable fashion - and not in the usual cloud of ignominia that has become the trend of late - with that University designation tucked under his arm? After all, it would tick many boxes for the Government, underlining as it would their commitment to building a better Ireland an allowing us in the South East and our children to help them in that process. Is it too much to hope for? Probably. But it's not going away and is needed now more than ever.

Should Politicians Change Their Minds?

2010-02-28T11:31:00.004Z

I wasn't actually going to write anything on this issue - not wishing to give the oxygen of publicity to YFG and the personalised campaign they have waged against me over the past few weeks and the fact that I changed my mind on the 80kph speed limit for the Outer Ring Road.

Firstly, and perhaps most depressingly, I am so disappointed at the tack that YFG has taken in how they have dealt with this issue - aping as it does the tired old, same old, failed old tactics of previous generations of Irish politicians. In fact it is one of the reasons which makes me rejoice that I am no longer part of a political party and no longer forced, sheep like, to follow the same well trodden paths already taken by so many un-worthies already. It is infinitely depressing that 'Young' Fine Gael have nothing new to add to the lexicon.

However, back to the issue. You would be forgiven for thinking that YFG had discovered the fourth secret of Fatima, they're that delighted with themselves. So what happened: I signed a YFG petition about 18 months ago supporting the raising of the speed limit on the Outer Ring Road to 80kph from its originally set speed of 60kph. They claim that this is somehow a private stance (????) at odds with my now public stance that the speed limit should remain at 60kph.

Now I will admit that the Outer Ring Road is a great new road - and any driver, not knowing the speed limit might be forgiven for assuming that it should be at least 80 if not 100kph. I am no different and prior to looking at the issue in more detail that would certainly have been my opinion. (Hence my signing the petition.)

So what happened? Am I some political deviant misleading the public as to my actual stance? Am I guilty of some dastardly skeletons-in-the-closet type political scandal? Quite simply I would contend: NO. So what happened then? I changed my mind - a move for which I make absolutely no apology.

The crux of the issue is perhaps, why did I change my mind? Was is to annoy YFG? No. (But that is a bonus!) Was it to ingratiate myself with the voters? No. Most people I speak to think that the speed should be increased to 80kph. Was it so that I could be accused of flip-flopping? No. This is generally seen as a weakness in politics (one which YFG, for example, are now seeking to exploit). So why then? Simply this. Information. I learned, in examining this issue that raising the speed limit to 80kph is just not the right thing to do in the current circumstances.

So what are those circumstances? Well, I ask you this: if you learned that something you wanted to do would increase the danger to people walking; would not be doable unless and until a lot of money - which you don't have - was spent to fix certain problems; would leave your organisation and perhaps yourself open to legal action as a consequence and that finally all the expert opinion was against your proposal; would you persist? Would you increase the danger? Would you risk yourself and/or the tax-payer being sued? Would you commit the money? Would you call the experts liars?

I would call that fool-hardy and irresponsible. But YFG seem to be advocating that despite all this, we should go ahead and change the speed limits - merely so that they as a political grouping can be seen to have rail-roaded through their proposal.

I for one say no. No to the speed increase unless and until the issues which have been identified are dealt with. No to YFG and their insistence that I stick by an opinion regardless of what I have learned and No to their tactic of trying to personally attack me for my stance(s) on this.

Furthermore, if and when the paths are separated from the roadway and some work is done on sight-lines in areas, I will, perhaps, consider something that is likely to enrage YFG even further - I may change my mind again!

The sooner the political parties young and old learn to change their minds as they learn more, the better I say. Perhaps that might stop us only half way down some of the blind alleyways we've been led down over the years by our politicl masters. It looks like FG will form some part of whatever our next Government in this Country will be - lets hope they will bring something new to the pot. On the evidence I am, sadly, not optimistic.

Finally I would ask Young Fine Gael one question: will they look in the eyes of any family who may suffer an injury or bereavement on the Outer Ring Road as a result of any speed limit increase and tell them that it was the right decision?

I will change my mind one hundred times rather than stick to a wrong decision - especially on an issue where lives, quite literally, are at stake. That surely, is the criteria and nothing else. When I change my mind because of something I have learned, I congratulate - not chastise - myself.

I hope I keep on learning for the rest of my life. I look forward to many more changes of mind! And furthermore I refuse to be bullied or cowed into submission by YFG - or anyone else. That, to me, is a political principle worth standing up for.

Young People Need Work Experience

2010-02-19T20:08:00.005Z

I was speaking to a friend of mine yesterday and she told me about her son - who is a fully qualified engineer who cannot get a job. Nothing new here: it's unfortunately a far too common story these days. Then she told me that he was going to a new city to 'work for free' for a company so that at least he could get work experience. Now fair play to the guy and it's great that a company is prepared to give him this experience in a situation where it probably goes without saying that they can't afford to employ him (or anyone).

Now the problems of finding a job when you are unemployed are tough enough - but if you haven't even got any work experience then you're probably at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to handing out even the few jobs that are there. It's past time when the Government need to look at this issue specifically and perhaps come up with a way whereby companies could be incentivised to take on young people to give them some work experience - even if it is for no wage.

Now I know this is fraught with complications and could be abused and lots of other problems. But if this young man is prepared to go to the (extreme some would say) measure of working for nothing I am quite sure there are other young people who would be willing to do this too - for a limited time - in order to be able to get some work experience to put on their curriculum vitae. It's not ideal to be sure. But these are extraordinary times and maybe extraordinary measures are called for?

Of course another incentive would be eliminate what are essentially taxes on employing people - namely employers PRSI - which means that the more people you employ, the more money you pay the government for that privilege. That has to be crazy in this climate.

I find it difficult to understand why the government has not put an emergency jobs task force in place to identify measures we could take in tackling unemployment. There are obviously lots of different challenges out there for all the different groups. In the current circumstances I can't believe that it is no-ones job to be looking at this specific area and making recommendations which the Government would undertake as a matter of urgency.

Are FF, FG, Lab, Greens and the rest of them just too busy carving out notches on their respective belts recording the amount of damage they do to each other while the country, meanwhile goes to rack and ruin? Do they think that that impresses us or that we even care? I really detest party politics! They could all flog each other to death for all I care - I just wish they wouldn't do it on our time or in our name. I wish they would get on with the job that they claim they were elected to do and start tackling the real issues with some lateral thinking and some 'lets get off our asses and deal with this' attitude.

Maybe they are just trying to distract us from the fact that they don't have any ideas or don't know where to start when it comes to getting - or at least trying to get us - out of this creek that we've been landed in?

Enough with the distractions. Please - some ideas on the jobs front. Incentives; removal of barriers; new schemes, removal of blockages and anomalies in the system. A can do approach. Some urgency. Lives are being ruined here. Families split again - perhaps for life. Can't you at least try.

500 Days to go to Tallships Festival

2010-02-15T13:20:00.003Z

From today there are exactly 500 days to go until the magnificent Tallships Festival returns to Waterford in June 2011 and those beautiful ships will grace our Quays once more. The website is now up and running at http://www.waterfordtallships.ie

There's a countdown timer there and the fact that the Christian Radich is the first Tallship already confirmed to attend at the festival.

The city that the festival will return to should be a different one that it attended in 2005 when they first visited here. The new Waterford Crystal factory and showrooms will be up and running on the Mall and a number of other developments with museums, Viking ships and other fantastic elements should all be in place.

The fact that the festival will fall on a weekend next year should also ensure even more visitors than the 500,000 people who came to Waterford for the event last time and I know that Des Whelan and his team are already working flat out to make the next festival even bigger and better than that magical one in 2005 - no small feat!

One thing we have as a city - which is a wonderful thing in these really really difficult times - is that we have so much to look forward to. We have to hope that all of these things will serve as a catalyst for lots more tourism development and as a result, job creation.

We are out there, doing it for ourselves. Can you do anything to help?

NEW A&E for WRH on the way at last?

2010-02-15T13:02:00.003Z

Came across this press release on the HSE website - the A&E expansion at Waterford Regional Hospital has been approved and will go to re-tendering. http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/news/wrhed.html .

However 're-tendereing' is probably the key word in the release and I sincerely hope that the development of the A&E at WRH will go ahead THIS time - unlike previous times.

So while I welcome the announcement - I am not yet holding my breath.

In Light of George Lee's Resignation

2010-02-08T14:42:00.002Z

In light of George Lee's resignation today I reprint an article I wrote last May asking 'Is Politics Broken'. I think Georges' experience gives a truth to what I thought then.

Politics is broken. I'm not talking about the tinkering around the edges, the numbers, the parties or even the corruption.

I'm talking about the seeming inability of elected politicians to be able to simply effect any change. That, after all is - or should be - why anyone goes into politics. I know there are some who go in for other reasons. Perhaps just because they can - maybe daddy passes them on a seat. Perhaps they like being in the spotlight. Perhaps they want to keep their party in power.

But most people I know go into politics because they believe they can make a difference. Make changes. And I don't think that's possible. Not where it matters anyway and thats in Dáil Éireann.

When TD's are running for election, they promise the world - and I guess maybe you have to on some level. But it must be the most frustrating thing to be a TD; to have promised the world; to believe in change; to want to deliver for your community.....only to be faced with a system that absolutely doesn't allow it. Not for the Opposition TDs. Not for back-benchers. Probably not even to any great extent for Ministers.

There is no way for TD's to individually make their mark, move their ideas or initiate any meaningful changes. Whether the party system has stifled it or it was ever there in the first place I don't know but it is broken and it needs fixing.

People need to have confidence that the TDs and the system that we are working under can reflect the changes that we as a society want. At the moment, the Dáil is an irrelevance - a circus sideshow not worth the time it takes to sit in the chamber (obvioused by the fact that so few bother to do so anyway).

It must be soul-destroying being so powerless in the most powerful - in theory - position in the land. No wonder TD's spend their time hoovering up local authority type requests - because they're the only thing they can actually deliver on - even though they've left the local authorities behind. It's why they run clinics. Because although they have a mandate to operate at national level - where are the mechanisms? Where can TD's initiate legislation or have it debated? Where can a single TD really engage with the public?

A real hard look needs to be taken at how the Dáil operates. It needs to become more relevant and flexible. It needs to give power to the people to whom the electorate have given power - the TD's and not just the 15 or so at the cabinet table. If TD's were actually able to make meaningful changes at national level I would hazard a guess that it wouldn't be long before they started getting their teeth into it (at least the ones who are in it to deliver change) and working on those national issues. I mean who would want to keep sorting out pot-holes when you can deliver on the big issues?

At local level, all elected Councillors - notwithstanding the odd inter-party clash - tend to work together on issues to deliver important things for their City or County or town. Why can not the Dáil or indeed the European Union operate like this? Why do Irish MEPs split up into different groupings in the EU and work against each other? Why are they not all on the same side? Why can TD's not initiate legislation on a cross party basis or even individually. Why can the Dáil not do 'what it says on the tin'? In extra-ordinary times, extra-ordinary measures are called for and choosing to go on in the same old way that we always have done is simply not good enough any more.

TD's need to work in a stimulating environment that is conducive to them being able to simply effect real change. Unless and until that happens, people will continue to be cynical and bored and disdainful of politics and politicians. And politicians will continue to be bored and un-inspired themselves.

Something needs to change and I would argue that it should be changed from within now, before its too late. TDs need to be allowed to work in the best interests of Ireland and the people who elect them and not merely serve as voting fodder in bewteen each election. They should all be required to deliver and the system should be changed to make sure that they do - and not the other way around as it seems to be at the moment.

Seafaring Festival Launched Today

2010-02-04T22:02:00.003Z

I was delighted to be at the launch of a fun sounding new festival for Waterford City this evening in the Theatre Royal. The Waterford Seafaring Festival of Music & Song, the brainchild of our local sea shanty group Hooks & Crookes (pitured above singing at the event today), will run from May 28th-30th next in venues all around the city.

It should be mighty craic. Check out their website on www.hooksandcrookes.com for more details.

Could this be yet another beginning of good things happening in Waterford? There seems to me to be an air of almost general optimism permeating the city at the moment. Could it be true or am I mad?

And Speaking Of Better Days - WWRD & WIT

2010-01-25T17:23:00.005Z

I'm sure that everyone in Waterford will have felt a warm glow when the news was 'officially' announced today in Dublin by Waterford City Council and WWRD Holdings Ltd, that Waterford Crystal will once again be manufactured in the City from this summer in the old ESB buildings on The Mall. You can see an artists impression above - and really fantastic it looks.

We sincerely hope, in the City Council that this project will kick start a rejuvenation of Waterford and the beginning of a new era of confidence. We hope that The Mall and Viking Triangle areas from Bolton Street to High Street will see and feel immediate benefits and that these will ripple out into the wider city - and indeed the psyche of Waterford.

We in Waterford have suffered a number of severe blows in recent times without doubt. And in fact there are still issues that need not to be forgotten about and fought for - like the pensions of those Waterford Crystal workers. But that does not belie the fact that, if we take it, we are on the cusp of an era of new opportunity in Waterford.

The final piece of the jigsaw for me and for many others would be the delivery - and soon - of University designation for WIT.

WIT is operating in my opinion (and the opinions of many others) at a higher level already, than some of the Universities in this state. It simply cannot be made to suffer an artificial distinction any longer. Once again I am calling on the Minister for Education - a man who is not afraid to make decisions - to designate Waterford Institute of Technology as a University without delay. This will ensure that Waterford and the South East will play a huge part in delivering the recovery of Ireland plc. This we guarantee!

Short of this - and heading into yet another year (is it four years now?) since we submitted our application for University designation, it was very interesting to read in the Sunday papers yesterday that one Michael Lowry TD has announced that he has 'saved' Tipperary Institute'. The Independent TD assured the Government that he would withdraw his support for them if there was any threat to carry out the recommendation of the McCarthy Report and decommission TI which is in the heart of his constituency!!!

Now I wonder if Martin Cullen (whose own colleagues - according to himself only last week - deserted him in varying degree when he was put through the ringer in the media in relation to those lies recently) or Brendan Kenneally were reading that story? And I wonder if they would consider putting the Government under the same pressure for WIT in their constituency?

Now that's something I'd personally love to see. And obviously, it works. Tipperary Institute is to be merged with Limerick Institute of Technology and its' (huge) budget is to remain untouched (according to Mr Lowry anyway). Good luck to them!

But I want to end on a positive note for Waterford. Congratulations to WWRD and KPS for their decision to stick with and invest in Waterford City and to continue to manufacture crystal here. I think it will prove a very positive decision indeed for everyone. The potential is there for the manufacturing facility to get bigger - and for the city to capitalise on the incomparable brand that Waterford Crystal is. Today is a good day!

Sad Day - Better To Come

2010-01-22T17:26:00.003Z

It's a sad day today. Mark it in your diary. Today, Friday January 22nd 2010 is the last day of Waterford Crystal as we currently know it. Today the showrooms and shop at Kilbarry close their doors for the last time. Those chandeliers will be turned off and dismantled. The crystal grandfather clock will be packed away. The staff will lock the doors to the public.

Good luck to all who sailed the good ship Waterford Crystal. Hopefully it won't be too long before she is refloated in calmer waters on The Mall in the City and she can once again raise the colours proudly as Waterfords' most famous and beloved flagship tourism offering.

That day cannot come too fast. It's a sad day indeed. But not one without hope. It could have been a whole lot worse. So here's to the future of Waterford Crystal. Here's to the staff who worked long and hard in the factory. I hope that they too will find ways to beat this gloom and to go from strength to strength in their own lives. Please God.

Sinn Féin & the Allegations Keep Coming

2010-01-17T18:39:00.002Z

If the stories as printed today in the Sunday Tribune concerning Gerry Adams and his knowledge of at least two other cases of rape and abuse by prominent Sinn Féin members are true, then he is finished. As he should be.

The stories are hard to read with some graphic and horrific detail of what a ten-year old girl went through. The Sunday Tribune claims to have seen and verified documentation from medical and other sources that seem to back up her claims.

What the hell is going on? How can ordinary decent members of SF continue to defend the indefensible? I have written before that this country is in a catharsis. That extends north of the border too it would seem.

Please, Mr Adams. If there is a modicum of truth that you knew these things about members of your party you and did nothing, then you must resign.

God help those poor women. They will need all the strength they can muster to break this wall of silence that they have encountered and to get justice for themselves and to protect other children from their terrible fate.

To be PC or un-PC???? That is the Question!

2010-01-15T11:21:00.003Z

Okay, I did it: I called people who piddle in peoples doorways 'gobshites'! For that indeed is what they are. I have been an elected representative on Waterford City Council for over a decade now and, to my memory, have not used what is termed 'unparliamentary language' before. In fact, even now I contend that the term I used would be on the tame end of the scale.

But is it OK to use unparliamentary language ever? Well, IMHO, yes it is - when occasion demands. I challenge anyone who has witnessed the evidence accumulated by the residents of the Ballytruckle Road, who have had to put up with this type of activity for years, to come up with a more apt term for those who perpetrated it!

We have become a very Politically Correct society. We tend to not call a spade a spade any more! We don't name it - and we don't punish it. We don't punish low level nuisance - which is only low-level by the way, if it's not being peed in through your own letterbox! So we call it anti-social behaviour carried out by 'some young people'. Now technically correct as that is, it excites none of the outrage in us, that we should rightly feel when the actual activity is named.

Perhaps bringing back a little bit of passion into politics would be no bad thing. On the whole I have received a very positive reaction from the public since my contribution was broadcast by WLRfm on Wednesday last. I am happy to say that the robust, passionate and common sense people of Waterford are not going to pretend that they are actually offended by the use of such a term, or that they have never heard it before - or indeed used it? Fair play to them.

Maybe a little bit more calling a spade and spade might be good for this country. Maybe then people might actually go out there and understand what is happening to us as a nation and then we could start to change it.

As for my my use of unparliamentary language; am I sorry? Yes, if I caused offence. Will I be using it again......only if absolutely necessary.

More Tourism Potential

2010-01-11T15:13:00.004Z

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!

Opportunity to Tap Into Diaspora for Waterford?

2010-01-09T20:01:00.004Z

Of late, what with the quiet Christmas period and the icy roads, I have been spending some time searching through the 1911 Census of Ireland which is online and very easily searchable. Firstly, it is a fascinating thing to see your ancestors hand-writing, signatures, occupations, infirmities, relations, addresses, living details, literacy etc. all detailed in black and white. And if nothing else it certainly confirms how much of a mere link in a chain we all are.

Above is a part of the census return that I found for my maternal grandfather, William Walshe, who lived at the time (April 1911) aged just three in 2 Manor Street (The Manor House), now Peigs, with his parents and brothers and sisters. He was the baby of the family. But of even more interest is that after seeing this and asking my mum some questions, with the help of Facebook I have now tracked down and made contact with what I can only describe as an entire arm of the family across in the Southern United States, to where my Grandfathers elder brother Laurence emigrated during the '60's and with whom, by and large we had lost contact! There are first and second cousins out there in South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and more places, many of whom I interact with daily now thanks to technology! There are still many more to find and it is a most interesting an gratifying task!

Many, of course, express a desire to visit Ireland one day. Therein lies a huge opportunity. With the development later this year of the new manufacturing and visitor centre for Waterford Crystal right in the heart of our city, I believe a demand exists for a Museum of the Diaspora. Waterford Crystal, marketed the right way, would certainly be amongst the most visited of Irish attractions by 'foreign' tourists - as opposed to say tourist attractions like Dublin Zoo, which is mostly visited by Irish 'tourists'. Certainly as far as American tourists are concerned this would be the case. Surely the opportunity exists to capitalise on their visits here, with a museum where they could search out and discover their family histories?

The museum could detail the Irish Diaspora all over the world, from Argentina to Australia, Newfoundland to New Guinea and would, I'm convinced, be a major attraction for visitors - and indeed Irish people, to visit for research, information, just for fun or to get started on your family tree. Searching out your ancestors has never been more popular - with the advent of TV programmes such as 'Who Do You Think You Are?'

I could envisage this type of Museum - although museum is probably not the right word - being extremely popular. A major part of the attraction could also detail the many amongst the Irish Diaspora who have achieved high honour in their adopted Country. Think of American Presidents, for example. There would be a plethora of material for this type of project and it could be tailored to attract people from, quite literally, all over the world.

And with a huge number of tourists already coming into Waterford to visit Waterford Crystal, this project - or a similar one - could really underpin our importance on the visitor itinerary.

Perhaps this is the type of project that someone in the private sector might see as presenting opportunities? I am sure that there would be support at a National level for this type of venture - particularly if private investment were forthcoming. I am aware that City resources are already stretched and committed to delivering the crystal and other facilities.

I have said it before and I say it again. I entreat the private sector to come on board and support and even piggy-back on the initiative that the City Council is delivering with the development of the new Waterford Crystal manufacturing and visitor centre on The Mall.

If we don't capitalise on that opportunity and those presented by new motorways etc., to develop new industry and opportunity, then more's the pity for us. And tourism is one hell of an industry. Waterford has much more to offer. Why not develop it?

Batten Down The Hatches

2010-01-09T12:22:00.002Z

With this kind of forescast (from the BBC) it may just be time to get in some staples and batten down the hathes folks! If this doesn't happen at this stage - my kids for a start will be sorely dissappointed! If it does - watch out for your neighbours.

A Trip to A&E at Waterford Regional Hospital

2010-01-07T18:25:00.004Z

I ended up in A&E on Monday night last with my 2 year old (pictured above but who is fine now thankfully) and I have to say that we received a really great service. I clocked into the car park at exactly 21.12 and clocked out again, all done, at exactly 22.12.

The A&E unit was fairly busy, although not overrun but we were seen very quickly and she was dealt with and sent home in what I thought was double quick time. So no problems there - and in fact no problems at all with the people or the service.

I do though, think that the A&E department in WRH is woefully inadequate. It is small, cramped and the toilet facilities are abysmal. WRH is, seemingly, one of the busiest A&E units in the Country but it has obviously seen no investment at all for many a long year. I have been going up there for quite some time now - since my eldest was a baby - and she's 16 now. There certainly has been no change (except for the addition of a hot drinks vending machine) in that time.

This is quite unacceptable. The single male and single female toilets enter directly from the waiting area - can this be hygienic, or indeed suitably private for people? I have been waiting in that A&E unit - not this time I hasten to add - when the toilets have been completely backed up and unusable. The seating area is very small and certainly offers no comfort.

In fact the hot drinks vending machine is probably not even a good idea in one sense. The last time I attended there was a very obviously drunk girl also waiting for treatment. She decided to get herself a cup of what turned out to be very hot soup from the machine and promptly proceeded to spill it all over the place, narrowly missing a waiting elderly patient! In fact, in my opinion, people who are excessively drunk should have a separate waiting area as they can pose a danger to themselves and to others!

So top marks for the service - but almost bottom marks for the physical layout. There has been the promise of a new A&E unit for some time now. When can we expect to see that delivered? I have ogled at the shots of beautiful A&E departments in other (less busy) hospitals featured on the news lately, as they detail the increases in fractures etc. as a result of the ice and snow. Waterfords' turn is surely past when a new A&E unit should have been delivered. Why have feet been dragged on this issue for so long and when will we have a new department in Waterford. With the exceptional results that the A&E in Waterford turn out time after time, it's the very least the patients, and importantly, the staff deserve.

Another feature I didn't like was the €100 bill that arrived in my door for the visit within 36 hours. In this day and age I think it is a travesty to be charging people for access to an A&E unit. It would be very interesting to know if the charge has decreased the amount of people attending at A&E - and if it has, why? Are people who really should attend, deciding not to because they can't afford it? I suspect this might be one factor. At the very very least, children and the elderly should be able to attend free. (Drunk people should be charged double!)

And while I'm in the general area of health, surely a factor in the increase in procedures that the VHI is claiming as causing them the increase their prices yet again - this time by a whopping 8% in a time of national deflation - must be the proliferation of private hospitals and the Consultants in those hospitals recommending people to have what are often, in my opinion, unnecessary procedures - in their own hospitals, in which many of them have an interest! Many of those hospitals are as yet, still making losses - but as the procedures increase, so too will the profits. Surely, this has to be a contributory factor? Well? Anyone?

Welcome to 2010

2010-01-03T20:02:00.002Z

Apologies for not blogging for so long. I have been vegging out since before Christmas (well, except for the dinners, visitors, children, blah blah and all the rest of it). Here's to 2010. She is a welcome change to last year. A new year. A new decade. She holds a lot of promise. Lets hope she delivers!

I was shocked and saddened to hear, over Christmas, about Brian Lenihans' illness. I hope for him and his families sake that things are not as bad as has been made out in the media in the last week. The Brian show is the only show in town at the moment and the sooner it can be rolled out and we see if its going to work or not, the better!

Today I read with horror, a piece in the Sunday Tribune about the release next summer of one Larry Murphy who, they termed 'Ireland's only suspected serial killer' - a guy who was found by two hunters attempting to suffocate a woman in the Wicklow Mountains, after repeatedly raping her - who is also suspected of the deaths of at least 3 other women including Jojo Dullard.

Mr Murphy was sentenced in 2000 to 15 years in jail for that crime. Now the first question that begs is, why is he being released having served only 10 years?

Secondly, the Gardaí believe that this guy is such a threat to women that they (according to the Trib) have 'decided to post between 24 and 32 undercover officers' to follow him for an indefinite period'. I find this kind of thing very difficult to understand. Not the Garda decision to watch him like a hawk, but our states refusal that a life sentence should be just that - a life sentence. Why should this guy get his freedom again? And why should the Gardaí have to allocate these kind of resources to him? And why should women in County Carlow - where he intends to reside - or beyond that have to live with this man in their community?

I have said it before and I say it again that when it comes to crimes like the one this man was convicted of, or indeed paedophiles I have no compunction in saying that I believe they should be locked up - at the very least - for life.

We know enough to know that these kind of crimes are perpetrated by those with a very high risk of re-offending. Why do we impose those risks on our sisters, daughters, children? Surely they have more rights than criminals? But alas, it seems they do not.

Perhaps in 2010 we can actually grow up in this country and start concentrating on things that are important. Get our house in order. I'm certainly not a 'lock em and leave em' advocate, in the main. But for these types of crimes, I certainly am. How many women/children/people have been hurt, raped or abused or even murdered by people with a track record? By people who are on bail? By people who have criminal convictions of a similar nature? And why should we have to have people like Larry Murphy in our midst?

He's not co-operating with Gardaí by the way, on those other crimes of which he is suspected. So. Does he get away with them then? Either way, the crime for which he was tried and convicted deserved a life sentence. He got 15 years. Why is he at least, not serving that?

Two Nights Before Christmas

2009-12-23T21:05:00.004Z

'Tis two nights before Christmas and all thru the land

We're all realising 'twas all built on sand

The TD's have run for the country like hares

The bankers all hope we'll forget their affairs

The Churchmen are cowering in the corner in fright

Like that proverbial rabbit, caught in the light

The judges are sitting on top of their loot

Consultants are too - they don't give hoot

About those down the ladder - perhaps the first rung

Who are scrimping and scraping, not having much fun

But hurrah say the lads in their nice pin-striped jackets

Why are those poor making such a big racket?

We're okay with our bonuses which we rightly deserve

And the poor pointing at us have got quite a nerve

To those men and those women as rich as Croesus

Might be worth remembering the words of one Jesus

As you rich men barter or rich women wheedle

Ponder if you will, the eye of a needle

Can a camel pass thru it in a year or say, seven?

That's how easy it is for you to get to heaven

Perhaps as we think on this cold Christmas season

Our country will come back from the brink into reason

And to try figure out as a new decade dawns

If life's about bathrooms and holiday homes?

On a hushed Christmas night as we look at the stars

And ask ourselves exactly who it is that we are

Look around you and see, in the light from above

That the message of Christmas is all about love

For ourselves and our families, our neighbours and friends

And even for those who drive us round the bend

And maybe next year we'll see more in our community

Than a consumer or a sponger or a selling opportunity.

Merry Christmas to all my family, friends, supporters and readers. My humblest apologies for this bad poetry offering. But every now and then there's nothing I like more than a bit of ould rhymin' Call it my Christmas indulgence! Hope your Christmas is peaceful and fun and that 2010 brings everything good for you and yours. God bless. Mary.

What a Week

2009-12-20T16:57:00.004Z

A sexual abuser in Listowel is lionised by some of his local community; a Waterford family are turfed out of their home by a sub-prime lender; four Bishops still won't do the right thing; the poor are being made to pay to bail out the banks; a priest child abuser gets just 2 years in jail..... What kind of a twisted country are we living in at all?

How many of Mr Foley's supporters down in Kerry have been the victim of a rape? Including the parish priest who said he was always respectful of women?

Which banker (imagine Stepstone is partly owned by Lehman Brothers and KBC) has lost their home in the weeks before Christmas with a 17 year old special needs child, in the same week that they lost that glorious and brave 4.1% off their carers allowance and job seekers allowance, in the same year that they lost their jobs and their pension scheme were found to be insolvent leaving them with nothing?

Who, among the international cheerleaders for our Finance minister Brian Lenihan for his 'courage' in taking the right decisions by cutting 4.1% from the poorest and lowest paid, is living on €200 a week?

What planet is the judge who convicted a priest of abusing a child and sentencing him to 2 years in jail (plus one year suspended) living on, that he thinks this is a fair punishment?

This country has got its' priorities all mixed up. The bankers should be in jail; the poor should be protected; the rich should pay their fare share; the abusers should go to hell and we should all get our act together. Right is not right anymore: wrong is right and its okay for rich people sitting in their penthouse apartments to spit on the little people. Not the way things should be I'm afraid.

At a time when we need Christian principles more than ever - where are they? With the Catholic Church, in the grave I'm afraid.

A Century of Trade & Enterprise in Waterford

2009-12-08T21:57:00.004Z

An uncle of mine, Bill Irish and his colleague Andrew Kelly kindly asked me to launch a book for them last Saturday entitled 'A Century of Trade & Enterprise in Waterford'.

The book is a photographic essay of work and workers in Waterford City & County from the 1880's through to the 1980's and there are some fantastic images of industrial life in the city.

From the opening of the first motor garage in Ireland in 1906 on Catherine Street (Chapter 1) to the first ever scheduled Ryanair passenger flight (page 26) in 1985 - many people forget that Ryanair started in Waterford! - and even including a photograph of a Grand-uncle of mine, one Paddy Roche who was a foreman in the Foundry (page 94) who is pictured next to the first Rayburn cooker made there in the 1950's - there is sure to be much in this book to amuse and intrigue anyone with even a passing interest in Waterford.

For those of us who love Waterford it is a veritable treasure trove to be poured over. I particularly like the photographs of The Quays, with the sailing ships berthed along her entire length as well as the ones of the faces of those good citizens who have gone before us going about their everyday business. You have to check out the women selling apples in The Applemarket (where else) on page 72 with their 'dudeens'! There are stories in those faces.

I've always been a fan of WLR fms resident 'On This Day' historian Julian Walton and I always remember him saying that he was of the opinion that people shouldn't be able to collect their pensions until they wrote down their life stories! He was jesting of course but he had a point. Every day we lose people, and their history and story goes with them. How great it would be to have a record of the lives and struggles of those who went before us and who, essentially, made us what we are. This book certainly tells part of those stories.

Anyway, Bill and Andys' book is now launched and is on sale in the Granary, the Book Centre, Ardkeen Stores, and Supervalu Tramore (great photo's of the cockle women and more from Tramore) for a mere €15. It would make a lovely gift for Waterford people at home an away.

Thanks to the Waterford Civic Trust (Chairman Padraig O'Griofa pictured above on the right with myself and the two authors) for their support in publishing the book. And the best of luck to Bill and Andy with this project and the many more I know they will produce in time.

An Bord Pleanala and those Out-Of-Town Developments

2009-12-08T20:22:00.006Z

In light of recent issues and decisions facing Waterford City Council, I note with interest a number of refusals from An Bord Pleanala in recent months which clearly underpin Waterfords' strategy of ensuring the primacy of the city centre core shopping area.

The first is the recent decision taken by ABP to refuse a large retail proposal on the old Mart site outside Kilkenny on the basis (amongst other things) that it could adversely affect the vitality and vibrancy on the core retail area of the town centre! Interestingly, the initial application had also been refused by Kilkenny Borough Council - although merely on the basis of traffic impact.

Along the same lines in another decision - last July - the Bord also refused permission for a large extension to The Crescent Shopping Centre outside Limerick city - which was being built in part to accommodate and new Marks & Spencer (ring any bells?). The reason for the refusal was similar - the threat to the core shopping centre of Limerick city.

These two decisions set out clearly that national policy is now being strictly implemented and that An Bord Pleanala is insisting that Councils follow the Regional Planning Guidelines for Shopping which are strongly in favour of protecting and developing core City Centre shopping.

One can only hope that these recent decisions will inform the elected members and those in the planning departments of our neighbouring authorities who are doing everything in their power to undermine the retail core our our city for their own benefit, with no regard to the impact of those decisions on Waterfords' core shopping area. (Perhaps the enormous, still empty shopping centre on the outskirts of the city in Ferrybank will be lesson enough.)

This is a clear message to those who have been lobbying hard to try and get Waterford City Council to contravene this policy. Wasting any more time on this strategy is merely that - a waste. I would now urge and encourage those companies to look again at city centre developments which can and will cater to their requirements. That way, we are all winners. We sincerely want as much retail development as possible in the heart of Waterford - the Zara's, the HMV's, the M&S's - you name it. But it is essential that they locate in the city centre.

It is now obvious that this policy has national backing so roll on the new developments!

I also note and welcome that the Lismore Residents Association have withdrawn their objection to the further development of WITs' Cork Road Campus.

Church Response to Murphy Report

2009-12-01T15:23:00.002Z

I wrote here a few days ago about the Murphy report and finished on a note about atonement. It now appears that 'the church' as an institution has no intention of atoning for the terrible sins it vested on the faithful and their children. I am not even talking in this instance about the actual abuse itself. I am talking about the church, at best ignoring and at worst, facilitating that child abuse through the actions of the Bishops.

We have all known about the abuse for some time now, and not to lessen that at all but the Murphy report was more about the Churches role both in not stopping child abusers and in allowing those abusers continue to abuse by moving them on from parish to parish with their reputations intact, directly causing the abuse of many many more children.

The Church is going to have to make a fundamental change in its governance and transparency and it is, quite simply going to have to carry out a purge of those who allowed - and may still carry the culture of denial of child abuse with them in their current roles.

The institutional church - the higher it goes, the more it has left everyone down. The culture of the Bishops closing ranks - and even daring to suggest a witch hunt against them - is very disappointing. The total silence of the Vatican is unbelievable.

Perhaps it is time that the real church - the lay people demanded and took (for it seems they will not be given) ownership of their church from those Bishops - who feel, let us be under no illusions that it is okay to lie to us - or as they call it 'mental reservation'!

I say all this in the context of acknowledging the many members of the church, the many priests, brothers and Bishops who are sickened by all of this and who are flabbergasted by the silence that is emanating from their superiors.

Unless there is real visible change in the institutional church then no good will have come from this whole exercise. I'm afraid throwing your hands in the air and crying mea culpa just doesn't cut it any more. Words are too easy. Actions are what is needed. Personal responsibility is what is needed. Change is what is demanded.

Otherwise what is left of the flock will soon bypass the Roman Catholic institution and channel their Christian faith through their own personal routes. Maybe that would be the best thing at this stage?

Penneys Re-opening Very Welcome

2009-11-30T11:32:00.003Z

The re-opening of Penneys this morning has provided a welcome boost to shopping in the City Centre in advance of Christmas. If the crowds there this morning are anything to go by then the new store wll prove extremely popular and a great draw into Barronstrand Street.

The new store is really nice, with lovely architectural and acheological touches in the main floor downstairs and on the first floor. Not like any Penneys that I have ever seen to date.

The selection is also huge and spread as it is over two floors allows much more of Penneys products to be on sale.

I really welcome Penneys opening this morning, just in time for Christmas. It will absolutely prove a big draw into the city and no doubt many other premises will also feel the benefit. Hopefully this is the beginning of a regeneration of the City Centre and I congratulate Penneys and wish them well for the future.

I also welcome the return of the gorgeous carousel (pictured above) which proved such a hit last year. No doubt that, the lights and the weekend market will add to the festive atmosphere. Bring on the shoppers!

Suicide Levels & Help Services Must Be Tackled

2009-11-29T18:40:00.003Z

If the amount of people that are dying by suicide were happening through any other method, the whole country would be up in arms. If a foreign power had come to our shores and were killing over 600 people a year - there would be an international outcry. Look at the re-action to the swine-flu pandemic - and even at its' worst, the numbers who are expected to lose their lives come nowhere near the numbers who are currently dying by suicide. Something has got to be done.

I have read with despair in todays' Sunday newspapers the stories of several very very young people - as young as 12 years old - who have chosen suicide in the last few weeks and months. Yet it continues to be ignored as a problem at National level. We have to tackle this issue head on if we don't want to lose increasing numbers of young people and indeed - people of all ages.

Perhaps there is a sentiment at official level that suicide is such a personal issue that no national strategies could reduce it. This is a fallacy. There is an awful lot that could and should be done to lower the numbers of those who are opting for suicide. Many in our communities have been voices in the wilderness for a long time now pleading for something to be done, but they remain just that: voices in the wilderness. There seems to be no imperative to tackle suicide. Better roads and rules reduces road deaths: what solutions or rules could reduce suicide?

Well I'm no expert but I do have limited insight having been involved with Waterford Area Partnership and their efforts to draw up and implement a suicide prevention strategy for the city with partner agencies. I Chaired, as part of that process, a public meeting, where a surprisingly large and vocal and much more informed than me turnout detailed with searing honesty, the short-comings in the current system and how it might be improved.

One way that stood out in my mind (and I'm para-phrasing) would be for many in the psychiatric services to come out of the dark-ages and start offering a real service to their clients. Story after story detailed the deficiencies in the service provided by many so-called professionals. Many seemed content to medicate constantly with no hope of improvement in their clients mental health and many were also completely opposed to any other form of treatment. Several of those in attendance detailed how their psychiatrists insisted that if their patients sought any other form of (complimentary) treatment, say perhaps counselling, that they were told they needn't bother coming back! There was a litany of short-comings detailed - most specifically at the HSE.

In fairness, staff from the HSE Suicide Prevention Office attended that night and listened and one can only hope that the message was unequivocally brought back to those seemingly high and mighty professionals who were so excoriated by those for whom they were quite simply not providing a good, effective or even adequate service.

This is not even to go into details of out-of-hours services that should be available or services specific to certain vulnerable groups such as, say teenagers.

Suicide, is without doubt a most difficult area. It needs to be spoken about but not in such a way as to promote it. People who have taken their own lives by suicide need to be remembered and celebrated - without celebrating their choice to die by suicide. It is an area riven with risks and sensitivities.

My heart goes out to the many people, families and caring doctors and professionals who try their best, in a very difficult area, to do the best they can. But as a society we need to deal with this issue. We need the government to prioritise investment in suicide prevention. We need the HSE to ensure that their professionals are constantly provided with training and support in the most appropriate and up-to-date methods of treating people. We need openness and accountability in a very hidden and sad area. We need to throw light into this dark corner.

The one thing we cannot do, is turn a blind eye when 12 year olds are taking their own lives. The one thing we cannot do is believe that there is nothing we can do. We cannot allow people to think that they are not the most valuable things we have in our society - despite debts, mental illness, stress, depression, bullying or any of the many things that can push people over the edge.

If there's one thing that last weeks floods have shown us, it is that a sense of neighbourliness, of caring and of community is not too far under the surface in Ireland. I hope that now that those things have been re-awakened in us, we won't wait until the next disaster to put them into action again.

I hope that that we, as a society, will continue to offer that helping hand to our neighbour and will help to re-build our society with the foundations that really matter. Not money and property. But people and community.

Dublin Archdiocese Report

2009-11-26T14:39:00.003Z

More terrible, devastating revelations today in the Murphy Report into the cover up by the Dublin Diocese of child abuse. It is almost impossible to comprehend how little the church cared about what happened to hundreds of innocent children.

They did, it seems, everything they could to protect the abusers and discredit, ostracise and ignore the children and their families. In fairness, all credit goes to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin for finally and completely coming clean on the issue and offering unhindered access to their files.

I do feel sorry for the many good men and women in the church who have been tangled up in this most awful scandal. But, if anyone has let them down, it is their own church, who by their inaction - or worse, their action in merely moving on accused priests - have exposed them to accusation by association.

It seems that the church was either incapable or just wasn't prepared to understand the despicable crime that child abuse is, and the effect it can have on victims lives. Another, perhaps unintended consequence of priests living solitary lives where they are excluded from having and thereby understanding any close relationships.

It has always been my opinion that it is not a healthy way or even a natural way for a man to be forced to live. As a result of having no close relationships many can not understand what it is like either for the abused or for their parents. If you don't care deeply about, not just people in general, but some specific loved ones, how can you relate to people in a situation that is completely alien and detached from you?

Not only the church, but also state authorities were complicit. I am not convinced that the structures are in place even today to protect children although I think the Gardaí are fantastic now in these cases and pursue cases without fear or favour. How much better though, to have systems in place to protect children, than having to go investigating after the fact. The damage has been done at that stage.

It is heart-breaking to think how many lives and families have been broken or destroyed. The country is coming through a catharsis on many fronts but this one is surely the most devastating. We have had the hands in the air fronts the churches and, we think, the remorse. Now for the atonement.

That Cheating Hand

2009-11-23T17:10:00.002Z

It is a pretty bitter pill to swallow, being knocked out of the World Cup Finals by 'le main de frog' as it has become known. Now I know and have heard all the arguments from 'get over it' by Roy Keane (I mean hello? Pot - kettle and all that!) to 'we should have won in previous games', from however many pundits you care to name.

But whatever about all those discussions which will go on for many years I suspect: it does not change the fact that France won through cheating. Now every other governing body of sport that I can think of goes out of its' way to both eliminate the chances of cheating, to even rescinding previous awards to cheats - however deliberate or accidental that cheating is judged to be.

Think of the Olympics - where medals are regularly recalled and records erased - even years later, if it is proven that they were achieved through fraudulent means. And rugby - where even after a game, a player can be 'cited' for unsportsmanlike behaviour on the pitch.

It seems that FIFA is the only one prepared to allow blatant and open cheating and to reward same. In my opinion, world soccer has been delivered a fairly dangerous blow by 'henry-gate'. I, for one, now have no faith whatsoever in either their objectivity (the dogs on the street know they wanted France to win) or their commitment to 'fair play'. It has all be proven to be a pack of lies. All front with no determination to implement any of their fine words, once the result suits them.

And, to be honest, my seven year old son has no faith in them either. He can't understand how the goal - and the subsequent result - can be allowed to stand. You know how self-righteous seven year olds can be. Life can be fairly back and white for them. Normally I try to enlighten him than life is sometimes not fair. But when its so unfair and so obvious that the 'bad guy' has won, I find it very hard to explain to him why it should be ok to cheat - as long as you get away with it. In fact, I won't do it.

I have written an email to FIFA (falling on deaf ears, no doubt) but whatever they say: they are wrong. They have just written a Cheaters Charter and have no more moral authority with me - or my son!

Waterford Was Lucky - This Time!

2009-11-23T10:12:00.005Z

Above is a photo of a flooded Cork City and we have just seen a few days when large parts of the Country - parts which have never seen flooding in living memory - have been under dangerous levels of water. Congratulations are due to all those in the emergency services, local authorities, Gardaí, army and in the community who came to the aid of people who were stuck. I certainly don't remember anything of this severity in my lifetime.

Waterford was lucky - this time. The elements that conspire to flood our city were mercifully absent this time. Normally is takes a combination of things - a very high tide, excessive rain and a South Easterly gale - to cause flooding in Waterford. Thankfully not all of those were present but it is only a matter of time before they will be. I well remember the Quays in the City being under several feet of water as well as flooding in many other low lying areas.

The closing of just one stretch of the Inner Ring Road alone caused enough traffic mayhem.

Our flood defences are underway but will not be delivered in full for quite a number of years yet. The Quays are being worked on as we speak; the Waterside, all through the Park, out past Quinsworth in Poleberry, as far as and including the Tramore Road are all due to commence and be completed in the next few years. But it will take time to complete it all. It is to be hoped that we will be spared a flood here in the intervening time but I wouldn't be confident about that.

I have to say that Padraig Walsh, the President of the IFA, made a lot of sense when he said that we have to go back to dredging the rivers and streams. These have been silting up for years now but due to 'environmental concerns' dredging is almost never carried out anymore. As a result the rivers and streams have become considerably shallower and not at all able to carry the water capacity that they once were.

Indeed I believe that even under the marinas in the City, the boats are now regularly sitting on the bottom in low tide and that many boats cannot berth at all on the inside of the marina due to the shallowness of the water. The seriousness of this situation has now become apparent and it is crucial that river management schemes are put in place to remove silt build up in rivers and streams - despite concerns about worms!

Yes some development has not helped but the sheer scale of what happened last week and the fact that places flooded which have never ever flooded before, points to other issues than simply building on flood plains.

The water from last week seems to be receding - although very slowly. For now. There can be no doubt but that there will be serious discomfort and millions upon millions of euro worth of damage left in its' wake.

The main thing though, is peoples' lives and personal safety and so far, thank God, there appears to have been no loss of life as a result of the floods. That, at least, is surely positive.

Banks Are The Real Winners

2009-11-22T13:08:00.004Z

The more you read about it the more you have to come to the conclusion that nothing has or will change in the banks. They have fought (and won) tooth and nail to place their own candidates into the most senior positions. I, for one, simply do not believe the line that they are peddling, about not being able to find external candidates. It is a pack of lies.

But what a ridiculous situation that those 'underlings' to the CEO's are now earning up into the €600,000's! My God, they are so not worth it. They made a bags of running the banks - and have all but bankrupted the Country into the bargain. And if we are to believe what we read, then the bonuses - and not the basic pay - are where bankers earn their real money - into the millions of Euro. Have these been eliminated or capped? Not to my knowledge. Aren't the banks being 'forced to pay them by law'? Poor darlings!

The culture of the banks remains strong. Their ethic (if that not a contradiction in terms) towards anything other than themselves, their bonuses and their balance sheets remains intact.

They have stifled economic development and the day-to-day running of business in this country. And they remain unpunished. They remain powerful. They continue to dictate their own terms of rescue. And one can't help but have the feeling that when this eventually passes, whatever is left in its' wake, will not have affected them one little bit.

They will soon (sure aren't things turning around globally in banking already) be back to their even bigger pay-packets, immoral bonuses and old 'screw everyone else' ways.

School Water Charges; School Books & Crests

2009-11-19T17:10:00.003Z

With so much doom and gloom and so many issues around, I suppose its' natural that some will get overlooked. One such issue is the subject of water charges in schools. According to EU law, all non-domestic water users (everyone except private residences) must pay the cost of the provision of clean water.

By and large, I think that's fair. Although when you think that it includes charities, hospitals and hospices, for example - perhaps there should be some distinction amongst non-domestic users.

By the way, the Government have agreed to pay the cost for domestic users - what would you say are the chances of that?

As mentioned up top, my problem is with schools at the moment. This directive has been in place for the past two years, since 2008, with schools paying €3.50 per pupil that year and €4.50 per pupil in 2009. However from 2010 schools will be liable for the full commercial cost and that will be substantially higher - many thousands of euro higher.

I am on the Board of Management of a local national school which has been classified as 'disadvantaged' and I can tell you our estimated usage cost for next year - for just HALF the year Jan-June - is €7,000! Now this is a staggering amount and I can say without fear that it is money that the school quite simply does not have. Full stop.

Now admittedly, the school I am talking about is an old one, in an old building, with old-fashioned water systems, installed when we still thought that the provision of clean water was free. Indeed, over a recent weekend we shut off the water for the entire school and still lost over 3,000 gallons! That's with the water turned off!

Assuming that the school is granted money under the summer works scheme for next year (ironically only announced a month ago even tbough this has been on the horizon for the last two years) which is for water conservation measures, then usage would hopefully come down but that still leaves us - and I'm sure, other schools - with this huge charge for the first six months of next year.

And you can be sure that the burden will ultimately fall back on already hard-pressed parents. It is too terrible to contemplate that perhaps we mightn't even be successful in our application for the summer works scheme which would mean a full year usage charge of around €14,000! Show me a primary school that has that kind of money swilling around in its' coffers!

The City Council set the rate but by law, we must pass on the full commercial cost, as directed by the Department of Environment. I will certainly be examining through the upcoming budget process if there is anything that can be done for schools but this issue is literally around the corner and coming at us very fast. It is being lost in all the other terrible things that are being contemplated as the moment but it is one that I believe Government must revisit.

Schools just cannot afford this charge - and neither, by and large, can parents who already contribute heavily to the cost of the running of the schools in our so-called free education system. I am calling on the Government to maintain the current charging regime of €4.50 per pupil, which is fair and manageable and still encourages water conservation.

On a related matter, I am also calling on all schools in the Waterford area to examine if there are any measures that they can take which would alleviate the financial burden on parents.

One such issue would be for schools to come together and decide on the books which they will use - and to stick with those books - same editions etc, for a long period of time (except in the case of curriculum change obviously). We should not be allowing the printing companies to dictate the amount of edition changes (and thereby purchases of new books) that parents must buy.

I recently threw out about €3-400 worth of Junior Cert books, all in good condition with the price tags still on them. There wasn't a book which cost less than €25! Some were considerably more. I was able to pass on just one single book to a relative! Schools can and should do something about this.

Another step schools could take to to sell school crests separately - thereby allowing parents to shop around for cheaper alternatives in jumpers etc. They also need to relax some rules about uniform. If the uniform consists of say, a grey skirt or pants and maybe a green jumper; any grey skirt/pants should do (within reason) along with any green jumper (with the crest sewn on).

We should all be working together in these tough times to help each other. Not fighting against each other. Schools, in my experience, do an excellent and most valuable job. A little determination and pragmatism would go a long way towards reducing the cost of sending a child to school.

Most people are experiencing some degree of pain at the moment. Some more than others. Schools need to realise this and make some practical changes to assist parents where they can.

Waterford Bright Ideas Campaign

2009-11-15T14:21:00.005Z

I must congratulate Liam Dunne and Cian Foley who, between them initiated and implemented a 'Bright Ideas' campaign through the Up The Déise website over the past few months. I have just finished reading a copy of the finished document which I picked up the Mayors office last week.

The ideas have been broken down into different categories: tourism; festivals, entertainment & sport; city presentation; business, retail & planning; education; environment and finally road infrastructure & traffic.

Some ideas are within the remit of the City Council (although not all) and should certainly be followed up on. I would suggest that the document should also be presented to the County Council as well as some other representative bodies like the Chamber of Commerce, Council of Trade Unions, Construction Industry Federation and indeed local TD's as some of the points suggested need to be changed at National level (rates deductions, allowing people on the dole to work etc.).

Overall it was a very positive document insofar as peoples' ultimate and deep concern for Waterford and for its' future is obvious.

I am happy to say that some issues which were raised are already being addressed. For example the commemoration of the Irish Flag and the move of Waterford Crystal into the ESB buildings next summer to name but two.

On the Waterford Crystal issue, it has to be said that the City Manager Michael Walsh has really, through his Trojan efforts on this project, saved the blushes of the government in my opinion. His efforts deserve mention and recognition. Waterford owes him a great debt on this one and in time, the huge impact that this decision will have for Waterford and for our potential will surely been seen.

Other issues in the document I personally found very interesting and I will certainly be following up on some in my capacity as a City Councillor and on the relevant committees on which I represent the citizens of this City.

The North Quays (pictured above showing a Tall Ship sailing past the huge, derelict hulk of the once imposing Ardree Hotel) featured heavily, as did WIT and its' continued struggle to achieve University Status.

One of the main things that I personally got from the document is the synergies that people feel could be created through links with other agencies/councils/bodies.

I, for one, certainly welcome the Bright Ideas document. It is great to see people putting their heads together for the benefit of our city and our community. The challenge is how to ensure that it isn't just left at that. Perhaps some kind of Farmleigh for Waterford might be a good next step to extrapolate a 'to do' list, get buy-in from the major players, and keep the momentum going to make Waterford a better place to live.

Strategy for Higher Education

2009-11-10T23:01:00.002Z

The Minister for Education & Science, Mr Batt O'Keeffe, has been saying all year that he is expecting the High Level Group on Higher Education Strategy to report to him before the end of this year. Will they? What will they say? Has the concession to the Green Party on fees upset the apple cart?

I've been having a look at the Higher Education Authority web-site www.hea.ie/ where all the submissions which have been made to that group are published both in full and in summary format. (The FUSE one is particularly good.)

There are a considerable number concerning WITs application to be designated as a University. Now more than ever we must not let this ball drop. In these straitened times when jobs are deserting the entire nation, that drop is being felt even more acutely in Waterford and the Southeast with the continued and accelerated haemorrage of jobs from our traditional sectors: manufacturing, construction & agriculture.

How long more does our city have to wait to get what is rightfully ours. How long more must we wait before we have have equity for our children and their children in this region?

How long more - having hurdled every obstacle to date - can we be denied what will so obviously allow us to contribute more to this small nation and her recovery?

Martin Cullen was rightfully proud of his achievement at the official opening of the magnificent new bridge and bypass recently. However it will be a hollow victory if all it is used for is to ferry away our youth, or our graduates or indeed, our jobs.

We have the infrastructure 90% in place and with the completion of the M9 next year (we hear) a huge challenge will be to ensure that a University is delivered. On the back of that delivery will follow investment, jobs, innovation, purchasing power, productivity and a better outlook for us all.

Surely these are noble aims to which we have a right to aspire. I look forward to the report of the High Level Group. It is frustrating to be so constantly thwarted when what we are aspiring to is so obviously the right thing, and our right.

But we must persevere and I hope and trust that the High Level Group will concur with all the Internationally renowned experts when they said that WIT is 'already operating at University level'.

So will we see the report before the end of the year? That's 52 days from today. I, for one, am counting.

Mattie McGrath TD and those Drink Driving Comments!

2009-10-29T20:51:00.010Z

Has Mattie McGrath (pictured above with the Taoiseach) been drinking I ask myself? I mean really? For anyone to make such a badly thought-out statement that drinking could actually be good for nervous drivers! Is this man be serious?

Aside from Fianna Fáil delivering this country into ruin; aside from closing childrens operating theatres: aside from all of that - this is the issue that Fianna Fáil back benchers choose to revolt on?

There is so much wrong with this whole argument that I scarcely know where to begin and I have to say that I am totally behind Noel Dempsey on this one.

This whole rural argument thing is getting ridiculous: what's wrong with rural farmers, who, Mr McGrath tells us have NO friends or neighbours in the world to speak of that they could share a lift with, heading down to the pub (his only social outlet on the planet and without which - if you follow the logic to its' illogical conclusion - said Farmer/rural dwellers life would cease to have any meaning) for a non-alcoholic beverage? Say a pot of tea, or a pint of rock-shandy? Same company. Same venue. No deathly alcohol influence on the drive home! No pedestrian left dead because of a swerve. No driver left paralysed because of impaired co-ordination.

There are scientific, validated tests demonstrating the effect that just one pint has on the average drivers behaviour. I have seen them. I was a member of the National Safety Council, the fore-runner of the RSA for many years and that committee did much work educating the public as to the dangers of drink driving.

The bottom line is that if people want to drink alcohol, they should not drive. And if they want to drive they should not drink alcohol. Is this cruel? Not if you are one of the many many families who have lost loved ones either through being the victim of a drink driver or through drinking and driving themselves. The sad fact is that drinking and driving causes death. After just one drink you are many times more likely to be involved in an accident than you are without any alcohol. FACT.

We have acknowledged for many years that we in this country have a very warped relationship with alcohol. We need to grow up. No-one is saying not to be social. No-one is even saying not to go to the local pub. Just plan not to drink and drive. That's all.

Will the family who lose their daughter, or uncle, or grandfather - directly as a result of someone who had just the one, killing or injuring them - think it's okay? Will they thank Mattie McGrath and his followers? Or will they think that perhaps it might have been worth the self-control of abstaining from that one pint? I think so.

Yes there are other problems and issues that need to be dealt with. But none of them take away from the fact that this one also needs to be dealt with.

This isn't make believe. Real people die as a result of drivers who have had just one drink. But that must be a price that Mattie McGrath thinks is worth paying.

I do not.

N25 Waterford City Bypass Opened Today

2009-10-19T15:34:00.003+01:00

It was a great (but very very cold) experience to be out at the new N25 Waterford City Bypass opening earlier today. There was a good turnout from the City, County and from Kilkenny to do the official nicities and I must say that all spoke very well.

Credit where credit is due though and I think its' fair to say that if Martin Cullen hadn't been Minister for Transport at the time, we might still be waiting for this particular piece of infrastructrure and indeed the new M9 to Dublin which should be opened within a year. So fair play to him, he has certainly delivered for Waterford and the South East in this score.

The bridge is due to open for traffic frfom about 4.30pm today and I sincerely hope that it will take some of the heavier traffic out of the city and make life easier for those travelling the Quays or up over the older part of town which had also become something of a rat-run for these huge trucks - in an area that was never designed to take that kind of traffic.

It also ties in nicely with the plans announced recently to claim back our Quays from traffic in conjunction with the delivery of a new iconic tourism building which was announced last week.

People have taken to calling the bridge 'the cat flap' which I think myself is slightly disparaging to Kilkenny people but they seem to like it. And at this stage, in the absence of any other name, it might just stick.

Personally I think we should come up with some inspirational name. My suggestion, for what its worth would be Bridge of the Sun or Droichead na Gréine! I believe the harbour was many centuries ago named Cuan na Gréine - or Harbour of the Sun. I think that's a gorgeous name and the new name for the bridge would refer back to that old one.

So there you have it. At last it's open. we should stand back and enjoy it. It's a good news day for Waterford.

More Great Things About Waterford

2009-10-13T21:52:00.005+01:00

I was driving from a Waterford Area Partnership Board meeting this evening which was held in FÁS and I passed the re-developed Presentation Convent in Slievekeale which now houses the Rowe Creavin Medical Practice and Halley Solicitors. What a fantatsic job has been done up there! And a far cry from the poor, decimated and dishevelled old Ursuline Convent building.

This redevelopment really is one of Waterfords' gems and checking out their website I see it also houses a café. That's two new coffee stops for me to try out in the not-too-distant future (the Lemon Tree Café in the Theatre Royal being the other one).

The old Presentation Convent is an example of how an old and under-used piece of our city history and architecture can be brought both smack bang up to date and into everyday use with a little imagination, a lot of belief and determination - and no little finance I am sure! But it is safe to say that it must rank now amongst Waterfords' great treasures.

Halleys and Mark Rowe and Ita Creavin and all those involved in this redevelopment deserve a great deal of thanks for a job really well done. It is another example of the great drive, enthusiasm and determination that Waterford people have in spades.

I wish - and I know I won't be thanked for saying it - that those Waterford people who expend huge energies being negative and knocking this great city would sit back and take a look. Yes, we have challenges - we always have had and probably always will on some level or other. But there are GREAT things happening, great plans being laid - and Waterford has never stopped striving to be the best it can be despite the many challenges thrown our way. I wish people would spend half the energy they use moaning, on getting out there and being part of the solution.

Last night, the City Manager made public an initiative that has been worked on for the past 6 months concerning getting Waterford Crystal up and running again (in a small way initially it's true), manufacturing crystal in this ancient city. This facility has an aim of bringing 250,000 tourists (minimum) to our city EVERY YEAR. (This is what the project must achieve to break even). An interim solution is hoped to be up and running with 80 jobs or so by as early as next May in the ESB offices and old bonded stores behind it - including a tank furnace. It will be 'real' Waterford Crystal.

The medium term aim is to build out into the River Suir behind the Clock Tower over the next 4 years and deliver an iconic tourism building which will underpin the city centre as well as giving us back our 'most noble quay in Europe'.

What a great vision. The sooner the better I say.

And just to round it all up, I mentioned at the top of this piece that I had been at a Waterford Area Partnership meeting earlier this evening where we reviewed the performance of the Services to Unemployed measure and took a look at how it has performed and what it focusses on. It turns out that over the last decade or so over 680 jobs have been created - over 80% of which were still in place 3 years later - through the work that goes on in that one measure (in collaboration with other agenies and partners of course which is how the partnership works). Now you don't get that announced in the newspapers but if another agency had created almost 700 jobs in 10 years they'd have the Taoiseach down announcing it (before they were even in place no doubt).

So take a bow, everyone in the Partnership. There is a lot of good work going on that never gets highlighted but which is absolutely crucial. I, for one, am proud to be a small part of it.

It's time for us all to start being positive about our city. The future is bright and we are capable of making it so. All we need is a little faith.

Motorway to Open as far as Kilkenny for Christmas

2009-10-08T17:47:00.004+01:00

A friend pointed out an article to me today, carried in this weeks' Kilkenny People newspaper stating that the new Motorway from Waterford as far as Kilkenny will be open before Christmas. Well hallelujah if that is so! What bliss not to have to drive that absolute excuse for a road that Kilkenny County Council has foisted on us since time immemorial.

The article sadly details that many people lost their lives on the road as it is currently - which is a terrible indictment on those who allowed it, as a major inter-urban National PRIMARY route, to exist in its current state for so long. Shame on them.

Hopefully that is now almost at an end and before long we can look at halving - yes, halving - the amount of time it takes to drive the mere 30 miles to Kilkenny from a disgraceful 1 hour, to 30 minutes. (For those who are interested the photo shows a glimpse of the 'Main Road' as it passes Jerpoint Abbey - the absolute worst stretch IMHO).

I know people are concerned about Waterfords' present and indeed, our future but there can be no doubt but that the opening up of that road will play a huge part in opening up Waterfords' opportunities for inward investment and for easing costs. It can't come soon enough. Roll on Christmas!

Will The Government Last?

2009-10-08T13:42:00.003+01:00

Maybe I'm reading the signs all wrong but I don't think the Greens are going to pull the plug this weekend. (If they do, expect an apologetic blog next week!) I think the Greens are still naive enough to think that they can achieve a lot if they stay. I think the trouble for the Government is going to come from the Fianna Fáil back-benchers.

Lets face it: all the indications are, that whenever the next election occurs, Fianna Fáil are going to lose their shirts and that all but the safest seats will be lost. So a back-bencher has nothing to lose and everything to gain locally by being seen to stand up to local cuts.

I use Michael Lowry as an example. I know he's not a FF back-bencher but it illustrates the principle. Regardless of the consequences, Lowry has let it be known that he will withdraw his support for the government if Tipperary Institute (his local college with a pupil-teacher ratio at a reported 1 to 4!) is closed - as per the recommendations in the McCarthy report. This guarantees him returning to Dáil Eireann by a grateful local electorate.

Now say if you're a FF back-bencher in a dodgy seat. What have you got to lose by seeking to save your own seat - and ONLY your own seat - by pulling down the government on some local issue of principle close to your constituents hearts? The electorate in Ireland have shown time and time again that they will reward TD's who put local interests ahead of anything else - even the so-called National Interest.

All of the work that's going into re-negotiating the Programme for Government at the moment with its aspirations to lessen TD numbers (some hope!) and to reform the expenses system is merely tinkering around the edges of what is a broken system. I feel sorry for TD's in one sense: you get elected on a promise of what you can deliver or will do - and once you have your knees under the table you discover pretty quickly that you can deliver nothing at all and can do fairly little either. This is the ultimate frustration of politics. You aspire to change the world but the system is designed to stay the same. So you content yourself with keeping your own personal, local electorate happy. Telling them what they want to hear even if this means sacrificing the greater good to do so.

So that's my prediction for what it's worth. I reckon Fianna Fáil will survive the coming Green Conference but will have a much tougher time getting a painful and cutting budget through their own back-benches.