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Waterford City & County Council

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By Waterford City & County Council

Summer in the City and Music Generation Waterford present Draíocht Phort Láirge

Cathedral Square is set to host the highlight event of Summer in the City for 2022 on Sunday next, August 14th, when over 70 young musicians from Music Generation Waterford’s specially-formed fusion orchestra will perform for the first time ‘Draíocht Phort Láirge’ – a collection of newly composed music by Nóra Byrne Kavanagh, reflecting the beauty and topography of the Waterford region.

With traditional Irish music setting the main pace of the collection, the undertones of brass, wind, classical guitars, wind, brass, electric, acoustic, bass guitars and percussion will bring a unique eclectic sound, drawing on the talents of young musicians form across Waterford.

Music Development Officer Shauna McCullough said, “We are incredibly excited to be part of Summer in the City once again and share this new music with the people of Waterford. Sunday will be the culmination of months of creative and hard work by everyone involved and we hope the people of Waterford will come out to enjoy the day in Cathedral Square and see the orchestra perform on the big event stage!”

Anna Jordan, Festival Director added, “I am overwhelmed with how lucky we are to live in a county where we can casually pop an originally composed composition with an Orchestra of over 70 youths into Cathedral Square of a Sunday. Music Generation have been a dream team to Summer and the City recovery year and are an asset to Waterford. This is the highlight of this year’s festival.”

‘Draíocht Phort Láirge’ is a collection of 12 original compositions of music, composed by Nóra Byrne Kavanagh with harmonies, countermelodies and percussive elements created through a collaboration between Music Generation Waterford team of local musicians Nóra Byrne Kavanagh (Irish traditional music), Danny Pullman (wind & brass), Jennifer Hartery (classical guitar), Darragh O’Connor (acoustic and electric guitars), Jill Devlin (harps) and Chris O’Sullivan (percussion). The preparation of the orchestra was also supported by Music Generation Waterford team members Emily Cox (Irish traditional music), Edward O’Neill (bass guitars & brass) and Conor Clancy (guitars).

Summer in the City on Sunday August 14th will kick off at 12pm, transforming Cathedral square into a family friendly event with live music from young rock and pop bands, followed by the premiere of ‘Draíocht Phort Láirge’ when the 70 piece orchestra will take to the event stage for 2pm. Waterford sketchers will also be out and about along with child friendly activities available on the day supported by Active Cities Waterford.

This event is funded by Waterford City and County Council, Music Generation Waterford and Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media LLPPS.

-ENDS-

By Waterford City & County Council

US Ambassador calls on City Hall

Ambassador Claire Cronin, the United States Ambassador to Ireland, visited City Hall this morning where she met with Mayor John O’Leary and Chief Executive Michael Walsh.

This was Ambassador Cronin’s first visit to Waterford since she became appointed as Ambassador on January 19th of this year, having been nominated by President Biden in 2021.

 

By Waterford City & County Council

Irish Museum of Time Nominated for prestigious World Tourism Awards

Waterford Treasures has received very exciting news this week that The Irish Museum of Time has been nominated for the prestigious British Guild of Travel Writers International Tourism Awards 2022.

The British Guild of Travel Writers is the UK’s leading organisation of travel media professionals, established in 1960. The Guild is a rubber stamp of quality. The name stands for reliability and respectability in the fiercely competitive world of travel journalism. The criteria for membership in the guild is incredibly tough – and every single one of the guild’s 270 members has to satisfy an annual audit to retain Guild membership.

Only Guild members can nominate tourism attractions and destinations for the annual awards and the award-winning global travel writer and guild member Isabel Conway selected to nominate The Irish Museum of Time following her visit to the museum earlier this summer.

Speaking on the news of the nomination Waterford Treasures Director Eamonn McEneaney says, “It is a huge honour for us to even just be nominated for these global awards. We understand that we are currently the only visitor attraction in Ireland to receive a nomination this year. The British Guild of Travel Writers awards are nominated and voted on by the industry’s best travel writers, therefore the benefit for us of this profiling alone in reaching this key audience is incredible. All of the team are thrilled and honoured. The entire team at Waterford Treasures and The Irish Museum of Time work very hard to ensure each and every visitor enjoys their experience and this nomination is very much a testament to that hard work.

We are also delighted to showcase what we have to offer here in Waterford City as part of Ireland’s Ancient East to this prestigious guild of travel writers and at the International Tourism Awards.“

In her nomination, Isabel describes the Museum of Time as featuring “Rare and beautiful old clocks and timepieces, from all over Ireland and around the globe displayed in a swirl of dials, chimes and beautiful craftsmanship. Most of the collection of over 600 superb exhibits were donated by two avid Irish horologists – whose homes were heaving with the ticking treasures they had collected over a lifetime. 

Wander ancient Waterford’s medieval laneways around its multi-award-winning Viking Triangle and you’ll find The Irish Museum of Time that traces Ireland’s long history of horology, all gathered in a Gothic Revival church that celebrates the skills of clock and timepieces makers, dating back to the sixteenth century. The oldest Irish longcase clocks still in existence stands like sentinels and a highlight of the collection is the London-made William Clement clock from 1663, the earliest example in the world of his invention that transformed accurate timepiece-making.”

She also includes details of the museum’s contributions to the local economy, creating local employment, how it was funded by philanthropy and has created jobs along with driving further visitor numbers to the other museums by way of the ‘Freedom of Waterford’ all-in-one museum ticket and indeed to surrounding businesses.

The Irish Museum of Time will now move to the next stage of the awards journey where the guild members vote on the attractions that should move forward to the shortlisting stage and then onto the finalist stage if selected. The British Guild of Travel Writers International Tourism Awards finale is a very high-profile awards ceremony in London each November on the eve of World Travel Market – the largest global gathering for the tourism and hospitality industry. The British Travel Writers Guild Awards provide the first opportunity for around 340 ambassadors, ministers of state, travel & tourism CEOs and their top executives, PRs and key travel editors, journalists and bloggers, to get together and network as they arrive in London for the world tourism event.

The Irish Museum of Time opened to visitors in 2021 and it is the fifth museum as part of the Waterford Treasures suite in Waterford. Visitors can enjoy a ‘Freedom of Waterford’ ticket enabling them to access all of the museums and a guided walking tour under one ticket price 7 days per week.

For further details see www.waterfordtreasures.com

By Waterford City & County Council

Waterford Libraries awarded €33,597 funding for Library Supports

 

 

 

 

Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, and Minister of State with responsibility for Community Development and Charities, Joe O’Brien TD, have today (Thursday 4th August 2022) announced €700,000 in funding for library supports.

The funding, under the Dormant Accounts Action Plan, is designed to assist libraries in reaching out to older people, children from disadvantaged communities, people with disabilities and other marginalised groups.

Waterford Libraries has been awarded €33,597 in the latest round of funding.  The funding will help in the provision of programmes and equipment such as Touch Type Read & Spell, a multi-sensory course that teaches touch-typing to help children and adults improve their reading and spelling skills; C-Pens, line text scanners for those with reading difficulties, and Times Table Rock Star, an application that makes maths fun to learn. Waterford has also received funding to continue the Story Collecting Oral History project which has been running successfully for the past two years across the County.

Announcing the funding, Minister Humphreys said, “I am delighted today to announce €700,000 in funding to libraries across the country. The sort of innovative projects that are being funded under this initiative will create a more welcoming and engaging library experience for thousands of people. They will put our libraries at the forefront of reaching out to all members of the local community in which they serve. I would really encourage families to look at the projects being funding in their own county.”

Jane Cantwell, Waterford City and County Librarian, Waterford City and County Council, welcomed the funding.  “We are delighted to be included in the latest round of Library Supports funding for Marginalised, Socially Excluded and Disadvantaged Communities.  The programmes that will be put in place as a result of the funding, will galvanise our wide range of dyslexia-friendly services at our branches and allow us to continue collect the great stories that Waterford people have to tell across the city and county.”

Commenting on the funding, Minister O’Brien said, “I am delighted to approve these projects under the 2022 Dormant Accounts Action Plan. The projects are diverse in nature and target a multiplicity of groups including the Traveller community, Ukrainians displaced by war, residents of Direct Provision Centres and the elderly. There is also funding for groups working to provide autism supports, and groups working with hearing and visually impaired communities, prisoners and people with learning differences such as dyslexia. This funding package will build on the excellent projects which have been delivered over the past three years and also help our public libraries to continue to foster community well-being and build community cohesion in their role as community hubs.”

The Funding complements over €3.1 million announced by Minister Humphreys recently for major expansion of My Open Library which saw Tramore Library benefitting to the tune of  €225,859, while Dungarvan and Lismore Libraries were granted €52,672 and €33,379 respectively for the upgrade of the existing ‘My Open Library’ services.

-ENDS-

By Waterford City & County Council

Reminder: Temporary Road Closure – N72 at Ballyrafter, Lismore

Notice is hereby given that Waterford City and County Council, in exercise of its powers pursuant to Section 75 Roads Act 1993, will close the following public road to
through traffic from 2nd to 26th August, 2022 to facilitate Road Pavement Reconstruction.

The road will be fully closed, including overnight, for the full
closure period.

Road to be closed:
• N72 at Ballyrafter, Lismore.

Diversion Routes:
• Heading East:
HGV’s to divert at Tallow onto R634 to the N25, At Rincrew Roundabout follow N25 to Dungarvan. All other traffic turn left at Ballyrafter service station and follow R668 (Vee Road) then R669 (Melleray Road) to Cappoquin

• Heading West:
HGVs turn left onto R671 at Welcome Inn towards Clashmore to N25, then N25 to Rincrew Roundabout, then R634 towards Tallow. All other traffic turn left at Avonmore Bridge, Cappoquin, follow L1018 to Kilahaly Bridge, then 1017 to Lismore.

By Waterford City & County Council

Road Closure arrangements for Waterford SPRAOI 2022

Notice is hereby given that Waterford City and County Council, in exercise of its powers pursuant to Section 75 Roads Act 1993, propose to close the following roads to through traffic during the times specified below on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 29th July to 1st August, 2022 to facilitate the Waterford Spraoi Festival.

For the parade route and other event programming, see Spraoi’s website.

By Waterford City & County Council

Chinese Ambassador to Ireland visits Waterford

 

 

On Thursday July 28th H.E. He Xiangdong, Chinese Ambassador to Ireland, paid a visit to Waterford where he met with Mayor of Waterford City and County, Cllr. John O’Leary and Michael Quinn, Director of Services for Economic Development.

The visit was an opportunity to further explore further partnerships with Ireland in the areas of economic, trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges. 

Pictured in City Hall with Mayor of Waterford City and County Cllr. John O’ Leary are Michael Quinn, Eileen O’ Leary, the Mayor’s wife, Ambassador He and Madam Xia Lining, the Ambassador’s wife

By Waterford City & County Council

Road Closure arrangements for Waterford SPRAOI 2022

Notice is hereby given that Waterford City and County Council, in exercise of its powers pursuant to Section 75 Roads Act 1993, propose to close the following roads to through traffic during the times specified below on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 29th July to 1st August, 2022 to facilitate the Waterford Spraoi Festival.

For the parade route and other event programming, see Spraoi’s website.

By Waterford City & County Council

Reminder: Temporary Road Closure – N72 at Ballyrafter, Lismore

Notice is hereby given that Waterford City and County Council, in exercise of its powers pursuant to Section 75 Roads Act 1993, will close the following public road to
through traffic from 2nd to 26th August, 2022 to facilitate Road Pavement Reconstruction.

The road will be fully closed, including overnight, for the full
closure period.

Road to be closed:
• N72 at Ballyrafter, Lismore.

Diversion Routes:
• Heading East:
HGV’s to divert at Tallow onto R634 to the N25, At Rincrew Roundabout follow N25 to Dungarvan. All other traffic turn left at Ballyrafter service station and follow R668 (Vee Road) then R669 (Melleray Road) to Cappoquin

• Heading West:
HGVs turn left onto R671 at Welcome Inn towards Clashmore to N25, then N25 to Rincrew Roundabout, then R634 towards Tallow. All other traffic turn left at Avonmore Bridge, Cappoquin, follow L1018 to Kilahaly Bridge, then 1017 to Lismore.

By Waterford City & County Council

TRAFFIC & TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS FOR ‘ALL TOGETHER NOW’ FESTIVAL

If you’re heading to All Together Now this weekend please follow the travel routes and advice from @Garda Síochána Waterford/Kilkenny/Carlow Twitter: https://twitter.com/search?q=An%20Garda%20Siochana&src=typeahead_click

 

Those attending the festival from Waterford have three options:

  1. Avail of the Bus Eireann Shuttle bus to the Festival Site which is the quickest most direct option and it runs daily to the Festival from the Bus Station in Waterford City.
  2. If you are being dropped to the Festival, you should go to Highfield Business Park X91 D934 on the R680 outside Portlaw Village.  From here you can get a free shuttle to the Festival.  There is no parking at this location.  This is only running on Friday with a return on Monday.
  3. If you are camping – general camping chose the blue route and enter at gate #6 via Portlaw  Village. Campervan or Family camping travel to Kilmacthomas along the N25 and join the red route and enter at Gate#4.

 

Follow the recommended routes for your entry gate via https://arcg.is/1Kvae0 which outlines which route you should take based on your gate no. and point of origin

 

DO NOT USE Sat Nav to get to the festival.

 

Use the ATN app, website, facebook page or Instagram

AGS Facebook Page for Waterford/Kilkenny/Carlow

Garda Twitter: https://twitter.com/search?q=An%20Garda%20Siochana&src=typeahead_click

By Waterford City & County Council

Waterford City & County Development Plan launched

The Waterford City and County Development Plan 2022-2028 was officially launched by the Mayor of Waterford City and County, Cllr. John O’Leary.

The plan, which was fully adopted by Elected Members of Waterford City and County Council last month, is a statutory planning document, covering the six-year period from 2022-2028 and guides the day-to-day operation of the Planning Authority and broader strategic investment decision making.

The City and County Development Plan is the principal planning strategy document for the area and gives spatial expression to the physical, economic, social and environmental needs of the community, in order to support and regulate new development, enhance valued assets and amenities and protect the environment.

The development plan is now at the heart of a plan-led system whereby public capital investment programmes and priorities are aligned to support the adopted development strategy. This principle has been established through Project Ireland 2040 comprising both the National Planning Framework (NPF) as the State’s national spatial development strategy and the National Development Plan (NDP) as the capital investment programme to support delivery at all levels of the planning hierarchy. By ensuring good policy alignment with EU, national and regional policy and the UN SDGs, the development plan can drive investment that is targeted towards identified priorities and leverage funding and partnership opportunities at a local level.

Initial results from Census 2022 demonstrate that Waterford City is on target for achieving an ambitious growth target of 85,000 as set out in the National Planning Framework, by 2040.  This new development plan supports the continued achievement of these targets.  In addition, the Development Plan also provides the basis on which Local Area Plans will be prepared for parts of Waterford City, Dungarvan, Tramore and other urban towns across the county over the lifetime of the plan.

Mayor of Waterford City and County, Cllr. John O’Leary said the plan provides a clear roadmap to enable the city and county reach its full potential and deliver key objectives in economic development, housing, placemaking, climate action and transport.

“Waterford’s ambitions for the next six years are writ large in this development plan.  The public consultations yielded over 1,000 submissions. This is heartening and highlights how much the public is truly invested in Waterford’s vision for growth and improvement.”

“Waterford’s commitment to a proactive and dynamic approach towards sustainable social, environmental and economic development of the region is steadfast and this development plan lays the foundation for achieving these objectives.”

In addition to the development plan identifying the quantum of land required to facilitate the delivery of necessary housing targets, the plan also identifies regeneration sites to deliver regenerative, compact and sequential growth;  policy objectives to ensure competitive retail development, economic expansion through support for indigenous SMEs and FDI; the implementation of core strategies to ensure a low carbon future and a rural strategy to support rural communities in delivering transformative changes.

Following the adoption of the Waterford City and County Development Plan 2022-2028 by elected members of Waterford City and County Council, the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) commended the local authority on ‘a coherent and appropriate strategy for the delivery of key national planning objectives including the promotion of compact growth and town and village centre regeneration.’

The Development Plan and the complete suite of documents including all environmental reports and appendices is available for inspection at the following locations:

-ENDS-

By Waterford City & County Council

Road Closure arrangements for Waterford SPRAOI 2022

Notice is hereby given that Waterford City and County Council, in exercise of its powers pursuant to Section 75 Roads Act 1993, propose to close the following roads to through traffic during the times specified below on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 29th July to 1st August, 2022 to facilitate the Waterford Spraoi Festival.

For the parade route and other event programming, see Spraoi’s website.

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