The Great Port of Waterford

As a trading centre, Waterford Port can be dated back over 1,200 years to the arrival of the Vikings, who decided to make a permanent settlement in the city. In 1170 the Normans, lead by Strongbow, captured Waterford. King Henry II took control of the city the following year and many Vikings were expelled. As a result, trade in Waterford Port increased.

Over the following centuries, imports and exports were shipped from Waterford Port to and from England and the Continent to Spain, France and Italy. Exports consisted mainly of leather, wheat, flour, butter and other agricultural produce from the area around Waterford.

Today, the Port of Waterford is a modern commercial port. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week all year round, and is Ireland's fastest growing port. In 2005, Waterford City became the first Irish city to host the start of the Tall Ships' Race. Thousands of people arrived into the city to view the eighty-seven impressively tall ships berthed along the quays, including the 113.5 metre Russian Kruzenshtern and three Irish ships, the Dunbrody, Jeanie Johnston and Asgard II.

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Cummisky's Self-Service Supermarket, 1950s

In the early 1900s, South-East customers were served by shop assistants who helped them choose what they wanted to buy. Clothes were expensive and there were fewer clothes shops. Many people bought material and paper patterns and made their own clothes at home.At that time, shops were not self-service. Customers were waited on by serving staff and in many cases, the products on sale were kept behind the counter. Before this type of shop was replaced by modern supermarkets, the first self-service shops looked something like the one in the above picture picture.

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The Blue Plaque Trail: Waterford - Nefoundland

Trade between Waterford and Newfoundland was of prime importance in the development of the city in the eighteenth century. By 1770 this route absorbed between 10% and 15% of the city's exports. Waterford merchants provisioned English ships sailing from Bristol and the West Country ports to Newfoundland for the fishing season and Waterford people migrated there also in search of employment. Thousands from Waterford and the south east traveled to fish the Grand Banks from the second half of the eighteenth century. In time many of those who worked on the fisheries became permanent settlers and by the beginning of the nineteenth century Newfoundland was referred to as 'merely Waterford parted by the sea.'

Waterford Civic Trust has installed numerous Blue Plaques in the city to commemorate a link between a particular location and a famous person or event.

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101 reasons to love Waterford

Updedeise.com give their 101 reasons to love Waterford, the gateway and capital City of the South-East.

1 Waterford is the oldest city in Ireland

2 Lismore is the most beautiful town in Ireland

3 The quay in Waterford is easily the most attractive in the country

4 We have one of the best gardens in the world i.e. Mount Congreve

5 We have the most historically significant school in the country (possibly the world) in Mount Sion, founded in 1802 by none other than Edmund Rice

6 We have the best indigenous food in the country called the blaa; just magnificent and incomparable to any other type of bread product

7 Waterford Crystal, the original and still the best, everything else is just a cheap copy

8 A Waterfordian named Thomas Francis Meagher invented the tricolour Irish Flag

9 We have Europe's most significant Viking site in Woodstown, Co. Waterford

10 Waterford has 6 amazing towers still standing in the city dating back 1000 years

11 Waterford has Ireland's oldest civic building, Reginald's tower, fantastic building, 1200 years old

12 We have produced one of the world's most renowned scientists in Robert Boyle (Boyle's Law)

13 Knockeen Dolmen is the finest example of a Dolmen in Ireland

14 We have the best IT in the country, which must become a University

15 We have produced one of the greatest light opera composers of all time in William Vincent Wallace

16 Ardmore Tower is a famous ecclesiastical site founded by St. Declan (county motto: Up Declan and the Deise)

17 Stradbally is one of the most beautiful towns with one of the most beautiful beaches in the country

18 The Comeragh Mountains are a spectacular range with amazing character

19 We have some of the most amazing coast in the country from Tramore to Ardmore and beyond; must be driven to be believed!

20 We have some of the best hurlers and hurling in the country

21 Garrarus is an amazing untouched beach that has to be visited

22 Tramore beach is a fantastic 4 mile beach with a huge back strand

23 The sand hills in Tramore are the best example of Sand Dunes in the country

24 Gaulstown Dolmen is another fabulous Dolmen that is very accessible and well maintained, you can actually sit inside it and make a wish

25 We have the best slang in the country, so we do boy (just check out the slang section on the site)

26 We have the magic hill, which defies gravity; an amazing phenomenon

27 We have the beautiful Mahon Falls, very accessible and very beautiful

28 We have the amazing Com Seangan for all you hill walkers, this is a sight to behold!!!

29 We have the Metal Man protecting ships from our coast, the only one in the country…

30 We have some of the oldest pubs in the country (e.g. T&H Doolan’s)

31 We have some of the best restaurants in the country (critically acclaimed)

32 We have a brilliant night life in the city with late bars and night clubs galore

33 We have a the lovely public People's Park with facilities for the little ones

34 The town from Johnstown & Michael Street to Barronstrand St. & O'Connell Street (long old walk)

35 Abbeyside Reference Archives

36 We have a lovely clock tower on the quay in the city

37 We have the biggest and most accessible port in the country

38 We have the island on the river with the beautiful Waterford Castle situated on it

39 We have produced the country's finest magician in Keith Barry

40 We have produced amazing soccer talent in the likes of Beglin and O'Shea

41 We have the best street festival in the country, Spraoi, on the August bank holiday weekend

42 We have Ireland's fastest flowing river

43 We have the Suir valley railway so that people can appreciate the beauty of the valley

44 The Knockmealdowns mountain range present a fantastic spin in The Vee drive

45 Mount Mellary is a very famous and equally beautiful grotto and monastery

46 We have the best 2 chippers in Ireland, Cunninghams & Johnnie Walkers

47 We have the finest 18th century ecclesiastical building in Ireland (Christ Church Cathedral)

48 We have coined the best phrases e.g. by hook or by crook and pay through the nose

49 The amazing Copper Coast

50 Tourin House & Gardens are contained on a 17th century estate 3 miles south of Cappoquin

51 The Kilmac viaduct with spectacular view and beautiful picnic area

52 Lismore Castle and the grounds are a must see

53 The city walls and 3 towers on castle street are amazing to see in a modern city

54 The Granary (Waterford Treasures) Museum is a internationally acclaimed museum

55 Passage East has an amazing view

56 Woodstown is a lovely beach with beautiful forestry nearby

57 Dunmore is brilliant for the craic and the summer festivals

58 Sauleens a different beach experience, sand for miles

59 Newtown has a great view for parking ;)

60 Kilfarassy has character abounding

61 Kilmurrin a lovely little beach, captures the sun in an unbelievable way

62 Annestown, the only town in Ireland without a pub, has a wonderful beach

63 Boatstrand a lovely beach with great fishing nearby and a pier for the kids to jump off

64 Bonmahon, great beach for camping and caravan holidays

65 Clonea, yet another lovely beach

66 Fornaught, Portally, Rathmoylan, Ballymacaw, Whiting Bay, Creaden, Ballydwan, Ballyvornay… did I mention we had beaches…

67 Crubeens (from Rockett's)

68 Greyfriars, a ruin in the city centre that you could spend the day just looking at

69 The very fine Theatre Royal

70 Waterford City shopping

71 We have BlackFriars just opposite city square, hidden in the city, what other city has so many sites that they can be ignored like this

72 Towers in Lismore is an amazing sight!

73 The view from Helvic Head

74 The lovely town of Dungarvan

75 Driving across the bridge after being away on holidays (the bridge of emotions)

76 Stalling yungwans behind the glass

77 The great history of soccer in Waterford, the legends of the past and the recent successes

78 The excellent golf courses of the Deise, from Dunmore East to Lismore

79 Dog racing in Kilcohan, an alternative Saturday night

80 Tramore Racecourse, excellent events

81 The Light Opera Festival, a brilliant alternative to the flicks!

82 Trá Fest

83 Fresh water angling on the Suir and Blackwater, and the various lakes and reservoirs

84 Sea angling off the coast from Dunmore to Dungarvan and beyond

85 An Rinn, Waterford's Gaeltacht; out of this world!

86 Downes No. 9, still blended in the 200 year old pub!

87 John Robert's architecture in City Hall and the two Cathedrals (which are quite different)

88 The square named after the man (a lovely open city centre)

89 Rally Connection in Dungarvan - Great for rally driving and off road karting

90 Ardmore Diving based in the village of Ardmore. The enclosed bay offers ideal conditions for sheltered inshore diving

91 West Waterford Monastic Trail - Ardmore - Clashmore - Molana Abbey - Knockanore - Tallow Glencairn Abbey - Lismore - Mount Melleray - Dungarvan

92 Walking Trails - River Brickey Walk, Colligan Walk, Cruachan Walk, Famine Walk, An Coinigear Walk, Helvick Head Walk, The Ardmore Cliff Walk to name but a few.

93 Dungarvan Museum

94 Mothel Abbey (13th c.) near Rathgormack

95 Hullabaloo International Childrens Festival

96 The Galley cruise on the Suir (wow!)

97 On the Comeragh Mountains & Nire Valley Drive are the standing stones, fulachta fiadh (cooking pits) and cairns around Kilbrien, and Knockboy Ogham Stones near the village.

98 The Harrison Megalithic Tomb is a noted pre-historic monument near Killea on the East Waterford Gaultier Coast Drive

99 Curraghmore Estate, Portlaw. The Home of Lord Waterford

100 Waterford has the best county pride website in the country - www.UpTheDeise.com ;)

101 Dat's de why!

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SLNIW: Waterford project to create 300 jobs

The Irish Times announcing the launch of the SLNIW project, based at ArcLabs.

A collaborative project between the Waterford Institute of Technology and Wales’ Aberyswyth University will create up to 300 jobs in the south east region over the next three years. The €1.7 million European-funded project will see over 30 enterprises in the south east and a similar number in Wales participate in the partnership.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs are being targetted by the project which is designed for entrepreneurs and owners/managers of micro-enterprise and SMEs to improve the creativity, innovation and competitive processes. Six sustainable, self-learning networks will be established and each will meet on a monthly basis, over an eighteen month period. Partners will also host at least two international conferences during the twelve month section.

The goal is to develop a process that will help entrepreneurs and owner/managers of micro-enterprise and SMEs to improve the creativity, innovation and competitive processes of their organisations and the regions within which they are situated.

The SLNIW project is headed by Dr Bill O'Gorman, research director at the WIT school of business and Nerys Fuller-Love, senior lecturer at Aberystwyth University’s school of management and business.

“It's a very timely and innovative project,” Dr O'Gorman explained. “Taking the current global economic environment into consideration, today, more than ever before, there is a need for enterprises within regions to work together in order to enhance the economic development and sustainability of their regions.”

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The Zenith of Wexford Port

At the turn of the century in around 1798, Wexford entered an age of expansion. The port was about to reach its zenith, with hundred of ships trading with lands in Africa, the Black Sea and the United States of America. Trade increases led to the growth of industries ranging from whiskey distilling to the manufacture of agricultural machinery. The population grew steadily and many new streets were constructed, while in 1851, work began on the elegant twin Churches which were to dominate the skyline.

It was also in 1800's that many of to-days important buildings were constructed, St. Peters College in 1819 to the Mechanics Institute in 1849 and the Tate School now the Municipal Buildings, in 1867. The railway reached Wexford in 1870 and was continued along the quay front by 1882. In the early years of this century, Wexford agricultural machinery companies operated branch offices in cities such as Paris and Buenos Aires.

For more info about Wexford and its history log on to wexfordweb.ie.

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SLNIW: Sustainable Learning Networks in Ireland and Wales

SLNIW is an INTERREG 4A funded project. This exciting and innovative research is being undertaken by CEDRE, WIT in partnership with the School of Management and Business, Aberystwyth University, Wales.

The SLNIW project is for entrepreneurs and owner/managers of Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in South East Ireland and West Wales. The project aims to increase the skill sets of these entrepreneurs by facilitating knowledge transfer between participants within the network.

The primary goal of the project is to increase the competitiveness, creativity and innovation capacities and capabilities of SMEs and micro-enterprises in South East Ireland and West Wales through innovative and creative processes. This goal will be achieved through creating and developing learning networks in South East Ireland and West Wales. The SLNIW project therefore is unique and innovative in that it focuses on assisting members of these networks identify and analyse training needs for themselves, their enterprises and staff.

This project is equally unique in that it proposes to teach network members how to direct their own learning and teaching methods to achieve business growth, expansion and long term sustainability through innovation, and innovative processes. The SLNIW project presents a new process and paradigm to transfer knowledge between knowledge experts and SMEs/micro-enterprises.

For more information log on to the SLNIW website.

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Profile of the South East

The South-East of Ireland comprises of five counties; Carlow, Kilkenny, South Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford. According to the South East Regional Authority, the South East has a population of 460,838 (11% of nation) and a total area of 9,406 sq.kms (13.5% of the total area of Ireland). The National Development Plan 2007-2013, entitled Transforming Ireland – A Better Quality of Life for All, identifies Waterford as the gateway and principal city of the South East Region.

REFORM and SERA

The Regional Economic Research and Technological Development Policy through Foresight and Mentoring (REFORM) project sets out to ‘develop, support and implement a variety of measures and activities which will enable regions to understand their particular needs to enable increased RTD [research and technological development] activity and investment in the future’.

The South East Regional Authority (SERA) is one of six regional promoters participating in this initiative. According to the REFORM website, the South East’s performance is ‘behind that of the [Irish] economy as a whole and behind that of the majority of the other Irish Regions’. The key economic indicators for the region such as the unemployment rate, disposable income, and Gross Value Added (GVA) per capita all confirm this observation.

Unemployment rate

As highlighted in figure 1.1, the unemployment rate in the South East Region was 5.9 percent in 2006, compared to the national average of 4.2 percent. As such, the South East unemployment rate was forty percent higher than the national average and substantially higher than any other region in the country.

The most recent figures, cited in the SERA Annual Report (2008), show unemployment has increased significantly across all NUTS 3 regions within Ireland. As highlighted in figure 1.2, the South East is no longer the highest region in terms of unemployment as it now lies in joint 3rd place behind the Midland and West regions.

From the point of view of the South East, the most positive aspect of the recent SERA Annual Report (2008) is that the region has experienced the smallest increase in unemployment of all the NUT 3 regions since 2006. Figure 1.3 shows that the South East’s unemployment rate increased by 47 percent between 2006 and 2008. Although this figure seems extremely large in absolute terms, in comparison to other regions the South East’s unemployment rate has not been hit as hard by the current economic downturn.

A possible explanation for this scenario may be the fact that the South East had the highest unemployment rate of all NUTS 3 regions in 2006 and as such other areas had much more scope for increases. For example, the Mid West region experienced an increase in unemployment of 98 percent; more than double that of the South East. In 2006 the unemployment rate in the Mid West was only 4.3 percent, compared to 5.7 percent in the South East. As a result the Mid West experienced a much greater percentage increase in unemployment than the South East, despite both regions now having almost identical unemployment rates.

Disposable income

According to the CSO (2009), a disparity exists between the disposable incomes per person of the two NUTS 2 regions of Ireland. In 2006, the Southern and Eastern region experienced disposable income per person of three percent above the state average, whereas the Border Midland and Western region was 8.3 percent below the state average. As such, a gap of 11.3 points existed between the two regions.

As shown in figure 1.4, at the level of the eight regional authority areas the South East region is positioned fifth and the area is the lowest of the five regions comprising the Southern and Eastern NUTS 2 regions. The level of disposable income within the South East is thus more comparable with the Border Midland and Western region rather than the wealthier Southern and Eastern.

Gross Value Added (GVA) per person

The CSO (2009) explain GVA is not an evaluation of household income. Instead, it is a calculation of the value if goods and services generated in a region minus the cost of the materials and services used in their creation which were brought in from outside the area. The CSO state that ‘GDP and GVA are the same concept’ in that they both measure the value of goods and services produced in a particular area. However, when analysing regional GDP, the CSO use GVA per person as a proxy for GDP per person as it excludes product taxes and includes the value of product subsidies.

According to the CSO (2009), the GVA per person generated in the Southern and Eastern NUTS 2 region was 10.2 percent above the national average in 2006. In contrast, the average value added per person in the Border, Midland and Western region was 27.8 percent below the state average in the same year. The CSO (2009) study combines the Dublin and Mid East regions as both are affected significantly by workers living in one area and commuting to work in the other.

As shown in figure 1.5, when assessed based on GVA per person, the South East region is again placed in the lower half of the eight regional authorities and is the lowest of the five regions within the Southern and Eastern NUTS 2 region. The South East region was 26.9 percent below the state average with only the Border and Midland regions producing less added value per person, at 27.5 percent and 33 percent respectively.

Conclusion

As shown, the unemployment rate, level of disposable income and GVA per person of the South East region has been poorer than the majority of other Irish regions. SERA (2008) has recognized this and states that since the Authority’s formation it has been ‘concerned at the relatively weak economic performance of the South East’.

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Composion of Irish Regions: NUTS

Ireland is broken up into a number of classifications based on the NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) geocode standard used by Eurostat. The Republic of Ireland is split into two NUTS 2 regions and eight NUTS 3 regions.

According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the Dublin region and Mid East region (Kildare, Meath and Wicklow) are affected by a ‘substantial proportion of their workforce living in one region and commuting to work in another’. Therefore, it is often more useful to merge these two regions. Both the NUTS 2 regions and the eight NUTS 3 regions are outlined below.

Composition of Regions


Border, Midland and Western NUTS 2 Region

1. Border Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan and Sligo

2. West Galway County, Galway City, Mayo and Roscommon

3. Midland Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath


Southern and Eastern NUTS 2 Region

4. Mid East Kildare, Meath and Wicklow

5. Dublin Dublin City, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin

6. South East Waterford County, Waterford City, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and South Tipperary

7. South West Cork County, Cork City and Kerry

8. Mid West Limerick County, Limerick City, Clare and North Tipperary

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