Matt Shanahan - Social Advocate

23/06/2026

Is it time for Waterford council to pass a motion to bring an enlarged map of our city and county to Dáil Éireann and display it on Kildare Street for a number of weeks?

Further announcements today of 500million for GPO redevelopment to include government offices to add to the 500 million needed for developing new Dublin civic offices, while another 377 million today for ‘Shared Island’ to go with the 500 million agreed past two weeks to support cross border rail travel! All of this while cannot secure a cent of funding to invest in Waterford Rail, Waterford Road Network N24/N25, Waterford Port, Waterford Airport, UHW ICU or CCU or any other bed or workforce capacity or any SETU Glassworks Uni building.

Clearly ‘shared Island’ or related frameworks do not encompass Waterford investment of any type in their thinking.

The exclusion of Irelands oldest city to meaningful national infrastructure development funding is no longer a question of ‘process, planning or priority’ and it’s time people understand this - those lines are systematic regurgitations, trotted out repeatedly when questions to investment posed. When was the last time ‘traffic light procurement gate colours’ were offered as an explanation to quell Dublin capital investment?

The facts are what is taking place now is simple political strategy - it is designed to clearly weaken the status of our city and county as the regional economic driver. The political output being to reduce the status of the now 5th city in Ireland and let it fall completely from not just political prominence but also the national public gaze.

The degree of systematic deliberate discrimination in infrastructural investment to the constituents of Waterford is now more severe than at any time since the collapse of the Celtic Tiger. People may wish to disagree with this opinion but the facts are indisputable - Just follow the money or in our case, the lack of it!

Assiduous political representation can present in many forms. But the clear evidence is that Waterfords political ‘heft’ is now clearly rated largely style without substance. That needs to change. So too our history in lauding the 12 man soccer team thinking a key position exists for ‘left outside’.

Politics requires engagement and contribution to deliver a stated objective - lauding opposition for its own sake may attract disgruntled voters, but it is clearly not a winning strategy - it positions and delivers only exclusion.

Waterford has made itself the national flag bearer to that long understood reality - and the trajectory of state investment proves this point fully too! Until we change, little else will.

The amount of funding allocated under an Irish Government initiative to promote co-operation across the island of Ireland will pass the €1 billion mark this week.

17/06/2026

A suggestion for

Why not mow the strip outside the footpath and plant wildflower beds to left hand side of pavement? There is ample room and light and it would be a far more natural setting.

It would mean passing traffic will kill less insects (pollinators), council will have to cut less grass saving time, fuel and money and when autumn comes, the pavement strip won’t resemble a slice of derelict land but instead will present nice mown grass to welcome visitors.

I think the roadways around town look terrible, unmanaged and uncared for when the flowering season is over - If council made this change everyone benefits - this includes insects and the plants that regenerate next year but also presents a higher standard in the care of our public realm which impacts residents and visitors alike.

What do you think? Logic or Lunacy?

15/06/2026

In July 2025, Governments 2 Finance ministers discussed new record Capital Infrastructure Investment programme totalling 165 Billion euro! They framed the spending as a deliberate effort by Government to spur regional economic infrastructure development and reduce regional imbalance and inequity.

So how has Waterford done to date in accessing this new record spend designed to deliver a regional economic reset?

• Funding to Waterford Airport Yes/ No? ……..No!
• Funding to Waterford Port Yes/ No? …….…No!
• Funding new Port Energy Park Yes/ No? ………No!
• Reopen Waterford - Wexford Rail Yes/ No? ………No!
• Funding to N24 Upgrade Yes/ No? ………No!
• Funding to N25 Upgrade Yes/ No? ………No!
• Funding to new SETU Buildings Yes/ No? ………No!
• Funding to UHW Beds Unit Yes/ No? …….. No!
• Funding Increased staff UHW Yes/ No? ………No!
• Funding for new River Crossing Yes/ No? ………No!

A big 'NOTHING' burger is in fact the answer for this county!

Lets leave aside Dublin with its planned 15Billion Metrolink, new Hospitals, 1/2 billion new civic offices, cricket stadium and 1 billion euro Cherrywood town centre and look at other once peer cities to Waterford to see, where they are in the programme -

Cork - Multi Billion euro M20 Motorway, Port development, New Light Rail transport system, New Elective hospital

Limerick - New Elective Hospital. M20 Motorway, 1-2 Billion Colbert Quarter development, Foynes Rail restoration, New Adare bypass

Galway - Multi billion Full Western Rail corridor, New City Ring Road, New Elective Hospital, New STEM Building Atlantic TU.

All of these projects have secured or are guaranteed to secure funding from the new Capital Investment Programme 2024 -2029.

The ongoing work in evidence at SETU and UHW are funding commitments from the 2020 - 2024 'LAST' Government programme in case anyone is in doubt! The department investment mentioned by Minister Calleary on his Waterford visit last week a case in point when questioned by where he truthfully acknowledged the spend he referenced was actually 2020 - 2024 budget spend!

We have yet to see any evidence of one new capital Investment approval to Waterford from the new investment fund resulting in a planning permission or a build tender in Waterford.!

18 months ago, 4 Party TDs campaigned in Waterford on their ability to deliver for Waterford city and county - some even wrote those delivery slogans on their election materials and posters.

So much for election promises!

Waterford has again been let down by Political parties - People have still to learn Political party's first and often only concerns relate to the party's standing, the people almost always come second.

The economic impetus Waterford has now lost in failing to access this record release of national capital funding may never be recovered, and for that we will pay a future economic price.

Waterford has been let down largely because we have a history of not learning our political lessons. The apathy that political parties have for this county is easily evidenced - consider the fact that this county has had just 3 Senior Cabinet Ministers since the foundation of the state - 3 in one hundred and four years!

That is the standing this county enjoys among political party mandarins. It is an appalling political under-representation not just for constituents, but in light of the economic importance of this county to the entire south east region.

And before Opposition Party members comment that Sinn Fein was not in Government to influence those ministerial picks let me just say; - In the 2024 Sinn Fein national Manifesto, the word 'Waterford' was not in evidence or mentioned ONCE in its pages, indicating the real support we enjoy at their national HQ despite all the rhetoric to the contrary from their 2 local Oireachtas representatives.

The outcome of this spending boom is that some regional balance may be restored to parts of the state but clearly it will not be to
Waterford. Excluding this county yet again in a major national spending programme is politically inexcusable. But excluding Waterford, understanding the present scale of announced national investment supported by exceptional FDI receipts means it can possibly never be repeated again within the next fifty years if at all, is reprehensible on any social, economic or moral level one wishes to contemplate.

The private investment into Waterford Airport and other non government development activity taking place in the city and county is something we need to encourage and applaud as it signifies so many in Waterford, continue to 'do it for themselves'.

But given significant economic stimulus has again been refused to us largely on political grounds, we cannot as a populace continue to make choices based on the 'political innocence' of our past.

Fairy stories are largely learnings for children, who are expected to grow up and remember well the lessons they were taught!

Those continuing to believe 'political fairy stories' spun at our expense consign themselves and their families to repeatedly find the cupboard eternally bare while the crock of gold remains under the rainbow, just a county or two away!



/Marginalisedcounty

11/06/2026

How much more evidence is needed to understand our state procurement capacity is severely under skilled and over challenged? You will not find a single example of such waste and procurement failure in any private company simply because - ‘THEY CANNOT AFFORD IT’!

It’s beyond time the government reviewed the capacities of depts and appointed outside expertise beyond the big 4 consultancies to assist in large scale procurement.

We are blowing state monies that could if saved provide opportunity, infrastructure and healing - It is no longer adequate to say suppliers left us down or didn’t deliver - that is what penalty and completion clauses are designed to counter.

Time for this continuous waste to stop and for project responsibility to mean Dept and supplier jobs are on the line!



Irish Examiner -

The software, which was part of an effort to deliver a national railway control centre in Dublin, was expected to be delivered in 2024 at a cost of under €20m

01/06/2026

Fair play Jim Power for highlighting the attractiveness of the regions when compared with Dublin living. And while he acknowledges that government is planning to promote regional enterprise to a greater degree consider this -

Last year Enterprise Ireland spent approximately 33 million euro supporting Irish companies to trade in outside markets. 33 million is the approx price to deliver the Waterford Airport extension - That’s one private sector project balancing all of the Governments annual investment in new export creation!

Forgive me for saying but the words ‘ambition’ or ‘growth objectives’ don’t exactly fly off the page of the Ei report.

Ireland as an agricultural country only produces 20% of its annual horticulture consumption - the rest we import despite being one of the best climate and soil ecosystems worldwide.

Could someone in Gov ring Dept Ag and EI and ask them to seek opinion from Irish growers about closing this gap -

33million in a 130 billion annual economy is hardly worth making a song about! Neither can it develop or sustain any job relocation from Dublin despite the lofty ambitions expressed by government.

As rising costs push people out of capital cities, housing affordability and quality of life make the regions more attractive

29/05/2026

Not actual photo, - for representation!

3 times in Waterford city today I encountered teenagers on electric bikes wearing full face coverings - one almost took me out while I was using a pedestrian crossing!

I see no reason whatsoever for the wearing of head coverings by these individuals, other than to obscure their identity - and please let’s not get sidetracked with conversations around religious face coverings.

These guys are riding on pavements and streets and are deliberately trying to avoid identification - it’s 20 degrees in the city today so forget about comments to ‘street dress code’ or other diversionary narratives.

In my opinion face covering while mechanically transiting urban / rural areas should not be allowed. If you are riding the public roads and footpaths regardless of your religion, your face should be visible and identifiable.

This street uniform is largely nothing more than a type of antisocial / anti establishment branding and it has no place on our streets, in our community’s or in our society in my opinion.

I would ask local and national politicians to pursue this issue - face coverings like these are sometimes needed to protect our police services and that is justifiable - but they should have no legal standing in my opinion to any other individual, group or community in the country.

We in Ireland are respectful of individuality, but this dress code to me is nothing other than a signal to intimidation, arrogance, aggression and antisocial behaviour and I believe it’s time legislation is drafted to outlaw this practice. In addition an Garda should be given powers to stop said vehicles and wearers and establish individuals identity without cause and seize property such as scooters etc wherever they encounter these individuals roaming on any self propelled or electric powered appliances.

Ireland is not a Stazi based state nor a South American or South Los Angeles ‘hood’ and we shouldn’t allow people ‘make-believe’ it is, offering opportunity of anonymity for the purpose largely of intimidation and commissioning low level crime.

And for parents who say ‘ I have no problem with my kid dressing like this’ I say what does it say about your ambitions for your child’s future or the concerns of your neighbour’?

Regardless my position is - We need legislation to control this. The sooner the better!

28/05/2026

The most creative footie is not always played on the turf -

Fair play Barry Heneghan TD for his support to delivering this key funding for his Dublin Bay North constituents.

Some make Promises - Others make Progress!

27/05/2026

discussion shows Dublin is now effectively gridlocked — and this didn’t happen overnight.

For decades, governments concentrated economic activity, investment, infrastructure and opportunity into the capital while failing to properly develop regional cities and towns.

The result?

More people forced to commute longer distances into Dublin.
More pressure on the M50 and surrounding roads.
More expensive “catch-up” transport projects.
More taxpayer money being spent reacting to a crisis instead of preventing one.

Meanwhile, many regional communities continue to lose:

investment
high-quality employment
infrastructure
population growth
economic opportunity

If serious regional investment had happened years ago:

fewer people would need to travel to Dublin for work
businesses could expand outside the capital
housing pressure would ease
congestion would reduce naturally
taxpayer money could be spent more efficiently

Instead, we are now spending billions trying to solve problems created by political short-termism.

Balanced regional development is not just a rural issue.
It is now essential for Dublin’s survival as an economic engine.

Ireland cannot continue operating as if one city must carry the entire economy.

26/05/2026

News headlines report a young teen taken into care after breaking up his family home because his parents tried to reduce his phone usage….. Now in state care, he is on his phone through the night till 6am, doesn’t leave bed until afternoon and his care team are afraid of him physically where they try to control phone access.

Now this may be an exceptional case but the issues it raises as to phone addiction in adolescents and minors and the algorithms purposefully targeting children is not.

One assumes dear reader you wouldn’t allow a pervert, a pa******le, an abuser, a groomer, a drug dealer into your house let alone your child’s bedroom and let them lock the door for hours - like it or not unrestricted phones access is allowing that very outcome.

There is already significant data outlining the negative and often severe consequences of unregulated phone access to our youth and it is no longer adequate to say let’s ban smartphones to adolescents, which will prove largely unworkable. It is past time we formulated a proper national response.