Waterford, founded by the Vikings, is braced for a new wave of invaders asdevelopers descend bearing war-chestsfull of euro, writes Michael Parsons
Dramatic evidence of Waterford's Viking past surfaced last year during excavations along the route of the N25 bypass at Woodstown on the south bank of the River Suir. Archaeologists discovered traces of what appears to have been a 9th century trading station thus triggering a ministerial order to preserve the site and change the route.
The discovery sheds new light on the origins of Ireland's oldest city. Waterford itself was founded by the Vikings in 914AD and has been one of the country's main trading centres and leading ports ever since.
According to Waterford City Council, the name Waterford is derived from the Norse Vedrarfjiordr - which means either "fjord of the rams" (a reference to the export of sheep from the area) or, possibly, "windy fjord" (the harbour was a safe haven for longships).
Some of the finds from the Woodstown site can be seen at an exhibition in the city (which runs until the end of November) called Migrants, Mariners and Merchants. It's a title which perfectly captures the mood of contemporary Waterford.Immigrants are flocking into a booming jobs market; sailors can berth at Ireland's only city centre marina while gargantuan luxury cruise liners (20 this year alone) disgorge thousands of affluent passengers into the shopping districts.
When Waterford's commercial port was relocated in the early 1990s from the city centre to a site at Belview, five miles down river, some feared that the city would never recover. But a slew of huge infrastructure projects and commercial developments is underway as the State's fifth largest city embarks on a major and, some say long overdue, economic transformation.
John Andrews, senior planning officer, says the city council is developing ambitious plans to meet the socio-economic needs of the anticipated increase in population. Today, almost 50,000 people live in Waterford city with a further 70,000 within a 15 to 20-mile hinterland. By 2020, that combined figure is expected to increase to 164,000.
The major sources of employment in Waterford are manufacturing (27 per cent of the workforce) with traditional indigenous companies, such as Waterford Crystal, Diageo and Waterford Stanley, complemented by international companies, such as Bausch & Lomb, ABB, Allied Signal, Genzyme and Honeywell. The wholesale and retail trade accounts for about 14 per cent of jobs and, health and social work, about 10 per cent with Waterford Regional Hospital being the city's largest employer.
Major improvements to the roads network are underway. A long-awaited second bridge over the River Suir is scheduled for completion by 2009. The Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen (who happens to represent Waterford in the Dáil) has also promised that the new Waterford to Dublin motorway will be open by 2010.
The Minister has said that that the new road will mean that "56 minutes will be knocked off the journey time from Waterford to Dublin".
Waterford Regional Airport is also being developed. Aer Arann operates direct flights to Luton, Manchester and Lorient (France). The airport also expects to benefit from September's approval by the EU of a €65.5 million government funding package for Ireland's six regional airports over the next four years.
Waterford Port is Ireland's third largest commercial port and the only regional port outside Dublin with a rail link running through the site, offering quayside access to the national rail network. The authorities believe that the port, which handles only about 2 per cent of national tonnage, has the potential to expand given the "over-stretched and constrained" facilities at Dublin Port. There is a substantial landbank adjacent to the port, zoned industrial.
Waterford has also become a major centre of education, with Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) producing 3,000 graduates a year. WIT has applied for university status.
So Waterford is certainly feeling confident. Belfast man Colin McGookin, of Waterford Crystal and the chamber of commerce, describes the city as "a vibrant place, a hidden treasure with a lot happening, economically, socially and culturally". The city is attracting growing visitor numbers - over 300,000 people a year (80 per cent of them from overseas) visit the Waterford Crystal factory alone. Other tourist attractions include an annual International Festival of Light Opera, the summer Spraoí festival, and the Museum of Treasures at the Granary.
The city's rich architectural heritage, which includes Reginald's Tower (the oldest civic urban structure in Ireland), and the city walls which were recently restored by Latvian stonemasons are being conserved. There are two cathedrals designed by Georgian architect John Roberts, who also designed Waterford City Hall.
The council chamber houses a magnificent collection of antique crystal, including the world's oldest surviving piece of Waterford glass (a chandelier) and William Van der Hagen's famous painting of the city. The building also houses the Victorian Theatre Royal which has recently appointed Ben Barnes, former artistic director of the Abbey Theatre, as its new director.
McGookin says Waterford "may have commenced its Celtic Tiger economic development a little later than the rest of the country but is catching up fast".