The recent opening of multinational telecommunications giant NTL's customer management centre in Waterford has been a real coup for Waterford - a city where future economic prosperity could depend on its ability to attract high-tech and scientific industry. Waterford has one of the largest and most impressive Institutes of Technology in the country with a ready pool of software graduates and has already attracted a number of large multinationals like Allied Signal, Bausch and Lomb and AOL.

But despite this success, it is widely recognised that a lack of investment in infrastructure and access roads to and from Waterford has stymied a large volume of potential inward investment.

The IDA - which has just submitted a five-year master plan for a new business park on the Cork road and is attempting to get its 100 acre-Belview site aimed at large scale industry up and running - is only one of the bodies that has highlighted the need for extensive funding in terms of improved road and air access. Up to now local funding has largely matched national funding in initiatives to improve the appearance and infrastructure of the city.

There are signs that, at last, progress is being made. A number of proposed large-scale projects have recently got the green light or are already underway, and are set to improve the infrastructure, and hopefully the fortunes, of the city. Naturally these announcements have been generally welcomed, but there is a general feeling that there is still much to be done.

A proposed new £90 million by-pass from Kilmeaden, linking the Dublin and Cork roads, which is due for completion in 2005, will incorporate a second bridge over the Suir.

According to Donald Palmer of Palmer Auctioneers, the new road will provide much-need relief for the congested centre city. "There is nowhere else for the traffic to go but straight through the city and the existing bridge has to cope with a lot of trucks and heavy vehicles."

The Mayor of Waterford Alderman Pat Hayes has publicly stated that "at long last" Waterford is getting the by-pass it needs, but went on to slate successive governments for their neglect of the city. Commenting on a statistic that Waterford's unemployment rate is 16 per cent above the national average, he called for "a fair share" of investment in infrastructure in the city.

Not everyone is happy with the route the by-pass is proposed to take. The Butlerstown Residents Action Group says the planned route, if adopted, will devastate its community. But if it does go ahead, the by-pass is expected to create major development opportunities in the north-west of the city.

The first phase of the outer ring road, which will stretch from the Cork road to the Dunmore road, has been completed. According to senior executive planner John Andrews, Waterford Corporation is hoping to attract national funding to complete construction.

"It has up to now been built solely with local funding. If national funding is made available it could take two years to complete the road," he said.

The next five-yearly review of the city's development plan is expected to contain a programme of road improvements under the action area plan in the areas of Kilbarry and Ballybeg, and in the north-west suburbs, including the Gracedieu area. It is envisaged that these areas will consequently be opened up for further residential development.

According to Desmond O'Toole of O'Shea, O'Toole and Partners, there will be radical changes to the city in the next five to 10 years. One of these changes will be the proposed £428 million dual carriageway and motorway under the National Development Plan 2000-2006 between Waterford and Dublin, which is expected to be completed in 2007.

Improved air access is also a concern and while the Government is investing £11 million in regional airports under the National Development Plan 2000-2006, Waterford Regional Airport needs about £7 million to extend its runway to accommodate jet aircraft.

In the past, Waterford has, perhaps unfairly, been unfavourably compared to Galway in terms of growth. But while Galway has no major urban centre within 30 miles, Waterford has a cluster of large towns within easy reach. There has been rapid growth in the population, now estimated to be 50,000, of Waterford's greater urban area in recent years; it is expected to reach 70,000 over the next 20 years.

But despite past neglect, the future looks bright for Waterford. The Chamber of Commerce has launched a marketing drive to promote Waterford abroad and highlight its advantages. Says a spokesman: "It is big enough to have the amenities of a city but small enough not to have experienced the same level of property price spiral."