“THERE’S no other fairy godmother going to come along with €30m and say here you go,” that’s according to independent Councillor Declan Barry, who represents Waterford Council alongside Fine Gael Councillor Jim Darcy, on Waterford Airport’s Board of Management as the new investment deal was negotiated last week.
The investment into the airport was accepted at a special meeting of the Plenary body of Waterford Council by a majority vote last week, with only one abstainer, Independent Councillor Joe O’Riordan.
Despite the majority of the council passing the investment proposal, opinion was still divided across the floor of the Council Chamber at City Hall, with some Councillors hailing a momentous day for the region, while others insisted that the Council was being “stiffed” once again – but broken promises from the government had left them with no option but to accept this new deal.
Speaking on the day, Cllr. Declan Barry saw only three options: “One is the continual limping-on, like we have been over the last number of years being supported by the council and taxpayers’ money. The second one, I dread to even say this, would be the closing the airport and the loss of the jobs there, and the rescue helicopter leaving this region because if that goes, it won’t come back”.
“But, under this investment proposal we’re guaranteed for a minimum of 10 years and far beyond that hopefully,” Cllr. Barry said. “There’s no other viable alternative investment proposal on the table. So I am highly recommending this, and I for one will definitely supporting it.”
While his colleague on the airport’s Board of Management, Cllr. Jim D’Arcy, acknowledged that the deal was not perfect, but was the best possible outcome given the circumstances.
“It’s far from the perfect deal,” Cllr. D’Arcy said. “We’ve all heard that. I would have liked to seen the leasehold there; I would have liked to have known the investor certainly, and I think I would like to see the commitment to the commercial use, I don’t know if it’s strong enough,” he said.
“We’re basically giving them the land to build an airport, that was always the deal,” continued Cllr. D’Arcy. “But, we need to know that commitment is crucial. We are taking a leap in the dark … the leap for me is that there is a commitment to commercial use, commercial flights … I want to assure to you all that it is the best deal we could get. We pushed for it, of course, but he who pays the piper calls the tune,” Cllr. D’Arcy added.
As was previously reported by this newspaper, Independent Councillor Joe O’Riordan was the only abstainer in the vote, citing that he could not support the dramatic reduction in rates for the wealthy businessperson behind the investment, nor the fact that the investor’s identity would remain hidden.
Although, Fine Gael Cllr. Damien Geoghegan did vote for the proposal, citing airport closure as the alternative outcome, he strongly criticised the council’s willingness to accept no return for their own investment.
“I think it is really disappointing that out of this deal all the creditors will be looked after and Waterford City and County Council gets stiffed by the whole deal, and I believe that’s what’s
sticking in a lot of people’s craw … Waterford City and County Council despite everything over the years is coming out of this having been stiffed!”
He said the council has lost €1.7m in the deal.
“The only benefit from this, as I see it, is we [the council] will now be out of running the airport, and we’ll no longer have to pour in hundreds of thousands of euro in there to keep the lights on,” Cllr. Geoghegan said.
“I wish the new investor and I wish the owners of the airport quite well going forward. It’s a case of cross our fingers here and hope for the best,” he added.
Sinn Féin Councillor John Hearne, who was strongly in favour of the deal, joined others in expressing relief that the council would no longer have to run the airport, as they lack the expertise and spare money to do so, and said that he hoped Mount Congreve and the museums could also be run by the Office of Public Works in the future, while also calling for the nature reserve near the airport be respected.
During the discussion, Waterford City and County Council CEO, Seán McKeown, acknowledged “my own credibility is on the line”.
Funded by the Local Democracy Scheme Aaron Kent
