Cllr. Liam Brazil has succeeded Cllr. Seamus Ryan as Mayor of the City and County of Waterford.
Cllr. Brazil’s election was contested by Sinn Féin Councillor Donnchadh Mulcahy, although this contest was something of a formality as the voting pact in the Council (made up of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and some Independents) have a comfortable majority.
Cllr. Brazil’s election was watched by a large family contingent in the public area of the chamber, and celebrated that night in Crotty’s Bar in Lemybrien, after Cllr. Brazil announced an invite to all in attendance from the top seat.
“I will promote Waterford City and County every chance that I get,” he said during his acceptance speech. “We have it all here in Waterford. We are the oldest City, founded by the Vikings, 140 km of beautiful coastline, 49 fabulous beaches, lovely Comeragh Mountains up where I come from, and 46 km of greenway,” said the newly elected Mayor.
“I’m a very positive person and I want to bring you all with me on this journey, to talk up our beautiful Waterford City and County, and let people know all the good things that are happening,” he continued.
“The good news often gets lost with the bad news around, but I think it is so important that we are positive and let people know that we are open for business here in Waterford City and County.
“I’m not going to sit here today and tell you what I’m going to do for the next 12 months. But I promise you, if God spares me, I will be here next year to tell you what we have done as a Council over the last 12 months.”
Cllr. Brazil did name a few projects he would like to see progressed during his tenure, including, connecting the coast to the Comeragh mountains, increase measures to tackle fly-tipping, more houses being built in rural villages, increased funding into roads for which the budget is ‘not good enough’, works to begin on the new fire station in Kilmacthomas, planes to be flying out of Waterford Airport, 24/7 cardiac care in UHW and beginning of traffic calming works in Lemybrien.
He drew laughter from the chamber when he promised to fight for road funding at every turn he can – including knocking on the door of Minister of State John Cummins, who was in attendance with his wife Inga.
Cllr. Brazil also highlighted his dissatisfaction with the current state of the clock tower on Waterford City’s Quay, with the clock face being stopped for years.
“As you all know the clock has been stopped there going back a long time, probably 10 or 15 years. I think it stopped at quarter past 11,” he said.
“When I’m sitting here next year, I would be hoping that clock would be saying 14.52,” the exact time of his comments, which again drew laughter despite being delivered with complete seriousness.
“The clock tower is a feature of our City and a clock is on it with the wrong time. For me it’s not good enough,” Cllr. Brazil added.
Congratulations and thanks
Judging by the comments of congratulations, Cllr. Brazil seems to be well regarded on all sides of the Council chamber.
He thanked his family for supporting his through the life of a public representative.
“Being a public representative is not an easy job as you all know. It’s a very tough job. There are times when you go home in the night time and you wouldn’t be in the right form, and then you might get tough phone calls, phone calls at half four in the morning, along with the abuse,” Cllr. Brazil said.
“To take all that isn’t easy,” he continued. “Everyone in this chamber, they always try to do their best but sometimes their best isn’t good enough.
“I don’t believe you should get abuse for anything after that. But that goes home to your own family. It is great to have a family to share that with.”
He thanked his three daughters, their husbands, his grandchildren, and most importantly, his wife Marie.
One interesting point made during comments of congratulations came from Cllr Declan Clune, who explained that Liam Brazil won over 25% of the first preference votes in his municipal area in the 2024 local elections, which is the greatest proportion of first preference votes achieved by any councillor in Waterford.
Positivity was a theme of Cllr. Brazil’s first address as mayor.
“We have to be positive in this chamber, because if we are positive in here then word goes out that business is welcome in Waterford,” Cllr. Brazil added.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
