Winterval took business away from county Waterford says councillor

Business was directed away from Dungarvan and toward Winterval over Christmas.

That is according to Councillor Joe O’Riordan at the January sitting of the Dungarvan-Lismore District Council, who said that signs were displayed in the town for Winterval at a time when local businesses were struggling to contend with challenges like poor weather and a lack of parking.

The councillor also pointed out that Winterval is heavily subsidised by the council and more so than seasonal events in West Waterford.

“The positioning of signs diverting business from the town to Winterval, an event heavily supported by the council, I found personally to be slightly egregious, however unintentional that may be.

“The signs were numerous and prominent. However, my argument is that it was a heavily subsidised event in Waterford, said Cllr O’Riordan.

Cllr O’Riordan called on the council to provide more support to Dungarvan and West Waterford events.

He said that The Santa on the Strand and The Big Switch will cooperate going forward.

But the fact remains that hundreds of thousands of euros are going to the city, and West Waterford is getting “a fraction of that”.

“We are the county town, and we need to support events and enhance the offering at Christmas and West Waterford, both existing events and some new events as well.

“So, I’m kind of promoting it today that maybe the council economic section could come up with a few other events for Dungarvan over the Christmas period,” said Cllr O’Riordan.

Senior Executive Engineer in the Rural Economic Development section, Conor O’Neill, said that the councillor’s comments were “noted”.

“I can’t personally do much about that. I can report back to the management team on that. 

"And I’m sure they will note that as well in terms of comments on trying to attract more visitors to Dungarvan,” said Mr O’Neill.

Funded under the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.