Darragh's Soapbox: Waterford retail and traffic needs to improve in 2025, say locals
With a new year, there comes a fresh opportunity to improve, change or address certain aspects of life in the city and county, and to roll in 2025 we asked locals what they would like to see take place in Waterford this year.
An increased retail offering was by far the most prominent opinion raised on the streets of the city, with a number of locals showing dismay at the current shopping offering available.
said: “I think in the city centre there’s too many vape shops and not enough shops that will actually draw people into the city. I think there should be more restaurants and cafes that will be friendly to families and older folks.”
, a Cork native, added: “In Cork, everything feels a lot closer to the city centre and most shops are within walking distance, but it feels like any shop you want to go to here in Waterford you have to take a bus or it’s a bit of a trek to go shopping or looking for retail here."
shared a similar view, saying: “More clothes shops are needed and less vape shops. If you’re going to a wedding, you’re in trouble here because there’s not many places to go to buy clothes. We have no shops to bring our age group into Waterford, so it’s to Kilkenny or Cork.”
The ladies also said that better lighting on the streets in needed.
said he would like to see the city centre reopen to traffic this year, saying that “pedestrianisation has destroyed retail in the city centre”.
“You’d hope city council would wake up and see the damage being done in relation to traffic infrastructure. They weren’t wearing masks on their mouths when they were planning this, they were wearing masks on their eyes. If go back 30 years ago, on this street alone 3,000 people would walk through on the weekend. Now they’ve turned it into a no-go area.”
