Editorial: Election politics, promises and Ireland's fifth city

Waterford has found itself at this juncture before a general election many times. We have a selection of candidates before us, vying for our vote for the top job with plenty of promises, but who is truly worthy?

In 2016 Minister of State Mary Butler topped the poll, having campaigned hard on 24/7 cardiac care for Waterford. She confidently stood alongside her party leader, Micheál Martin, outside University Hospital Waterford with a banner clearly declaring the promise. Many gave her a mandate as a result. Confidence and supply meant that her party could avoid blame for not landing 24/7 during that term of government, but fast forward to 2024, with the key prize still not brought home, despite a Fianna Fáil Minister for Health in situ, voters are right to feel frustrated. 

Progress has been made in terms of a second cath lab, but it has been a snail's pace to 8-8 weekdays, and 8-8 seven days not likely ahead of Christmas. There is also still no guarantee, with the National Review of Specialist Cardiac Services sitting on the Minister for Health's desk for the past number of months, that the end line for Fianna Fáil is full 24/7 cover for cardiac emergencies. 

So does Minister Butler deserve the job? 

Her leaflets this time focus on what she has delivered, rather than promises to come - perhaps a turnabout from the burn of photographic evidence of a promise unfulfilled trotted out to her at every turn.

Yet Waterford needs promises on big ticket items, and it needs delivery of those. 

There's a chorus alongside Minister Butler of vying candidates singing the same hymn, a rhyme that goes Yes to Housing, Yes to the Airport, Yes to 24/7, Yes to new buildings at SETU. 

Is one any more believable than the next? Or, more crucially, who has sufficient political nous to navigate the political-administrative divide on Waterford's behalf?

Looking historically at those who have represented us at the top table - Austin Deasy of Fine Gael as Minister for Agriculture in the 1980s and Martin Cullen in a series of key senior ministerial positions from 2002-2010, including as Minister for Transport when he secured the bypass of the city and the dual carriageway Outer Ring Road, they didn't emerge at the top on their first outing. But they did show a particular level of promise that was recognised locally and rewarded at the ballot box. 

There are other key factors for Waterford to consider - including what form the next government is likely to take. Sinn Féin has been waiting in the long grass a long time now - so long that in 2020 they failed to recognise that the opportunity was upon them. They didn't field enough candidates so forming a government was beyond their reach. The big question is where all those Sinn Féin votes are in 2024. Have they merely slipped back to more traditional voting habits and parties we are used to governing us? 

In Waterford, choosing the best candidate for the job is not easy, as we are presented with a high level of expertise in political spin but not a huge degree of high-end delivery by those before us, and we can only go by the sales techniques of those hoping to unseat the incumbents. 

With no major front-running champion emerging, we are still looking at what the view at the end of the avenue might be.  

One thing is certain though, Waterford needs a champion at the top table. It needs someone who can navigate the corridors of power effectively in the interests of the Déise. It is too long now that Ireland's oldest city and the South East region has been the outlier in terms of national capital delivery. The dial must change.