Editorial: Recognising and honouring Waterford's talented creative core 

This week, we reveal the nominations in the Waterford News & Star Green Room Awards 2026 - recognising and honouring those immensely talented people who contribute in myriad ways to the arts in Waterford.

While the Déise might not gain the exposure of other Irish urban centres when it comes to the arts - Galway Arts Festival, Kilkenny Arts Festival and Wexford Festival Opera are well-known in the national lexicon - there is no denying that the calibre of arts offering here is on a par with, if not quietly surpassing, what is happening elsewhere across the country.

The work of Pat McEvoy, Waterford News & Star arts correspondent, in highlighting this work, week in, week out, across the year, is essential to bringing such a rich part of our culture to a wider audience, and essentially educating and informing us on what is happening on our own doorsteps, what new ground is being broken, the new kernels of talent that are emerging.

Incredible theatre is not the sole domain of the Abbey and the Gate in Dublin - it happens in theatre houses across Waterford, whether in the staging of the work of long-established playwrights, or in performances of new writing. 

It happens in the city, Tramore, Dungarvan, and smaller community spaces in villages the length and breadth of the county, including in our wonderful Gaeltacht.

Exhibitions across multiple arts practices are continuously curated and opened to the public in our gallery spaces; dance broaches new heights of creativity; and youth groups nurture the creativity of future Déise generations. 

This year, a number of our long-established groups celebrated big birthdays, including Waterford Panto Society and Waterford Youth Arts, both marking the big 4-0 before Christmas.

Credit must go to Waterford City and County Council, which has long supported the arts in Waterford, with the establishment of the dedicated Waterford Gallery of Art (WGOA) in recent years on O'Connell Street a case in point. If you haven't been through its doors yet to take in an exhibition, make it your business to do so. It features Waterford's municipal art collection, as well as temporary exhibitions, and is free to the public, so it won't cost you anything only some well-spent time. 

Waterford Council has also been actively engaging in Tramore's quest for a dedicated theatre space, and, hopefully, this will progress in the not-too-distant future.

A plethora of arts events, dependent on Council funding, happen across the year thanks to the backing they receive - and they in turn bring new guests and audiences to events across the Déise.

The majority of the arts' activities, as reflected in the Green Room Awards nominations, are voluntarily run, by people passionate about what they are doing. 

The musicals and pantomimes might gain the largest audiences, and they are a hugely important part of what is happening, but creativity also takes place on much-smaller scales, whether it is an open mic poetry night, or a play to a small, intimate audience.
Hamnet has put the talent of actor Jessie Buckley firmly in the spotlight of international acclaim - there are countless more actors like Jessie across the country. Just like in sport, bulwarking our local arts paves the way for these people to find their niche and to flourish.