‘Town was dead’ - Waterford ‘really in trouble’ when it comes to its retail offering

Waterford city is “really in trouble” when it comes to its retail offering, a council meeting has heard.

The issue was raised by Fianna Fáil councillor Jason Murphy at the December Metropolitan District meeting of Waterford City and County Council.

Cllr Murphy suggested that the council hold a workshop to discuss retail in the city centre.

He stated: “I think everyone will acknowledge that retail in our city centre is suffering. I think sometimes we are stuck in a bit of an 80’s style mentality in relation to retail.

“We still believe that we survive on one-income families, that there is a wife that goes into town and does the shopping from 9-5 - in the 80s I’m talking about.

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“We need to get past that attitude. The reality now is that we live in two income households and there’s a real issue about time and all families are under pressure for time.

“There are people working when the city is open and when they are finished working the city is closed, so they can’t actually get in to do their shopping.”

Cllr Murphy said that the council needs to do more to promote the night time economy in the city and encourage shops to stay open later.

“I’d like to see our City Centre Management Committee look at this and see if the council can promote a proper night time economy.

“I think when we talk about the night time economy we’re actually talking about pubs and entertainment but there’s more to the night time economy and I think it’s about having shops open.”

He went on to describe what he encountered during a recent visit to the city centre.

“I was in on Wednesday night and the only shops that were open were Penneys and Elverys, who were doing quite a good lot of business.

“But outside of that, the town was dead because again, there’s people that are working and they can’t get into town. Let’s get them into town.”

Cllr Murphy added that while a certain amount of responsibility does lie with retailers themselves, the council could still do more to incentivise shops staying open later.

“We need to see a change of attitude in terms of opening hours. I know people will say that’s up to retail but we can do this.

“I mean we can move things around rates, we can give people some kind of reduction for opening in the evening. I think it’s something we have to look at.

“We’re really, really in trouble with our retail offering in the city centre and I think we need to use management measures to push it forward,” he concluded.

In response to Cllr Murphy, Director of Services Michael Quinn said that there is only so much the council can do on its own.

Mr Quinn stated: “Just in relation to retail, we could have a million workshops, us collectively and it won’t solve any problems because it must come with the time and commitment of the retailers.

“We have undertaken that we will engage practically with the retailers. Effectively, the same sort of idea as what you were suggesting, it’s a workshop with retailers around what practical proposals can be brought forward collectively that will work.”

He went on to say that improving retail in the city is a priority for the council in 2026.

“There’s a whole combination of things that have to work together. So there’s no easy solution to this but it can only be done in partnership with the retailers.

“It is a priority for next year. We have certainly started that process [and] the retailers have started the process with us so we will continue, but it just takes a while to get the right proposals in.”

Cllr Murphy also spoke on the subject of parking in city, particularly during the Winterval festival.

He stated: I was also, I have to say, a little bit disappointed. Winterval has been a great success and I think it would have been a good time to tip our toe into Park & Ride.

“I went to town for Winterval there last Saturday evening and it was 7 o’clock and you couldn’t get a parking space in the city centre.

“The parking is free at that point so it’s not a case of the cost of parking. Again, as I always say, it’s a matter of capacity.”

He went on to express his disappointment at the fact there was no attempt to put together a Park & Ride facility this year.

“There were people parking on the curbs in Bolton Street and indeed in Waterside.

“This was an opportunity to have a look at Park & Ride. To have a little look at it, see would it work and see if we could maybe branch it out moving forward.

“We didn’t do that. I think it’s an opportunity that we lost,” he concluded.

In response to Cllr Murphy, Mr Quinn said that a Park & Ride has been explored in the past.

He stated: “In terms of Winterval, we did have a Park & Stride last year from the RSC. I’m not sure if that’s put in place this year but the practicalities of the Park & Ride are way more complicated from a Winterval point of view.

“It was looked at specifically last year because in plenty of time, councillors raised issues with it but it was actually deemed not feasible.”

He argued that the fact that there were difficulties with parking during Winterval is a sign of the festival’s success.

“I suppose the fact that there was difficulty with parking does show that there is a good draw and hopefully, over time, people are going to be more drawn to public transport as that service continues to improve rather than coming in in their cars.

“It was definitely considered last year as part of the programme and I think what they went with was parking at the RSC.”