I think one of the main reasons Waterford City has suffered over the years is that it's hemmed in by the surrounding counties and boundary extension fighting takes precedence over stuff like joint land use studies. Like Limerick, Waterford used to be at a crossroads of many railway lines, now it's barely three and could become one unless development is channeled along the Clonmel-Waterford-South Wexford axis.
The ferry traffic could go either way - it could be hit by Waterford airport's upcoming runway extension to take 737 sized aircraft or helped by future taxation and restriction of short range flights on the grounds of carbon emissions.
One side point - there was reference earlier to Martin Cullen being from Waterford etc. In Canada the Federal Cabinet has "political ministers" with responsibility for one large province or several small ones in addition to their regular job. This means that when they lobby for government projects they can do so with a *small* bit more credibility as they can fight for their region more openly rather than acting the snake within their own department, diverting their ministry to shoehorning spending into their area when their region might need something from another ministry more.
In such a case Cullen could act as a channel for the concern of all of the SE region at the cabinet table and bilaterally with his Cabinet colleagues, not just Waterford, although this would be hampered by his being a muppet.
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