Why has Waterford City falling so behind the other 4 Cities Dublin Cork Limerick Galway ?

No university. Not a tourist destination.

Relatively low population in its hinterland.

Not really a gateway to anywhere.

We lack political clout. Also poor cohesion/cooperation amongst South East counties.

Forgive me in advance, but could OP please correct Falling to Fallen?

In the meantime someone who cannot count posts about relatively low population in its hinterland and instead ask the obvious question as to how Galway came from being half the size of Waterford circa 1960 to 1.5 times size today. The answer to that question will give OP and others most of the info they require. The rest is explained by the Waterford Glass, all our eggs in one basket syndrome ( John Martin Hearne "Waterford Crystal: The Creation of a Global Brand" ) with low educational attainment and non transferable skills.

Latterly, one of our opposition TDs got 20000 first preference votes last time out and has assumed the recumbent, "silence of the lambs" position. Its a dreadful situation.

If Shanahan had not been elected we would have never heard anything except ".I'm working in the background" The performance of our FF and Green TDs has been lamentable. The less said about our FG senator the better. All the same, I would not be down hearted. Real progress is being made.

Former IT, now Atlantic Technological University since April 2022

Waterford has SETU

Lack of a standalone University has played a major part.

Dublin, too many to name

Cork, UCC

Limerick, UL

Galway, UG

Why is a standalone University important? Research and Development, International Students and FDI.

Also worth considering student population and those who study there might remain there.

We are sold that we now have a "University" in SETU, but the other four cities also have a TU.

Limerick alone has 30k 3rd level students attending, UL, Mary I and it's TUS campus. Waterford has about 9.5/10k students.

A lack of a stand alone University also meant, 3rd level education was the last thing on people's minds in the past and Waterford relied heavily on a manufacturing industry, changes in this sector resulted in large unemployment.

The in house politics of the South East have a played a major part also. As an example zero support or ambition from neighbouring counties to get, the then WIT to a stand alone Uni.

WIT was one ministerial vote away from maintaining standalone University status in 2008. Along came big Phil and Howlin and WIT received zero political and financial support and the result SETU, where Howlin delivered a campus for Wexford.

Politically we are very week, it's also become an insult to use the name Waterford, our local reps are more concerned about toeing the party line, keeping our neighbours on side while beating the South East drum, where in truth the South East is only a thing when services can be pulled from. Waterford.

Waterford county is 128,000.

I agree though that relatively small population of its hinterland is another factor hindering growth.

The SE has small population and I think people gravitate towards Dublin or Cork anyway.

Check facts before posting. Waterford City,,Tramore, Carrick on Suir and New Ross form a coherent city zone by Irish standards with a reasonable population within a fifteen milel radius..People do not understand the closeness of county boundaries in the southeast. The region is more than comparable to Limerick and the Mid west or Galway ad the West Comparisons with Cork or Dublin are not valid.

This ties is with lack of standalone University, people look towards cork and Dublin for eduction.

Brain drain, people leave the region and do not return

Lack of investment in health (only model 4 hospital to have a governing hospital CUH) people look towards cork, Limerick (Tipp) and Dublin (KK, Wexford).

A lot of valid comments re the abysmal political representation, lack of university and anti Waterford sentiment from elsewhere in the region. However, compared to 15 years ago when the glass closed I think things are moving in the right direction.

The city was a declining manufacturing centre but has made great strides towards transforming into a successful services and leisure centre. The tourism offering has come on hugely. There's now six good museums in the viking triangle. The new bridge to the north quays will link the Waterford and New Ross greenway when its finished. That's before any commercial development of the site. The urban realm in the viking triangle is one of the best in the country, even if many living there don't recognise it.

I know there's a lot of development going on elsewhere, but Waterford is now the fastest growing city on the island. Twenty, even ten years ago the premise of the OP would have been correct but I don't think it's now the case. Yeah there are still big issues to overcome and I understand the impatience, but in the longer term I believe Waterford has turned around and is moving in the right direction.

Tbf, with the exception of Dublin and maybe Cork, the rest probably don't come near city status on a European scale.

That said our cities are relevant to our population and at present Ireland has (the republic). has five cities, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.

I don't think anyone would disregard Reykjavík in Iceland as a city despite only having a population of around 140k as it is relevant to the country's population.

At one stage Waterford was on par with Limerick and ahead of Galway (double it's size). So why the drop from 3rd largest to fifth?

Stand alone Universities, ministerial positions, and government funding/support or lack of all the above in Waterford's case.

I was delighted to see a positive post above, we are fighting back, all be it with one hand behind our back. If we had the fortune of one progressive government for Waterford we would be flying it, that I am sure of.

We have a lot of good people in Waterford and the missing link is that government support in education, health and IDA in FDI.