Erection of sign to commemorate old Waterford railway line taking longer than line itself

The erection of a sign to commemorate the old Waterford-Tramore railway line has taken longer than the construction of the line itself, a council meeting has heard.

Independent councillor Donal Barry made the observation at the December Metropolitan meeting of Waterford City and County Council.

Cllr Barry said: “I wish to raise the matter of the proposed information board commemorating the historic Waterford-Tramore railway line.

“The proposal was first raised at this council here in 2022, to which progress has been limited on.

“For context, the Waterford-Tramore railway line was a remarkable piece of engineering. It started construction in 1851 and was completed in 1853.”

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He noted that two years was a very short construction period, especially considering the tools available at the time.

Cllr Barry continued: “I observe that erecting a single information board has taken longer than it did to construct the railway line.”

He described the proposed memorial as “very modest in scale, for educational purposes and respectful of our local heritage”.

In response to Cllr Barry, Director of Services Michael Quinn said: “I’m fairly sure that was passed on to either [the] heritage [department] or to tourism.

“I don’t have an update for you but I’ll follow up on it and get back to you.”

Cllr Barry responded by saying that it was the council’s Heritage Officer, Bernadette Guest, that it was handed over to.