Waterford Council spends over €18,000 on St. Patrick’s Day trip to United States

Waterford City and County Council spent over €18,000 on this year’s St. Patrick’s Day trip to the United States, it has been revealed.

Mayor of Waterford Seamus Ryan, Metropolitan Mayor Adam Wyse and Cllr Joe Kelly were among the delegation that travelled to Boston from March 11 to 16.

They were joined by Chief Executive Sean McKeown and Senior Executive Officer Honor Dunphy.

The council has released a report detailing the events of the trip, as well as the costs.

The group undertook a number of engagements and attended a number of functions over the course of the trip.

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On Thursday, March 12, they attended a networking breakfast followed by an overview of State Street Bank.

Later that day, the group visited Boston College and were given a tour of the McMullen Library.

Mayor Ryan also officially opened the ‘Waterford Room’ in the Waterford-owned Hamilton Restaurant.

On Friday, March 13, a meeting was held with IDA Ireland’s Boston branch in which Chief Executive Sean McKeown gave a presentation.

Mr McKeown encouraged investment in Waterford, highlighting the development of the North Quays and the airport.

This was followed by a visit to the State House, during which the Mayor was presented with an official citation from the State Senate.

The group also held a meeting with the Boston Irish Business Association.

Meanwhile, Mayor Ryan attended the Evacuation Day Banquet at the Thomas Menino Convention Centre. The event commemorated the British evacuation of Boston in 1776.

On Sunday, March 15, the delegation attended a breakfast event with the Irish American community in Boston. Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee was also in attendance.

The group subsequently took part in the St. Patrick’s Day parade, which saw an attendance of over one million people along the three kilometre route.

On the final day of the trip, the group held meetings with Irish-owned businesses, Shorla Oncology and CarGurus.

According to the report released by the council, the total cost of the trip was €18,114.82.

The costs of the flights and accommodation stood at €14,792.96, whilst the meals reached a total cost of €1,107.31.

Meanwhile, €481.38 was spent on transport and €1,733.17 went towards providing gifts to hosts.

All of the gifts were sourced locally and included products from Waterford Crystal, Ardmore Pottery and Waterford Whiskey.

Mayor Ryan said that the visit reflected “a strong mutual understanding and shared commitment between Waterford and Boston to deepen cultural appreciation and expand economic opportunity”.

He added that “the programme of engagements during the visit demonstrated a clear openness for continued collaboration and exchange”.

The release of the costs of the trip followed a war of words at the March plenary meeting of Waterford City and County Council.

Accusations flew after Sinn Féin councillor John Hearne claimed in a post on Facebook that the trip would cost the council €50,000.

He subsequently called for a review of foreign travel and questioned why additional councillors had to accompany the Mayor to Boston.

Later in the meeting, Fianna Fáil councillor Jason Murphy accused Sinn Féin of hypocrisy when it comes to foreign trips.

He stated: “Let me assure you that Sinn Féin have been in every lottery to go on every foreign trip.

“If they have principled opposition to this, maybe they should show it and not enter the damn draw to go.”

A shouting match then ensued in which several Sinn Féin councillors argued they didn’t enter the draw to travel to the United States.

Waterford City and County Council has subsequently said that a total of 15 elected members expressed an interest in going on the trip.

Following a draw, Cllr Wyse and Cllr Kelly were selected to join Mayor Ryan's delegation.