![\"Sean](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0024aa46-614.jpg\"\/)
\nSe\u00e1n Dower’s funeral is due to take place on Friday<\/p>\n
Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has paid tribute to former Waterford councillor Se\u00e1n Dower, who was heavily involved in many different aspects of public life in the county.<\/p>\n
Mr Dower served as a Fianna F\u00e1il councillor on the former Waterford Corporation from 1999 to 2004.<\/p>\n
He previously held the position of chairperson of the party’s Waterford branch.<\/p>\n
The Taoiseach said Mr Dower “embodied the best of public service” and he described him as a “wise and caring man.”<\/p>\n
Mr Dower was also highly respected within the arts community.<\/p>\n
He served as chairperson of the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera and volunteered annually with the Spraoi International Street Arts Festival.<\/p>\n
Mr Dower was also a life-long member of Mount Sion GAA Club.<\/p>\n
Mayor of Waterford City and County, Councillor Liam Brazil opened a book of condolences for Mr Dower saying this would offer the public the opportunity to express their sympathy to his family.<\/p>\n
In May, Mr Dower was presented with a long service award and centenary medal by the Taoiseach for his work in the Fianna F\u00e1il party at an event organised by Government Chief Whip and local TD Mary Butler to commemorate the founding of the party in Waterford.<\/p>\n
Paying tribute, the Taoiseach said he was “very sorry” to learn of the death of his “friend, former councillor and chair of Waterford Fianna F\u00e1il CDC.”<\/p>\n
“Se\u00e1n Dower was a friend for many years. Se\u00e1n loved his community and both as a councillor, and subsequently worked hard to improve the lives of his fellow citizens.<\/p>\n
“Se\u00e1n contributed greatly to Fianna F\u00e1il. He chaired our constituency executive for many years. He also worked tirelessly with many other local organisations.<\/p>\n
\nSe\u00e1n Dower’s funeral is due to take place on Friday<\/p>\n
“I met Se\u00e1n in early May when I had the pleasure of presenting him with a lifetime service award on behalf of Fianna F\u00e1il.<\/p>\n
“Se\u00e1n believed in getting things done and he did so in an effective, understated and caring way. He was a wise man, great company and a good friend to all of us in Fianna F\u00e1il.<\/p>\n
“On my own behalf, and on behalf of the Fianna F\u00e1il organisation, I offer my deepest sympathy to Se\u00e1n’s wife, Margaret, his children Jaimie, Adrian and Corinna, his grandchildren along with the wider Dower family,” the Taoiseach said.<\/p>\n
Deputy Butler also paid tribute to Mr Dower describing him as a mentor.<\/p>\n
“Se\u00e1n was a wonderful friend to me, a supporter, a canvasser, and mentor. He had a keen political mind and was always very level headed and balanced even in the midst of intense campaigns and elections.<\/p>\n
“He held a deep understanding of political life, the daily challenges, the highs and the lows.<\/p>\n
“He was also a strong community man and contributed significantly to all aspects of local life.<\/p>\n
“He was a man of the highest calibre and truly one of nature\u2019s gentlemen. He will be dearly missed by all in Fianna F\u00e1il and Waterford,” Ms Butler added.<\/p>\n
In a post on social media, the organisers of the Spraoi festival said it was with “great sadness” that they learned of Mr Dower’s death.<\/p>\n
“Se\u00e1n was a wonderful man who made a huge contribution to Waterford throughout his life. He will be sorely missed by all at Spraoi,” they said.<\/p>\n
“As a mark of respect, Spraoi’s planned programme launch for this coming Friday is being deferred.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has paid tribute to former Waterford councillor Se\u00e1n Dower, who was heavily involved in many…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-540042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}