Irish Water slammed over outages

Anger was expressed by councillors at water outages in the east of the county - in Mullagh, Virginia, Cross and Maghera - as well as poor pressure experienced in parts of Cavan Town particularly in the run up to Christmas.

At the same time great credit was given to council ground crews, operating on Irish Water’s behalf, for the work carried out to resolve issues and restore supply quickly.

A burst mains pipe in Mullagh left homes without water for several days, with customers urged to conserve water as best they could while essential repairs were carried out.

Meanwhile in Cavan Town, Irish Water crews carried out a number of investigations into leaks caused by burst mains.

Fianna Fáil’s Patricia Walsh said that supply in some parts of Cavan Town was “on and off”, and that families, especially those with young children, were left most “frustrated” by the break in service particularly when it occurred without warning.

Fine Gael’s TP O’Reilly said that ground crews had done “Trojan work” in otherwise difficult circumstances.

Cathaoirleach of Cavan County Council, John Paul Feeley, acknowledged the work carried out, with party colleague Clifford Kelly scathing of a response received from Irish Water in relation to issues with lime in the Kingscourt supply.

He claimed the email received by him recommended that locals could purchase softeners, and even went so far as to suggest the inverse relationship between the hardness of drinking-water and cardiovascular disease.

“This was never a health matter,” he scorned.

In December Cllr Kelly led calls for officials from Irish Water to attend a Municipal District meeting of the Bailieborough-Cootehill area to discuss ongoing issues with the supply in the east Cavan town.

In 2018 a new water treatment plant in Kingscourt was constructed to improve the quality of water for some 3,200 customers in the area. But there have been complaints over the high level of mineral lime in the supply, with Cllr Kelly highlighting damages to home appliances and heating systems.

He described the email received as a “disgraceful” response, and asked that the council re-issue its request for a meeting with Irish Water representatives.

Aontú’s Sarah O’Reilly seconded the motion.

Earlier at the same meeting Independent Shane P O’Reilly revealed he received a response from Irish Water six months after an initial query.

It mirrored a response provided by Director of Services Paddy Connaughton at the time, prompting Cllr O’Reilly to jest that the council executive member was “way ahead of the curve”.

The Mullagh-based representative contended that calling the Irish Water call centre to register an issue or seek an update was a pointless exercise. “Not only do they not know there’s an issue, they don’t even know where you’re talking about,” he accused.

Approaching 10 years since Irish Water was first instituted as a semi-State utilities provider; Cllr O’Reilly commented that the organisation was the “greatest load of nonsense ever, worse than the HSE. It has become a monster.”