Council and Irish Water passing buck over and back over sewage pipe problem in Glengarriff

TWO broken sewer pipes are causing a stink in the village of Glengarriff.

‘This is on the N71 in the heart of an important tourism village and the owners of the property want the problem resolved as a matter of urgency,’ Cllr Danny Collins (Ind) stated at a meeting of the West Cork Municipal District.

The councillor said blockages have, over the last year or more, been cleared by a homeowner and the owner of a public house.

He said they engaged plumbers to do the work and subsequently sent down a camera which established that the blockage is on the roadside and is therefore a matter for either Cork County Council or Irish Water to resolve.

But Cllr Collins said when he raised the issue with Cork County Council he was told Irish Water was responsible. And when he raised the issue with Irish Water they said it was a problem that Cork County Council would have to resolve.

Cllr Collins was given an assurance that the problem would be addressed by the county engineer in consultation with Irish Water.

‘This needs to be sorted sooner rather than later,’ said Cllr Collins, ‘because every time there is a back-up in the pipes, the toilets don’t work.

‘That’s not good enough – especially at the height of the tourism season,’ he added.

Alec Corcoran of the Black Sheep B&B in Glengarriff contacted The Southern Star and outlined the problem at his premises.

‘My sewerage pipe got broken two or three years ago when the Council were resurfacing the road,’ he said.

‘A month after they finished my sewerage system got blocked and I got someone to check it. He down put the clearing rods from my house and found that the old clay pipe had broken and was causing a blockage and all the sewerage came up into my garden.

‘He cleared the blockage but warned me it would happen again. About two years, Irish Water said they fixed it, but it isn’t fixed. About three months ago, the system got blocked again and I got it cleared again.

‘He put the cameras in and showed me where the pipe is broken.

‘I rang Irish Water and they said it wasn’t their problem it was the Council’s problem because they fixed the road. I rang the Council and they said it was Irish Water’s problem.

‘It is costing me money to clear it again,’ said Mr Corcoran, who has called on both Irish Water and the Council to rectify the situation.