Irish Water gets the blame for delay in fixing damaged roads

IRISH Water is being blamed for the delay in repairing road surfaces across West Cork and now councillors are calling on Cork County Council to carry out the repairs anyway and not wait any longer.

At a recent meeting of the Western Committee in Clonakilty, Cllr Declan Hurley (Ind) highlighted the ‘appalling state’ of the R586, especially by the pitch and putt course and also the by-pass in Dunmanway. 

Referring to the R599 between Clonakilty and Dunmanway he said it was Irish Water’s fault that it was in such a state.

Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) said he was concerned that a lot of the repair work is dependent on Irish Water ‘but they’re broke’.

‘They’re waiting for Irish Water to come into Drimoleague but they won’t be doing anything for a while. Also, the road out by the swimming pool in Dunmanway is a disgrace,’ said Cllr Carroll.

Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy (FF) said vital work is being held up while they wait for Irish Water to come in, and said the setting-up of the company ‘was the wrong call’.

 ‘The Clonakilty to Dunmanway road used to be a popular cycling route, but people don’t use it anymore as the road needs resurfacing,’ said Cllr O’Sullivan.

County engineer David Keane told councillors that he didn’t think Cork County Council should delay schemes while waiting for Irish Water, and the water utility company should do a full road re-instatement if they need to dig up roads after repair work is carried out by the Council.

Cllr Carroll pointed out that the public would say they are wasting money if recent roadworks had to be dug up again but Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy said Irish Water will be compelled to put roads back to their original state.

Cllr Paul Hayes (SF) said this was a massive issue and felt that Irish Water are washing their hands of it.

‘There are road surface projects dotted all over West Cork that are being delayed and I agree we should force their hand and we should do the work and carry on,’ said Cllr Hayes.

However, Cllr Hurley said that if Cork County Council was going to go down that road, it would give Irish Water an excuse not to carry out the work.