Uisce Éireann has been criticised for its handling of the recent boil water notice in Skibbereen and surrounding areas.

The water utility has come under fire for its lack of clear communication with the public and  representatives trying to get updates.

The topic came up at a recent annual general meeting of the West Cork Municipal District where councillors made their frustration known.

Cllr Brendan McCarthy (FG) raised the issue at the meeting and said the public had received mixed messages: ‘They don't communicate promptly and we can’t find out why the boiled water notice was issued. There’s different rumours. There’s a huge problem with communication.’

‘On June 25th I sent them a message about an elderly couple who had no water. They email me back on July 3^rd, giving me a tracking number. What kind of service is that? It’s just unbelievable,’ said Cllr Deirdre Kelly (FF), adding that councillors had to field all their complaints in a situation like this.

Clrr Isobel Towse (SD) said the utility’s way of communicating was totally unacceptable.

‘I think we should write to Uisce Éireann and ask that they send a representative to each of our meetings because we've a list of questions for them every single meeting. They don't get back to you in a timely fashion and you get mixed communication,’ said Cllr Towse.

Cllr Daniel Sexton (Ind Ire) said: ‘This kind of communication is falling back on us as councillors and it's really, really embarrassing. It's absolute madness.’

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns echoed the sentiment in a statement, saying a text message alert on the final day had informed customers that the boil water notice was still in place.

People could only become aware that the notice had actually been lifted after clicking on a link in the message.

It took them to a website with a press release about the end of the notice period.

‘This is an unacceptable level of communication from our water supplier. Uisce Éireann must do so much better. It has been reported that boil water notices doubled across Cork over the course of a year from 2024 to 2025. With so many notices being issued, the company must initiate a robust and clear communications strategy immediately.’

Uisce Éireann was contacted for comment.