ADRIGOLE residents were left without water yet again earlier this week, a meeting has heard.
The latest outage comes despite a meeting between Uisce Éireann and Cork County Council just two weeks ago.
‘There have been 30 breakages in the last 12 months and despite having raised this with Uisce Éireann and Cork County Council at the workshop on February 20th we are still getting mixed messages about when the replacement of the water main will be done,’ Cllr Finbarr Harrington (Ind) stated at the West Cork Municipal District meeting.
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He asked council officials to write to Uisce Éireann asking them to supply residents affected by repeated breakages with a water tanker.
‘When Cork County Council was in charge of water maintenance it always provided a water tanker for residents when there was a break in supply,’ he added.
‘People are without water for days on end. They have no alternative but to go out and buy gallons of bottled water to meet their most basic needs.’
‘It’s off again this morning,’ Cllr Harrington stated. Cllr Harrington, together with Cllr George Gill (FF) and Cllr Danny Collins (Ind Ire) were the Western Division delegates at the workshop on February 20th.
All three impressed upon Uisce Éireann that the disruption in their supply had tested the patience of the people of Adrigole beyond endurance.
‘We asked for a timeline for when the watermain would be replaced and, after the meeting, we were told mid-April and that the work would be completed by the end of July, but now we are hearing that it is mid-May,’ he added.
A report of the workshop – seen by The Southern Star – quotes a reply from UE as: ‘No communications went out re a quarter-two completion. Works are currently in design and this process must be completed before any construction works can commence.’
‘I am getting calls from very cross and disgruntled people, people who have been without water for nine days,’ said Cllr Danny Collins (Ind Ire).
‘What good are these meetings with Uisce Éireann? We spent two or three hours with them last Friday week and we never got a straight answer.’
Cllr Collins complained about the lack of respect shown to councillors and the residents and agreed that Uisce Éireann should at least provide a water tanker instead of expecting people to buy gallons and gallons of water in the shops.
‘The community is facing uncertainty as they look towards the busy spring and summer season,’ Cllr George Gill stated.
‘If a permanent solution is a long way off, the community has called for an emergency plan and a temporary pipe to be placed along the ditch bypassing the rotten section of water pipe. This would ensure a continuous supply to the local community, schools and creche, the vulnerable and the old.’
