Irish Water under fire over burst Ballynacargy pipes

The failure of Irish Water to adequately deal with a major water outage which affected a wide section of Westmeath two weeks ago was rounded on by members of the Mullingar Municipal District of Westmeath County Council at their June meeting last week.

At the same time great praise was directed at the council’s own staff who had gone “above and beyond” the call of duty in addressing the saga.

Apart from Ballynacargy, where two pipes burst within hours, other areas of the county which suffered water disruption included Milltown, Moyvore, Ballymore and Moate, with members arguing that an emergency crew should always be on hand in the county.

Cllr Johnnie Penrose said they had a particular difficulty in Ballynacargy, advising his colleagues it was fortunate that one house was not flooded.

He said the problems lasted for 48 hours and stressed that it had been impossible to get a plumber. He applauded the council staff who had attended and did their utmost to rectify the situation but wondered what arrangement the council has with Irish Water in relation to emergency cover.

Likewise, Cllr Ken Glynn praised the council staff, saying they had taken calls at all hours as efforts were made to tackle the problem.

Expressing his sympathy with the people of Ballynacargy and the surrounding areas, Cllr Paddy Hill related how a similar situation had occurred in the Collinstown area on St Patrick’s Day and no staff could be found.

The following day a crew had come from Tullamore and solved the problem within two hours, he said.

Efforts to communicate with officials of Irish Water over that 24-hour period had proved fruitless, he stated.

It appeared that there is no arrangement between Westmeath County Council and Irish Water in relation to emergency cover in the county, whereas a similar situation occurred in Longford last Saturday afternoon and the problem was resolved within hours. What is the difference between Westmeath and Longford, he pondered.

“There’s no sense of understanding in Irish Water about the problems issues like this can causes,” stated Cllr Sorca Clarke. “It’s just not right.”

Director of services, Martin Murray, assured the members that the major hold-up in relation to the burst pipes was the unique fittings involved in relation to the damaged pipes.

The pipes involved were old and a particular connection had to be sourced, he said. In such situations, it could be a pipe that bursts or a collar that bursts.

Mr Murray advised the meeting that at the present time there is a difficulty in relation to weekend cover but said that discussions are taking place to try to resolve matters.