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At least 50,000 households to remain without water until Thursday

Updated 13:05 Irish Water is deploying tankers to Louth and Meath from across the country to...
Newstalk
Newstalk

07.36 24 Jul 2017


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At least 50,000 households to...

At least 50,000 households to remain without water until Thursday

Newstalk
Newstalk

07.36 24 Jul 2017


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Updated 13:05

Irish Water is deploying tankers to Louth and Meath from across the country to deal with the ongoing water shortage in the area.

At least 50,000 households in the north east of the country are likely to be without water services until Thursday at the earliest.

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Households in Drogheda and east Meath woke up to their fourth day of severely disrupted services this morning after a mains pipe burst on Friday. 

A spokesperson for Irish Water has said three attempts to fix the ruptured main supplying the Staleen Water Treatment Plant in Drogheda have now failed.

The company has warned it will now have to build another "bespoke" solution "from scratch" in order to resume services.

The company is hopeful that work can be completed by Thursday.

These people at a water collection point in Drogheda aren't happy at the way the matter's been handled:

At least 50,000 households to remain without water until Thursday

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

A temporary rotating rationing system was put in place over the weekend – however the supply has now been completely shut off in an effort to prioritise services for Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.

Residents are being provided with water at 21 temporary water stations across Meath and Louth - however that supply must be boiled before use.

Local TD Fergus O'Dowd has said it is a real crisis for the area.

“Well I mean restaurants can’t open, shops won’t be able to open, businesses won’t be able to function, households can’t function – that is a real, absolute crisis,” he said.

He accused Irish Water of failing to plan ahead and deal with the issue;

“They have failed in the delivery of water tankers to the streets and the villages of our area so that people have an adequate and proper supply,” he said.

“The proper planning has not taken place and what I am calling for the tankers to be sent in now from all over the country to make sure that every street and every resident has an adequate supply of potable water.”

Local councillor Kevin Callan said hotels have been hit especially hard:

“In terms of Irish Water’s updates, they are all over the place,” he said. “They are not consistent and they are giving the public absolutely no confidence that this is going to be resolved.”

“So for example we have businesses in Drogheda who have no water from last Friday morning, including hotels.

“Including hotels which had weddings over the weekend – nothing provided to them.”

The company is aiming to have the water supply back to normal by this evening.


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