Fixing leak just another Irish Water pipe dream Fury as rotten line which led to 8-day drought fails again

BUNGLING Irish Water last night repaired a rotten water pipe it promised to fully replace eight months ago.

The damaged line burst on Wednesday night, raising fears 200,000 homes and businesses could be cut off again.

Irish Water was working to avoid a drought similar to the eight-day nightmare experienced by tens of thousands of people in Drogheda and Meath last year.

Louth TD Imelda Munster last night branded the company “spoofers” for failing to properly mend the pipe. The Sinn Fein transport spokeswoman told the Irish Mirror: “This is the very same pipe that has burst again. It’s only 20 metres from where it went the last time. “They’re saying it won’t be as bad as last time, but they can’t say when it will be fixed so they are just spoofing.

“Parts of east Meath are without water already.” Alternative water supplies are in place and bottled water is being distributed to vulnerable customers. An outage is impacting customers in Ratoath, Kilbride and Duleek and it could be between 36-48 hours before full services are restored.

Irish Water issued a statement yesterday, saying: “A water supply is being maintained to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and we are also prioritising schools, nursing homes, creches and vulnerable customers.” Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy defended the scandal-hit utility in the Dail yesterday saying: “Irish Water didn’t cause the mayhem last year, but they resolved it and fixed it. “Thankfully because of how they reacted last year, they have a second piece of replacement pipe which they are now hoping to install to help bring water back as quickly as possible.” He added the permanent solution of replacing the entire pipe will begin within weeks.