Houses without water on St Stephen’s Day

December 1989

A burst main leaves thousands of Dundalk homes without water on St Stephen’s Day.

At 8.15am pressure goes down at the Castletown Mount pumping station.

A team of urban council workers is assembled and they trace a leak to a field alongside the river, close to the Fatima housing estate.

It is discovered that part of a pipe is cracked.

A new length of pipe is put in as the water is reversing into where the leak occurs.

Many areas of the town are cut off for most of the day, but it is possible to provide a reduced pressure supply to other areas by using the Newry Road supply.

Dundalk fire brigade gets water from Louth county council at Dublin Road and Ardee Road and ferries it to Louth county hospital for the tanks there.

It takes about three hours to provide the necessary 3,000 gallons.

The problem is compounded by the fact the main reservoir at Castletown Mount drains away with the leak, causing a loss of approximately 1 million gallons.

Householders are warned to conserve water. In order to replenish this stock the supply is re-introduced on a phased basis. The repair is finally effected between 8pm and 10pm.

Cllr Jim Cousins is unhappy with the way the situation is handled.

‘At 10am my phone started ringing with people complaining. The couldn’t get through to anybody on the emergency number,’ he says.

‘We have a plan for minor emergencies, but this was a major emergency and there was no plan to deal with it.’

Cllr Cousins is full of praise for urban council foreman Peter Lambe and his staff who manage to get the supply back that day.