Ballynoe water ‘a shocking state of affairs’

Irish Water have confirmed that approximately 2.9km of mains for Ballynoe have been approved to go to design this year, however a timeline for the delivery has yet to be confirmed.

Cork East TD James O’Connor stated that he received confirmation earlier this month and is now seeking that the ‘urgent matter’ of water for Ballynoe be rectified before the year end.

“I am very supportive of Irish Water’s expansive plans across the country in replacing many old water pipes which have served this country for many years but now is the time to move on and replace these pipes with new ones that are up to standard..

“However, I will be following up with Irish Water on a timeline for delivery. This is an urgent matter for the people of Ballynoe that must be rectified before the year end,” Deputy O’Connor said.

Ongoing issues with public water supply in Ballynoe were a key point of discussion at Monday’s meeting of the Northern Divisional Committee.

The matter was raised in a joint motion tabled by councillors William O’Leary and Frank O’Flynn as well as in a motion tabled by Cllr Noel McCarthy.

It was outlined that locals in Ballynoe had been dealing with water issues for months now, with the situation having ‘seriously deteriorated’ in more recent times, resulting in weekly and daily breaks in the water main.

‘FED UP’

Speaking at the meeting, Rathcormac councillor William O’Leary explained that the issue lies within approximately 3km of old water pipe running from the reservoir at Boulta into the village.

“The bottom line here is it needs a full overlay of new pipe from the reservoir into the village. It’s very disheartening for people out there. It’s weekly and it’s daily that this is going on. It’s a shocking, shocking state of affairs. People are just fed up with everything now at the moment, and they have this on top of them,” Cllr O’Leary said.

Cllr Frank O’Flynn outlined that there had been as many as four breaks in the pipe over the past two weeks and that a tanker of water had been supplied by Cork County Council to those in the village as the outages were dealt with.

“The pipe is like tissue paper. At the moment we’re only putting bandages on bandages,” he said.

News of an approved 2.9kms of mains going to design this year was welcomed the Cllr O’Flynn, however, he called for pressure to be put on Irish Water to deliver a timeline and to replace to aged mains as soon as possible.

At the meeting, Cllr Noel McCarthy spoke about the ‘frustration and upset’ experienced by residents due to the frequent water outages. According to the Fermoy based councillor, he had visited the area recently and while there, the water was out in the entire village due to yet another break.

REVIEWING PRIORITIES

Local councillors supported the motions, seeking action on the issue, also speaking on the costs and time taken to repair broken pipes, noting that a full overlay of new pipes would be more efficient.

North Cork Divisional Manager, James Fogarty, lent his support to the councillors, however, noted that he has ‘no direct control’ over Irish Water.

The response from County Engineer Kevin Morey on the motion acknowledged that there has been an increase in the rate of water breaks on the main there in recent weeks.

“An exercise is currently in train to review priorities for mains rehabilitation in the Northern Division and the recent breaks at Ballynoe will be factored in to that appraisal. We will have more information in the next month or so on the prospects for mains rehabilitations and possible timelines,” the response read.

‘NO CURRENT TIMELINE’

This week, Irish Water amended a statement made to TheAvondhu last week and confirmed that some 2.9km of mains have been approved for construction in Ballynoe.

“Irish Water has approved replacement of approx. 2.9km of mains in Ballynoe. The project is currently at design phase with no current timeline for delivery”.