Families make four-mile trek to parish pump for their water
Locals claim that mile-and-a-half pipe would solve all their problems
UP to 20 families living in a stunning beauty spot in north Mayo are still forced to make a four-mile round trek to a village pump each time they want water for cooking, drinking and bathing. As 600,000 people are subject to a boil water notice in north Dublin and in Leinster, a hamlet on the edge of Ireland has made a fresh appeal for the mile-and-a-half of piping that would solve the problem.
Lucia O’Connell, who moved to Downpatrick Head 14 years ago, explained: ‘This has being going on for nearly 20 years and between us we have spent at least €300,000 digging wells, putting in filtration systems, maintaining these systems, replacing appliances like washing machines, dish washers, toilets, radiators and appliances.
‘When I came here first I had the water coming into my home tested and I was told that it was so bad that I should not even use it to wash my teeth.
‘I live by myself and I would go to the pump in Ballycastle village every second day to fill 10 five-litre drums. But if I had visitors then that would be a problem for me and I would have to pop down to the village every day.
‘It’s not easy having to stand there in the freezing cold and the wind, waiting to get your water. We all have to do this or else we have to buy water. There’s no way you could go near the water out of the tap.’
Lucia’s neighbour Philomena Doherty agrees: ‘We have been trying for 20 years to get water that is fit for human consumption. No one seems to understand, or else they don’t want to understand. We have been made promises by former taoiseach Enda Kenny and Michael Ring.Why can’t they do the right thing…. we don’t want to have to tie ourselves to railings over this.’
At the heart of the problem for the families living at Downpatrick Head is that the local water is not fit for human consumption. It contains arsenic, manganese, as well as iron levels that are 10 times above what is deemed to be safe for human consumption.
Each of the residents has spent thousands of euro digging wells and installing filtration systems to treat the water they access from local streams and rivers.
And some of them have even bored holes more than a 100ft below ground. But no matter how far they have dug they still cannot access water for drinking, cooking and bathing. As a result, when they turn on their taps all that flows is a yellowish and brownish liquid.
Patsy O’Neill explained: ‘One man went down 150-180ft and when the water came out of the tap it was clear for about three or four days. But after that it just smelled like rotten eggs. The water is a brown colour. It stains everything. There is a public mains a mile-and-a half each side of us. All that’s needed is to bring a pipe a mile-and-a-half.’
According to Patsy’s neighbour Noel Kelly, the water is so discoloured families must make a 64.6km round trip to a launderette in Ballina to wash white clothes.
But in order for families living on Downpatrick Head to have their homes connected to a public mains water supply they must prove they are eligible to avail of a government scheme. In addition, they would have to make a financial contribution towards the costs.
Mayo County Council put the residents on a shortlist for funding but last month a panel of experts deemed they were not eligible.
Philomena Doherty explained: ‘There were two other groups behind us on the list but they got the funding and we didn’t. We are a smaller group and it is cheaper for the State to connect them than to connect us because there would be a shortfall between what we would pay as a group and what they could get from government funding.
‘The council is still giving planning permission for people to build houses here even though there is a problem with the water.’ Local senator Michelle Mullherin said: ‘Every time we hoped the net would be cast wide enough and they would get what is a basic right.’
Last night, Mayo County Council released a statement which read: ‘Mayo County Council submitted Downpatrick Head Scheme for funding under the Rural Water Programme. Unfortunately, it was not successful on this occasion. Mayo County Council will continue to pursue this scheme.’
When asked if it was appropriate that families have to make a fourmile round trip to get clean water from a pump, Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy said: ’The Government is committed to ensuring the people of rural Ireland are supported in accessing good quality water and wastewater services.’
However, he said linking them to a public water mains system is not financially viable.
‘The water is brown, it stains everything’ ‘We hoped they’d get what is a basic right’