Over the last weekend Irish Water has shown absolute contempt for the people of Clonmel, residents and businesses alike.
It clearly has no regard for nor is it in any way accountable to the people of the town.
Its actions, or rather lack of action, on two serious water outages in the town, on a festival weekend, proves once again that it is not fit for purpose and should be abolished.
The conduct of Irish Water over the last weekend in Clonmel is not just a matter of incompetence or mismanagement but it is the result of a deliberate policy to refuse to deal with water outages at weekends.
Irish Water must be abolished and control of water services must be returned to Local Authorities.
But in the interim, because what happened last weekend could happen again tomorrow, Irish Water must be forced to delegate to a designated County Council/Official/Engineer responsibility, for responding to water situations on their own initiative.
Currently, County Council staff are simply sub-contractors to Irish Water and cannot respond to water disruption until instructed to do so by Irish Water.
The conduct of Irish Water over the last weekend was disgraceful, outrageous, unacceptable and any other such adjective one could care to mention.
The water outage in the town centre was entirely predictable once the weather alert was issued.
The Poulnagunogue supply, a pristine supply, always needed to be managed carefully and that is why Clonmel Borough Council had a dedicated caretaker in place to control, monitor and maintain that supply.
The caretaker had the back-up of Council staff for preventative maintenance and emergency situations. That all changed when Irish Water took over.
The dedicated caretaker was dispensed with, preventative maintenance stopped and Irish Water refuses to call out Council staff for emergencies at weekends.
Irish Water refused to call out Council staff last Saturday and Sunday (weekend) but the staff were called out on Monday. This is exactly what happened last weekend resulting in town centre chaos on a festival weekend.
A second very serious water outage occurred on Sunday last, affecting the area of Clonmel North of the bypass.
I notified Irish water of the situation on Sunday morning advising that this was a separate problem from the town centre issue, that this area was supplied from boreholes at Monroe and that the problem was likely to be as a result of pump malfunction or failure.
Irish Water did nothing about this and allowed the water system to drain down completely leaving this whole area, thousands of houses, without water.
But for the action of County Council staff the pumphouse malfunction would not have been fixed until well into Monday. Even with that residents of the area were without water on Sunday and Monday and some didn’t have a full supply until Tuesday.
This situation cannot be allowed happen again.
Irish Water must be abolished and control of water services must be returned to County Councils.
Seam Healy T.D.
Tel 087 2802199
13/08/2019
Press Statement
The Office of Public Works (OPW) is pleased to announce that on the first Wednesday of each month, certain OPW managed Heritage Sites will continue to offer FREE ADMISSION to independent/individual visitors and families wishing to visit these sites for the duration of their season! A full list of participating sites is given below, and details on each can be found on http://www.heritageireland.ie
***Please note that free admission on the first Wednesday of each month is not applicable at Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin Castle, Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre ( New Grange and Knowth), Clonmacnoise and Kilkenny Castle ***
Tickets will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Normal conditions of admission apply. Visitors may experience delays at some of our busier sites and are advised to arrive early. If allocated a time, visitors are asked to arrive promptly for the start of their tour.
There is no guarantee that visitors who miss their allocated tour-slot can be accommodated at a later time. Children must be supervised at all times.
Access to some sites is by guided tour only. Car-parking may be limited at some sites and patrons are requested to respect the facilities and other car park users.
Please Note that the following sites are not managed by the OPW and normal arrangements apply: Muckross House & Gardens, Muckross Traditional Farms and Glenveagh Castle.
N.B. Only those sites with an asterisk are open all year round. All other sites listed have a shorter season or restricted opening in winter, and Free Admission will not apply outside the opening arrangements listed on http://www.heritageireland.ie for each site.
Opening times can change at short notice. Visitors are requested to check the website for updates prior to their visit.
ening times can change at short notice. Visitors are requested to check the website for updates prior to their visit.
COUNTY
SITES – ( Sites with * are open all Year)
–
Clare
Ennis Friary
–
Cork
*Charles FortDoneraile CourtIlnacullin (Garinish Island)
–
Donegal*Donegal CastleGlebe House and Gallery
–
Dublin
The Casino, Marino (Closed at present, please see http://www.heritageireland.ie for up to date information.)
Farmleigh’
Rathfarnham Castle
–
Galway
‘Athenry Castle
Aughnanure Castle
*Dún Aonghasa
Portumna Castle and Gardens
*Ionad Cultúrtha an Phiarsaigh, Conamara – Pearse Cultural Centre, Connemara
–
Kerry
Ardfert Cathedral
Derrynane House, National Historic Park
Ionad an Bhlascaoid Mhóir, The Blascaod Centre
Ross Castle
–
Kildare
Castletown
–
Kilkenny
Jerpoint Abbey
–
Laois
Emo Court
–
Leitrim
Parke’s Castle
–
Limerick
Adare Castle
–
Louth
Old Mellifont Abbey
–
Mayo
Céide Fields
–
Meath
* Battle of the Boyne – Oldbridge Estate
*Trim Castle
–
Roscommon
Boyle Abbey
–
Sligo
Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery
Sligo Abbey
–
Tipperary
*Cahir Castle
Ormond Castle
*Rock of Cashel
Roscrea Heritage (Castle and Damer House) and the Blackmills
Swiss Cottage
–
Waterford
* Reginald’s Tower
–
Wexford
*John F. Kennedy Arboretum Tintern Abbey
–
Wicklow
*Glendalough Visitor Centre
Click to access free%20wednesday%208%20July2019..pdf
Workers & Unemployed Action 