Meeting on discoloured water to be held tomorrow but no Uisce Éireann rep to attend

UISCE Éireann has confirmed that it will not be sending a representative to attend a public meeting in Cork city tomorrow evening.

TDs on the northside of Cork city have been calling on Uisce Éireann to address ongoing issues with discoloured water in the area ahead of the community gathering.

People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Mick Barry said that Uisce Éireann needs to show “real urgency” in providing a timetable and strategy for resolving the ongoing issue with discoloured water in Cork city’s water supply.

Uisce Éireann was invited to send a representative to address the meeting tomorrow evening and to listen to the experiences of affected householders.

A representative from the water utility company said: 

“We can confirm that we received an invitation and that a representative from Uisce Éireann will not be available to attend; however, Uisce Éireann continues to engage extensively with elected representatives and customers in relation to this issue. We will continue to provide updates to elected representatives, including planned and reactive flushing works, upcoming projects and upgrades via the local representative service desk, press releases, councillor clinics, and outreach.”

Mr Barry said: “It is important people who have been affected by the dirty, discoloured water come together and discuss their experiences. It is important people discuss whether they want to take some kind of collective action to demand a resolution of this crisis. The crisis is now 18 months old, and the answers given to Cork city councillors last week fell far short of the kind of answers that affected householders need to hear.”

Meanwhile, Fine Gael TD Colm Burke said: “Uisce Éireann need to be upfront with the public and tell us when exactly the problem will be resolved. I accept that Uisce Éireann have completed infrastructure changes, but we seem to have an ongoing problem with brown water, and people are afraid.”

The meeting will be held tomorrow [Thursday] at 7.30pm at the Maldron Hotel in Shandon.