Cork City Council to hold public meeting to discuss concerns over Uisce Éireann services

Cork City Council is to hold a special public meeting in the coming weeks to discuss a number of issues relating to Uisce Éireann.

The planned meeting was proposed by Green Party councillor Dan Boyle, Lord Mayor of Cork, at this week’s council meeting.

“On foot of ongoing public concerns and having [been] raised at the corporate policy meeting due to a number of issues, and also a recent Prime Time television programme on RTÉ, I’m asking that a special meeting of an comhairle be held to discuss several related ongoing concerns about the services being provided by Uisce Éireann,” Mr Boyle said.

The proposal was agreed by the council, and Mr Boyle said he hoped the meeting would take place “within two to three weeks”.

Water quality has been an ongoing issue across the city, predominantly but not exclusively on the northside, since the then Irish Water reopened its refurbished €40m Lee Rd water treatment plant in July 2022. 

Failure

Separately, a serious flooding event occurred at Monahan Rd and Centre Park Rd on Tuesday, January 28, when an equipment failure occurred at Uisce Éireann’s Atlantic Pond pumping station.

In a briefing delivered to the meeting, chief executive Valerie O’Sullivan outlined the events surrounding that event, which continued into the following day. Ms O’Sullivan said the council had been informed — on the Tuesday afternoon — by Uisce Éireann of the equipment failure, which had resulted in the flooding.

That flooding was in turn exacerbated by high tides on Tuesday evening as well as on the morning of Wednesday, January 29.

City council drainage crews, assisted by other council employees, had dealt with the flooding, with upward of 20 tankers dispatched to remove water.

At low tide, just before midday on the Wednesday, Uisce Éireann crews were able to repair the damaged equipment.

Ms O’Sullivan paid tribute to council workers who had worked through the incident.

She said she would be comprehensively briefing the council on the full transfer of water and drainage functions to Uisce Éireann that is planned for January 2027.

A number of motions relating to Uisce Éireann were deferred because of the upcoming meeting.