Water protest for Cork city residents 'plagued by dirty water' to take place tomorrow 

A protest rally highlighting ongoing issues with water in Cork city has been organised for tomorrow, at the library on Grand Parade at 2.30pm.

It is a “protest for the long-suffering residents of Cork city who have been plagued by dirty water”, one of the protest’s scheduled speakers has said, adding that they also want a “long promised” referendum to be held on water.

People Before Profit-Solidarity councillor Brian McCarthy, another one of the speakers at the protest, told The Echo: “A private contractor was given €40m to run the water plant, and this is the result: two years of undrinkable brown water and still no end in sight. 

“We need clean water supplies in communities and the old pipes to be replaced but we also need to demand the referendum we were promised 10 years ago, to abolish Uisce Éireann and bring our water back under public control.”

Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould, who is also speaking at the protest, added: “For over two years now, water across Cork city has been dirty. We are demanding clean, safe, and public water.

“Uisce Éireann are letting people in Cork down. The constant dirty water is costing people a fortune — bottled water, new appliances, and water filters. They have no solutions to this problem, and they are refusing to supply alternative water.”

An Uisce Éireann spokesperson told The Echo that it “recognises the impact water discolouration has on affected Cork city residents and reiterates its commitment to prioritising our response to this issue through its dedicated water quality taskforce for Cork city.”

Uisce Éireann is working to deliver a number of measures including investment in new conditioning processes, water mains rehabilitation works, remedial upgrades to the water network, and flushing the network, they added.