Dear Simon, a simple election plea: can you fix tap water for Cork electorate?

SO, the worst-kept secret in Irish politics is out - and there will be a general election this year after all.

The idea that Simon Harris’s will he/won’t he dance caught any of his rivals on the hop is hard to believe - then again, such has been the turmoil in Sinn Féin that you can’t entirely rule out the thought that their election unit responded by saying: “No way, he’s going to call a general election in 2024? Who knew?”

Soon, the parties will start jostling for our votes, and the promises and pledges will come thick and fast.

The Taoiseach got the ball rolling early, with his announcement that Fine Gael in government will build not 40,000, not 50,000, but 60,000 homes per year in the next Dáil.

That’s some going since it was revealed this week we had only built 21,000 so far this year!

Forgive my cynicism, but although I wouldn’t dismiss the sentiment of such pledges from the Coalition, nor would I deny the fact the money is there to achieve it... but it’s the whole results business that I find hard to reconcile with such promises.

Speaking of which, I wonder which Cork TD will be the first to announce plans for a North Ring Road and a shiny new Events Centre if they gain power... ah, the old ones are the best.

All these grand plans can usually be treated with a pinch of salt - or as Leo Varadkar once admitted: “You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.”

But for me, and for 4,000 other homeowners in the Macroom area, we have a much simpler request for any prospective TD knocking on our doors on the chilly evenings ahead.

Please, can we have some tap water we can drink?

I mean, it has to be one of the basics of good governance, doesn’t it? Providing a reliable drinking water system to the people should be on page 1 of any manifesto.

Well, here in Macroom, and indeed in many areas across Cork and nationwide, that has not been the case for quite some time.

My home is part of the Macroom catchment area where homeowners have been told to boil the water before drinking it since the summer.

Frustratingly, the 4,000-odd homes were informed of this a few months ago, the order was lifted... for a week or two. Then it was swiftly put back in place. In fact, we are currently under the SIXTH boil water notice in Macroom and its surrounding hinterland since 2022.

What does this mean at ground level?

It means that we can’t drink water from our taps, or even brush our teeth in it or make ice cubes from it. 

It means families like ours either have to buy bottled water regularly (Generation X types like me will always think that an utter waste of money), or we have to plan ahead, boil a kettle full of water once or twice a day, and fill up the empties with it.

It’s inconvenient, time-consuming, and it can be expensive too if, as with Macroom, the boil water system is in place for months on end.

The notice raises uncomfortable questions too, since it was put in place to protect public health.

For a while, because we live five miles from Macroom, we had no idea that the boil water notice applied to our house too. So we were drinking stuff that didn’t reach the levels deemed acceptable by Irish Water.

Shouldn’t every home receive a letter in the post when a boil water notice is implemented?

I’m a journalist, and receive emails about such notices, and it’s true that these are reported in the media, and also shared on social media channels too.

But what about elderly people living alone who don’t have access to such information? How do they know they should be boiling their tap water?

Irish Water say vulnerable customers who have registered with them will receive direct communication, but is that system as water-tight as it should be?

Having to boil water also sends out the complete wrong message; it suggests that Ireland Inc is something of a failed state. If we can’t even provide our people with drinkable water, what does it say about us?

I was in the Castle Hotel in Macroom the other day, and there is a notice at reception advising guests that the tap water is not up to scratch - what do the Americans and other nationalities think when they see that?

I remember as a child holidaying in continental resorts where the power would be lost, where you couldn’t flush loo roll down the toilet, and where tap water was a no-go - and thinking this was an affront to civilisation. Decades later, and Ireland seems to be in that place.

To the credit of local TDs, they have raised the issue in Macroom.

Cork North West Fianna Fáil TD Aindrias Moynihan said in the Dáil this month: “This is an ongoing cost, stress, and hassle for residents, they are asking reasonable questions about what Irish Water is doing to deal with this and what the solution is. Will this go on forever?”

He asked: “What is Uisce Éireann doing to ensure quality, safe water? When can people have faith in the water in the tap? They are reasonable questions and Irish Water should be able to communicate on that.”

Minister of state Jennifer Carroll MacNeill admitted his stance was “most reasonable” and she was sorry he had to raise the issue persistently on behalf of his constituents.

“Everybody wants to see the notice lifted without undue delay, but this can only happen when the HSE and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) have confirmed that the water supply is safe,” she said.

When that will be is anyone’s guess. Will we have drinkable tap water here in time for Christmas?

The story at the top level is a familiar one: The money is there, the will is apparently there, but progress can appear slow - even glacial.

Government investment in Uisce Éireann has reached a record level of over €2.7bn to allow it to meet the cost of delivering water services in 2025, but are we seeing the results of this on the ground?

Uisce Éireann says 99.7% of Irish water is fully compliant with microbiological and chemical standards, and is safe to drink - which is not much consolation for those whose supplies are affected. The company blames the age of the infrastructure and decades of under-investment.

In Macroom, the water plant was upgraded in 1988 when it served a much smaller population, but since then the town has expanded hugely, putting more pressure on the system.

The EPA have a Remedial Action List which has 50 water supply zones in Ireland, eight of which are in Cork.

The worst-affected place in our county has been in Mitchelstown, where more than 52,000 customers have had poor supplies. You can find out if your area is affected at epa.ie

Worryingly for Macroom, the Remedial Action List states the work on our supply is proposed for completion in June, 2026. Does that mean another 20 months of boiled water?

Customers can check if their property is included in a boiled water notice by visiting www.water.ie and entering the property’s Eircode or by calling the Uisce Éireann customer care helpline, open 24/7, on 1800 278 278.