Uisce Éireann blasted by Clonmel business owners over chronic water service

Irate Clonmel business owners vented their anger over the chaotic water supply crisis the town is faced with at a public meeting on Monday night.
They gave Uisce Éireann officials a pounding as they voiced their utter frustration over the crisis.
IMPACT

Hoteliers, publicans, cafe and restaurant owners, florists and members of the public tore into the five Uisce Eireann officials who were representing the company.
They powerfully outlined the damaging impact the severe disruption to water services was having on business and the significant financial losses involved.
The meeting, which was held at the Talbot Hotel, was organised by the Clonmel Business Network.

BUSINESS NETWORK
Business people powerfully outlined their concerns over the worsening situation as regards the water supply for the town and the increasing number of outages and Boil Water Notices occurring.
The business leaders grilled the Uisce Éireann officials on the reasons why Clonmel was so afflicted by disruption to supply and interrogated them on their future plans that they were proposing to resolve the issues with and deliver a good service to the town.

Michael Maher blasted what he said was a disastrous communication process used by Uisce Éireann as people living in the town were not aware of when outages would take place and had no idea when they would finish.

Outraged Clonmel business owners slam Uisce Éireann for the water supply crisis in the town

POLITICAL FOOTBALL
He said the people of Clonmel were frustrated as the water problems the town had were kicked around like a political football between Tipperary County Council, Irish Water and Uisce Eireann for too long.
He asked the Uisce Éireann officials had they any idea of the impact of the loss of water had on business on a Saturday in a town like Clonmel.
Michael Maher said people did not want to hear about the grandiose long term plans of Uisce Éireann, they wanted solutions as soon as possible.

FINANCIAL LOSSES
Jamie Driver said businesses in the town depended on the income generated and they were all at a significant loss because of the water outages at crucial times.
Publican Richie Gleeson said the people of the town Should not have to hunt for the information about the water supply.
He said Uisce Éireann should make it very clear to people when the water was going to be cut off, when it was going to return and in exactly what areas of the town there would be outages.
William Burke, manager of the Talbot Hotel, said when people went onto the Uisce Éireann website and put in their eircode a message saying water was 100% okay came up.

TORN UP
He said that the 100% message came up all week about Glenary supply but people were not aware they needed to click again for more details and then they were told there was a boil water notice in place.
“The communication is just not good enough. It needs to be torn up and put in the bin,” insisted William Burke.
He told the meeting that the hotel was at a loss of €24,000 this month alone as a result of the water supply issues.
“We have 130 employees, we cannot continue like this,” said William Burke.
The hotel manager said there had been 36 outages of some description from April to August 14.

AMAZING WORK
Eugene Dargan told the meeting that Tipperary County Council did amazing work over the years to keep the service going but it went backwards when it was taken over by Irish Water.
He told Uisce Éireann officials that their plan to close down the Poulavanogue supply was wrong and that it would be detrimental to business.

He said the town did not need hard water in their supply which is what will happen if Poulavanogue is shut down and more of the town is served by the Monroe supply. Publican Frank Moran said if the problems with water supply continued it would lead to the closure of some businesses.
Florist Tony Egan said it was clear from the Uisce Éireann officials that Clonmel was not guaranteed a stable and safe water supply for at least the next 12 months.
He wanted to know if the plans outlined for Glenary and Monroe by Uisce Éireann officials at the meeting were fully funded.

Take-away owner David Sullivan said he was fuming listening to the officials of Uisce Éireann at the meeting.
FUMING
“Ye are nodding your heads but we did not get any answers.
“Ye could not run a tap,” said David Sullivan.
A number of Oireachtas members and local politicians also spoke at the meeting but the mood of the meeting was succinctly encapsulated by former TD Seamus Healy who addressed the Uisce Éireann officials.
“Irish Water should never have been set up. It should be abolished and it should be handed back to the local authority,” he told them.