45 urban areas in Ireland discharge untreated sewage into water systems

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did all of us a favour last week by telling the truth.

The truth is that no less than 45 urban areas in our Republic discharge untreated sewage in to our water systems.

Think about how scandalous that is.

We invest huge time and resource promoting Ireland as a reliable and safe source of food for world markets.

Our tourism industry is a national strategic asset which needs careful nurturing in a hugely competitive global marketplace.

Add to that the very ordinary but critically important matter of everyday health for the population and you start the grasp the remarkably ignorant and irresponsible behaviour of councils across the State.

You may have noticed the EPA report disappeared rather quickly from national media headlines.

The grandstanding antics that emanate from various political sources every time Irish water is mentioned in any hue was strangely absent.

Could that be a function of the hard fact that councils in Ireland are composed of politicians drawn from all parties?

Each and every one of them, stretching over decades, should hang their heads in shame for allowing and even facilitating pollution in some of our most prized locations.

I noted Clifden in Co Galway was name-checked by the EPA report.

That would the Clifden that sits in the middle of the Wild Atlantic Way which is one of the jewels in Irish tourism’s marketing.

Well, sorry Mr US tourist or Mr Japan tourist, but you are taking a distinct health risk if you swim in the seawater around that beautiful town because the local council effectively think it is OK to pump discharges.

Have you being to the lovely town of Youghal lately?

It’s a place with great tourism potential given its coastal position and connection to the Blackwater river.

The real shocker for me was that the waste water from a sizeable population which equates to 116,000 people is being chucked straight into Cork Harbour.

Cork Harbour has the natural attributes to be a world-ranking water sports and amenity asset.

Not enough money has been or is being diverted to fund the needed infrastructure to treat this waste.

You and I have to decide if the facilities needed are a priority and then you and I must pay for it.

You and I also have to stand up to those who think clean water is some God-given right that occurs automatically without any cost.

In fact, all of us have to cough up tax euro to build and maintain a worldclass water treatment asset that underpins tourism, agri-food and the general well being of the population.

Raising this matter risks attack from the cohort who have made Irish Water a cause in Irish politics.

Some of that heat comes from parties that sit on the same councils that preside over the ‘EPA 45’ so it is hard to take their mutterings seriously.

Some too comes from people who want to cause trouble first and worry about the consequences later.

The environmental lobby, which seems to be able to vocalise about climate change and vegetarianism at great length, needs to up its game on this issue too.

Is there anything more disgusting than knowing your first world home, which will soon celebrate 100 years in existence and happens to be an island, is incapable of keeping its sea water clean?

Surely Irish environmentalists would be better served addressing the appalling abuse of our environs at home instead of pontificating about the Brazilian rain forests?

To resolve all this you need leadership and some tough love.

The latter should include global Irish food companies and tourism interests marking the card of the political elite that investment and jobs are at risk if this nonsense continues.

The councils in Cork, Donegal and Galway, all on the Wild Atlantic Way, were called out specifically by the EPA because they account for 50% of the waste water discharge scandal.

Next time a representative from any of those comes knocking on your door for a much valued vote, give him or her a thick ear on sewage.

Joe Gill is director of corporate broking at Goodbody Stockbrokers. His views are personal