Nervous constituency fears water pollution

NERVOUS candidates in the Wicklow constituency had neither the comfort of hot sweet tea nor spending a penny yesterday after a contamination scare cut the water supply.

The emergency — ironically in the home constituency of Environment Minister Dick Roche — threatened to force the suspension or relocation of the count.

Several thousand count staff and tallymen at the centre in Arklow were left without facilities after officials took the decision to cut the supply to the entire town when an overnight break-in at the main Lamberton waterworks was discovered early yesterday morning.