Judge to rule on Irish Water pipe plan

Irish Water will have to wait on a judge’s decision over whether it can proceed with plans to lay a sewage pipe through lands owned by the Duke of Devonshire and which would discharge treated waste water into Youghal Bay.

The case of Irish Water and Woodstown Shellfish Ltd ran for 14 days in the circuit court before concluding yesterday. Woodstown is the occupier of the private foreshore, owned by the Duke along with a several fishery, the title of which goes back 500 years and predates the Magna Carta.

The waste water would be discharged at Ferrypoint in Co Waterford but the pipe would begin in Co Cork. It forms part of the €12.5m wastewater treatment plant in Youghal, Co Cork, contracts for which were signed in 2015.