'It's crazy': Mother and her newborn without water for six days in North Cork village

Uisce Éireann has halved its repair crews in the Fermoy area despite frequent failures of the ageing water main in Ballyhooly

One councillor said the Uisce Éireann repair crew cut means the three main towns — Fermoy, Mitchelstown, and Doneraile — get priority. But another said the crew can only visit Mitchelstown  if there's a major kemergency. Picture: iStock

A Co Cork mother and her newborn baby were discharged home from hospital to discover the water supply in their home had been cut off for six days. And a neighbouring farmer was forced to constantly draw water for his 200-strong herd of cattle during the same period in the North Cork village of Ballyhooly.

The cases have been highlighted by local councillors who claim that Uisce Éireann is letting potentially hundreds of thousands of litres of water leak daily as a result of its decision to reduce the number of repair crews in the region.

Senior county council officials have agreed to write to the utility as a matter of urgency.

In particular, councillors are pointing to Uisce Éireann’s decision to halve the number of repair crews, from two to one, in the Fermoy Municipal District Council area which covers Ballyhooly.

The North Cork village has been dogged by water outages for many months, primarily due to an ageing water main which is constantly fracturing.

Water cut off for five days

A recent leak left residents without any water supply from a Thursday to the following Tuesday.

Fianna Fáil councillor Frank O’Flynn claimed the crew reduction is leading to the three main towns in the district — Fermoy, Mitchelstown, and Doneraile — getting priority, with other areas forced to wait if there are leaks.

He raised the issues in Ballyhooly, and both he and Fine Gael councillor Kay Dawson described it as “ironic” that the utility has introduced a hosepipe ban when it has been ignoring leaks for months on end.

“None of this[hosepipe ban] makes any sense when these leaks aren’t being fixed. This is where the water is being wasted in huge quantities,” Mitchelstown-based Ms Dawson said.

Mr O’Flynn said. “Having just one [repair crew] is absolutely crazy. It isn’t good enough and not fair on the existing crew. They are working above and beyond call of duty.”

Repair crew 'can only cover major emergencies' 

Northern Division chairman Independent councillor William O’Leary said he had spoken with the only crew left in the Fermoy municipal area and was told they couldn’t even travel to the region’s second-largest town, Mitchelstown, unless there is a major emergency there.

As a result, he said that villages like Ballyhooly are way down the pecking order when it comes to carrying out repairs.

Labour councillor Ronan Sheehan said a similar issue is happening in the Duhallow region in the North-West of the county.

Fianna Fáil councillor Bernard Moynihan, who lives in that region, said the utility is struggling to cope with the problems.

“There’s huge issues with leaks in Boherbue and Freemount. It’s brutal. There are fewer teams on the ground to repair them. It’s an absolute disaster,” he said.

Northern Division manager Niall Healy said he would raise the issue with the utility as a matter of urgency.