Water mains bursts and low pressure raise safety fears in Carrigaline

Councillors warn repeated water outages and low pressure are threatening public safety and undermining plans for future housing growth

The same low-pressure issue was raised again by firefighters who tackled a recent gorse fire near Camden Fort Meagher in Crosshaven. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Multiple water mains bursts and low-pressure problems are fuelling further concerns about risks to life and property in County Cork's largest town.

Last September, fire brigade crews attending a blaze in a housing estate in Carrigaline found the water pressure was so low they had to bring in water tankers from Cork City and Midleton to contain the fire.

The same low-pressure issue was raised again by firefighters who tackled a recent gorse fire near Camden Fort Meagher in Crosshaven.

Carrigaline-based Fianna Fáil councillor Patrick Donovan said the town and surrounding areas have suffered an excessive number of water mains bursts.

“The Ballea Road has seen a multiple breaks at the same location over months, this is affecting local businesses such as the Carrigaline Court Hotel, which had to close on occasions due to this, and many households,” Mr Donovan said.

“Two weeks ago, over the course of one week we'd multiple breaks. They included Ballea Road, Liosbourne, Ferny Road, St Philomena’s Place and additional breaks in Ringaskiddy and Crosshaven,” Mr Donovan added.

Fine Gael councillor Una McCarthy said the issue is not just a major inconvenience but also a serious health and safety concern.

She highlighted the poor water pressure at the Carrigaline housing estate in the Irish Examiner last September and said firefighters who tackled the recent Crosshaven gorse fire had raised similar concerns.

Mr Donovan said the number of breaks was "completely unacceptable", describing repairs as "band-aid" jobs.

He said he had been inundated with complaints, adding that Uisce Éireann's response was "simply not good enough."

Both councillors expressed concern that the water network is incapable of sustaining the current population of the Carrigaline Municipal District — the most populous of the region's eight municipal districts — and argued it would be inadequate to cater for the thousands of homes planned for the area in the coming years.

Mr Donovan received unanimous cross-party support for the council to write to Uisce Éireann's chief executive seeking explanations for the current shortcomings and details of the utility's plans to improve capacity and reliability.

Other councillors from across the county also criticised Uisce Éireann.

Cobh-based Fine Gael councillor Sinéad Sheppard said it was ironic that the utility was urging people to conserve water during the heatwave while a major leak in Cobh went unrepaired for a week.

“The timeframe for them to carry out repairs is really poor,” she said.

Fianna Fáil councillor Frank O'Flynn, from the Fermoy area, said there had previously been three repair crews based in north-east Cork, but that had been reduced to one, which he said could not cope with the workload.

Charleville-based Fianna Fáil councillor Ian Doyle said there had been three leaks in his area that remained unresolved for six weeks.

“The trouble with Uisce Éireann is it’s an organisation of many chiefs and few Indians. There’s not enough staff on the ground,” Aontu councillor Peter O’Donoghue added.