Funding services - Water must be protected

In light of this summer’s forced closures of several popular beaches because E.coli in seawater jeopardised bathers’ health, yesterday’s announcement that Castletownbere — or any other town anywhere in the country — will have to wait at least another three years for a long-promised water treatment plant is unacceptable.

So too was the Cork County Council meeting expression of concern that a €5m sewage treatment plant planned for Clonakilty might be delayed.

At least two of the day’s great issues come together in this context — protection of the environment and the water we all depend on and how we fund local authorities.