Frustration and anger were plain to see on the faces of residents as the beleaguered Kerry town of Ballyheigue met to discuss their toxic water supply.
Earlier that day, the news had come via Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae that Uisce Éireann were now looking at a new engineering project that could take up to three months to restore clean drinking water to the town.
Residents from Ballyheigue and surrounding areas, now having gone two weeks with a ‘Do Not Consume’ notice looming over their heads and little in the way of an explanation, were deeply frustrated by the news.
In front of the ruby stage curtains of Ballyheigue Community Centre, over 100 people gathered with five councillors and one TD.
A highly detailed letter was read out by local resident Jack Doolan who, in his frustration, had taken to the quill to demand answers of the water utility.
He probed the timing of events leading up to the water notice and asked thoughtful questions of Uisce Éireann’s approach going forward, requesting that everyone present put their name to the publication.
Frustrated resident Jack Doolan reading his letter to the meeting
Many in the room were desperate to know how the town had gone from business as usual to potentially no water by Christmas.
One local stood up and told the meeting that a young man who exercised frequently had started buying water over 10 days before the ‘Do Not Consume’ notice was issued.
“How long have people been consuming the water? Uisce Éireann have a lot to answer for,” they said.
Councillor Jackie Healy-Rae replied that he had submitted a Freedom of Information request to obtain the test results for the water supply during the previous three months.
They would know by the end of next month what exactly residents were drinking in the lead up to the crisis, he said.
Cllr Healy-Rae took the moment to question the response of the Uisce Éireann as events unfolded, pointing out that there had been ‘stark’ difference to a similar ‘Do Not Consume’ notice issued in Arfinnan, Co. Tipperary.
Within hours, bottles of water had arrived, while Ballyheigue saw its first bottle only that day, two weeks later.
Councilor Jackie Healy-Rae addressing the gathering
As has been the flashpoint for anger throughout the crisis, the lack of communication from the Uisce Éireann featured heavily at the gathering.
One resident relayed his phone call to the water utility, where he asked how the contaminated water would affect his home appliances.
He had been told that the water ‘won’t do any harm’ and that his appliances ‘will be fine’. However, this was not put it in writing.
Another resident commented that their machines were ‘etched with lime’ from using the water.
“Its hard enough keeping them going when all is right,” said Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae in front of the microphone.
He had been told by Uisce Éireann that if an appliance were to be damaged by the water coming into it, “your first claim would go to the insurer of the house”.
“Is that a proper answer?” he intoned, answered by a murmuring of ‘No’.
Ballyheigue Community Hall
He laid out the current plan to use a borehole in Ardfert and lay a new pipe along the 6km to Ballyheigue. In fact, the TD had heard that the designing of the layout had been underway that day in the halls of Uisce Éireann.
The Ardfert proposal was ‘very straightforward’ he said, and once works began, they should be finished in two to three months.
“What would be a great result would be getting it sorted before Christmas,” he said.
Ardfert-based Councillor Deirdre Ferris, however, had serious reservations about connecting to the village’s infrastructure.
She said there had been numerous major water outages in the village in recent times and any such incident would affect Ballyheigue and surrounding areas if they were to be connected.
Attention was also drawn to the mention of a borehole that the water utility was planning to use as the supply.
Councillor Deirdre Ferris speaking at the meeting
Cllr Ferris knew of one near the existing wastewater treatment plant that had been decommissioned, and had an old pipe that was defective. Surely, they weren’t going to use that, she questioned.,
Also on her mind was a coastal erosion study conducted a few years prior on the Tralee Bay and Banna coastline by Kerry County Council (KCC).
It had identified the exact area behind the Ballyheigue dunes, where the water treatment plant is, as a ‘vulnerable area’. Yet the study had been done by KCC and not Uisce Éireann.
Lucy Godley, who had been chairing the meeting, requisitioned the microphone to ask the question on many people’s minds.
“How are they getting away with this?” she asked, exasperated.
“What I am hearing is you can’t trust a word that comes out of their mouth. Do what you feel is right,” she said to the people of Ballyheigue.
One resident called for the agency to be put before the public accounts committee ‘as soon as possible’.
“I tell you one person that would sort out Uisce Éireann, Michelle O’Neill would sort them out,” roared a man at the back.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme