Further water outages spark frustration

A FRUSTRATED councillor has described the recent water outages in west Donegal as “unacceptable”.

It comes after multiple households in Creeslough, Dunfanaghy, Gortahork and Falcarragh were without water for up to two days last week.

The latest bout of water disruptions were caused by reservoir cleaning in Dunfanaghy last Wednesday, coupled with burst-pipe repairs.

Unaware that these works were scheduled, Cathaoirleach of the Glenties Municipal District, Cllr Michael McClafferty voiced his frustration at Uisce Éireann’s lack of communication.

“There was no warning,” Cllr McClafferty said.

“The communication has gone to the dogs.

“I’m disappointed that Irish water failed to contact the local councillors and the media outlets to inform them.

“At least if people knew, they could have prepared.”

Cllr McClafferty said Uisce Éireann showed little empathy towards customers in rural Donegal.

“Some customers were without water for 48 hours, it was ridiculous,” he said.

“They couldn’t shower, flush the toilet or make tea, nothing.

“It is unacceptable.

“People just didn’t know these works were taking place, it caused a lot of problems.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Uisce Éireann told the Donegal News that although water was restored to most customers by Wednesday afternoon, those on elevated sites continued to experience supply disruptions until Thursday night.

“Uisce Éireann crews worked to restore supply as quickly as possible and water was returned to the majority of customers on Wednesday afternoon,” a spokesperson said.

“Uisce Éireann regrets that a small number of customers on elevated sites at Fán Mór and Oirear Dhumhaí were impacted by supply disruptions until Thursday night due to the impact of the interruption to the network and reservoirs replenishing.

“Uisce Éireann acknowledges the inconvenience caused by outages and thanks customers for their patience and cooperation.”