Priest pleads with Irish Water for Christmas break

A PARISH PRIEST has issued an impassioned plea to Irish Water to cease works in the vicinity of a busy Letterkenny church in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

As part of the €5.6 million investment in the Letterkenny Sewerage Scheme, works are due to commence in the Gortlee area early next month.

On Thursday afternoon last, Fr Brian Quinn, PP, Church of the Irish Martyrs, and a group of concerned parishioners met with representatives from Irish Water and Donegal County Council to discuss the project and its time scale.

“The works are due to start on December 10 which means that there will be widespread disruptions at the busiest time of year for the church,” Fr Quinn said.

According to Irish Water’s webside, works in the Letterkenny Sewerage Scheme will cease in public roads at key locations from mid-November to mid-January in order to accommodate the Christmas period.

“Unfortunately, it would appear that that notice only refers to the retail sector. We would argue that there’s so many things happening at this time of year that works should also cease in the vicinity of the Church of the Irish Martyrs during the same period.

“We have children attending the church for rehearsals, there’s carol and reconciliation services as well as our own programme for Christmas. This is our twenty-fifth Christmas in the Church of the Irish Martyrs. It’s a special occasion on what is a special time of year for the Catholic faith,” Fr Quinn said.

“I’ve met with representatives from both Donegal County Council and Irish Water and, to be fair, they’ve all been more than courteous. While I appreciate that they too have a job to do there’s eleven months and one week that they could do the work outside the Martyrs. All we’re asking for is three free weeks around the Christmas holiday period,” Fr Quinn said.

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