Meath residents face 17 days of water interruptions since start of year
Repeated water outages affecting residents from Skryne in Meath have reached a "tipping point” for long-term investment in the area’s infrastructure, a local TD has said.
Darren O’Rourke said the recent disruption experienced by residents shows the need for urgent and lasting action to ensure a reliable water supply.
The Sinn Féin TD was speaking after a public meeting with residents at the RST Centre in Skryne last week following a series of supply interruptions affecting the Five Roads area and surrounding communities.
According to Deputy O’Rourke, residents have been without water or experienced reduced supply on 17 separate days since the beginning of the year, including four consecutive days over a recent weekend.
While water supply has since been restored, he said the situation remains unresolved because Uisce Éireann has yet to identify the root cause of the outages.
“The fact that water has returned to homes in Skryne is welcome, but it does not mark the end of this issue,” he said.
“It simply means the immediate crisis has passed. Uisce Éireann has admitted they are still no clearer on what caused this outage, which means there is absolutely nothing stopping this from happening again today, tomorrow, next week, or next month.”
Mr O’Rourke said the community has faced recurring water supply problems for a number of years and that residents have repeatedly raised concerns about outages and low pressure.
“That is not good enough. This is a community that has been dealing with repeated outages and low pressure for years. They have logged complaints, they have waited, and they have been let down time and time again.”
“The return of water does not erase the days of disruption families endured, nor does it fix the failing infrastructure beneath their feet.”
“This crisis has to be the tipping point. We cannot allow this cycle of failure, reporting, and temporary fixes to continue,” Mr O’Rourke added.
He also called on Uisce Éireann to engage directly with him and with local residents to explain the cause of the failures and outline a timeline for resolving the problem.
“The community needs answers and, more importantly, they need investment and a commitment to sort this problem for the long term,” he said.