Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Good afternoon. You are very welcome to LiveLine. 51551 is the text number. You can send me an email. LiveLine at rte.ie or message or call on the WhatsApp 087 484 888.
Chapter 2: What issues are residents facing with Uisce Éireann?
I want to... Read you something from the Irish Water Isgaira homepage. This is the About Us section. Isgairan is responsible for the delivery of secure, safe and sustainable water services for the people of Ireland. Liz Broderick, are you getting secure, safe and sustainable water services?
No, we certainly aren't, Ciarán. Thanks so much for calling me.
I am speaking on behalf of we've set up a residence group it's Conard Residence Water Action Group now there's been problems in our area going on 30 years but it's really come to a head in about the last 15 months I have to apologise to the phone line the baby's asleep in the car so I had to stand outside the car but then we have 184 logs of water out which has been the 16th the day before Paddy's day
2025. Sorry, say that again, how many? Yes, 184.
In just over a year?
Logs. We have had, we had a period there before Christmas, sorry, 2024, my apologies, 2024. We had a period there just before Christmas where we were 10 consecutive days without water. We are now on our third day without water. The problem in our area is, so I live in Clonard, it's just outside Enfield, it's in Enfield and Kinnagad, beautiful area.
But we live in a housing estate and there is a pump house, so we're depending on a well. The pump house was originally built for the first phase of the homes in 2004. It's not just for purpose, though. It was built originally for about 15 to 20 homes. We now have about 300 to 400 residents on that line and another housing estate was put onto it. We have a school and we have two HSE-run homes.
So I formed this group just out of pure frustration because it's incredibly difficult day to day to try and raise a family. I mean, it's been three days now since I've been able to put a wash on it. It's been three days since I've been able to put a dishwasher on it. It's incredibly difficult, but there's a whole lot of other issues there. There's fire safety, number one.
We don't have access to any sort of water. If the fire brigade come, they need to make sure they bring the water with them. The school has had to close on quite a few occasions because of this. health and safety issues. We also, now I have been dealing with the Ishghe Eireann. They are incredibly difficult to deal with.
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Chapter 3: How has the water supply situation changed over the years?
I think it came back about 11 o'clock last night. Yeah, that's what happens. It trips a switch because I've actually had the EPA. They were also fantastic. I had the EPA out to try and work on our behalf. And what's happening is because the pump house is failing. Apart from, now I'm not, I have to say I'm not technical with all of it and I'm just going by memory.
But apart from all the, you know, there's manganese and everything in the water that has to be filtered out. It's also the chlorine. The chlorine levels can't be kept constant. So it can't monitor them properly. And then the pump house, it trips the switch or whatever happens. And then we're left without water.
Now there is one person in Meath County Council that I have to say, his first name is Joe. And I want to really... He'll know. I really want to say thank you to him because for years and years and years, he was driving out. We had no water Christmas Day and Stephen's Day this year. Yeah.
For years and years and years and years and years, when our water was going, he was tankering out water to us and that was getting us by. But now, because Ishka... I don't know what the reasoning is, but Ishka and Aaron have decided that they're not going to do the tankering. And I've heard that he's trying to fight on our behalf even just to get water tankers out.
We... I've fought on the phone with them trying to get... You know, the bagged water that you would have got during the storm. It's just constant. No, but... Sorry, could you go back? Just to make it very clear. They close our complaints. So what happens is our pump house breaks down. They come out. They flick the switch or whatever they do to restart it. And it works for a couple of hours.
So then they close our complaints. Like, they've closed my complaints forever. With me saying, like, on the phone, clearly, I do not want to close my complaint. We have sent in, the collection of us, the AT residents or whatever, have sent in complaint letters. People are complaining off their own backs and collectively. But they are closing our logs.
And it's because, so in the immediate term, they put a bandaid over it and then they'll close it, but it's rinse and repeat.
So sorry, so some of those 184 complaints are really the same complaint. So they come out, they effectively power up the pump again. It trips a couple of hours later and the issue hasn't been resolved, but you log a new complaint.
Yeah. And, I mean, some of the residents have been here an awful lot longer than I have, you know, and there's problems going on for 30 years here with the water, but it is the problem. The problem is infrastructure. Now, I don't really understand how money can be found, and I know we're coming back to the old bike shed again, but, like, I mean, we're awash with money. We pay our taxes.
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Chapter 4: What frustrations do residents express about communication with Uisce Éireann?
You know what I mean? Very water intensive, yeah. But particularly so when they're young and if they're in nappies and you're washing them and cleaning up after it, I mean, that must be a real pain.
Yeah.
That's it. And I mean, like, you know, there's people in the area with family with additional needs or, you know, there's all sorts of things. There's people who are elderly or infirm and people who really depend on water.
And I mean, we did write to the fire service and me to ask them, could they stand over the fact that, you know, there have been so many outages with water, just on a health and safety level, another health and safety level. And it's incredibly difficult to work.
And you know what, because it's been going on for so long, I almost sound, as I said to a researcher, I don't want to sound like I'm being blasé here, but I'm so, you know when you get so tired of something that you can't work up the emotions, you get angry when you wake up and there's no water again. Yeah. It's just, it's almost, you know, it's a luxury for us to have water out here.
That's how bad it is. You know, like, getting up and, you know, where else on the planet are they worrying about whether they can fill their kids' water bottles? It's not in a country with the money and the taxes and the income that we have. And nobody is listening. And it's just, it's quite frightening that even, you know, you think if you get to the point of...
of sitting TDs and TDs with ministries and all that sort of stuff, that something might actually be done and they might listen. And there might be actually a bit of a kick up the backside for Ishka Eireann, but it just seems
Liz, can I read? I read the About Us section on the Ishgarian website. Given everything you're saying, let me read two other things that are on it. So this is what they say their purpose is. Our purpose, our job is to deliver the highest quality drinking water to your taps every day. What do you think when you hear that?
It's laughable. I mean, I have had so many dealings with them and I've seen a side... You know, it's all just lip service. It's all obviously it's all well managed and it's lovely and nice and tidy on the website. But the reality is that we as residents are picking up the phone daily every morning at this rate. Now, I just it's it's just so infuriating. We're picking up the phone.
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Chapter 5: How do residents document their water supply issues?
We went to the local media. We went to Mead Chronicle. We're now speaking to you on LiveLine. I don't know where the ordinary Joe shows up trying to work, raise a family. And just be a good neighbour and whatever can go when we've gone to politicians and they're not getting the answers. They are being treated with utter contempt by Ishgaran, as far as I can see.
Well, listen, again, we will, and I'm sure before the show is done, it does, we will hear from Ishgaran and I'll let people know. But Liz, don't go anywhere. Stay there. Well, unless baby wakes up there, you have to deal with it. But stay with us because I just want to bring in some other people who've been getting in touch.
as well because it's not just a mead area we did speak to people in different parts of County Meads yesterday we spoke to people in Carrick and Shure we spoke to people up in County Loud we spoke to people in County Kildare people all over the country seem to be running into this difficulty and again I'm going to read it I said it right at the outset it's the very first thing on Ishka Aaron's website when you go into About Us we are responsible for the delivery of secure safe and sustainable water services for the people of Ireland
If they're not doing that, they're failing in their responsibility. There's no other way to describe it. And Ishki Aaron might say, and we'll get the response from them, that it's an issue of resources. It's an issue of planning. It's an issue of manpower. I don't know, whatever it happens to be. But the fact remains, whatever the reason behind it, they are failing.
They are abjectly failing in that responsibility based on the people we have been speaking to today. And Suzanne is on the line as well. Suzanne, I take it you're one of those people. What's the story with your water?
Hi Ciarán, how are you?
Good.
Thanks for having me on. I live in Dublin 18 and for the last number of years we have had brown water coming out of our taps.
Yeah.
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Chapter 6: What are the health and safety concerns related to water shortages?
said, you know, you talk about sustainability and the environment and everything and yet you're forcing me to buy water in these plastic containers and you don't seem to care that this is becoming a real problem. So... Well, what's in the water, Suzanne? Can I actually... Yeah? Sorry, go on, Liz. Sorry, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry to cut across there and I had so much time already.
I actually just forgot to actually say one point. We actually had two of the lads from the group...
consulted solicitors over this and we put together we pooled together money as residents to talk to solicitors and we were told we were wasting our time with Ishka Aaron because they're an entity unto themselves and there's just that's what we were told that was another so we have every angle and I understand that lady's frustration it's just where do you go what do you do we're living in a country where you know awash with money but it's too much of a nuisance for such pride water Suzanne what's in the water
So it's almost like rusty water, you know, it's orange to brown. And as I say, I sent in photographs, got no satisfaction over about a two year period of communicating with them on a very regular basis. So we basically said, look, we can't be buying all these plastic bottles of water and the cost and so on.
So we went out and bought a water filter, you know, but that cost four or five hundred euros. And we have that sitting on the countertop and we are putting the tap water through this filter and using it that way. But I'm still not confident in the quality of the water, to be quite honest with you.
And is it safe to drink it, Suzanne? The kind of coppery water?
Oh God, I wouldn't. So this is the ironic piece about it, right? You get on and they say, oh no, the water is safe. However... I wouldn't drink it if it was discoloured. So I said, that's a complete contradiction to what you're saying, you know?
Sorry, what they say to you is, don't worry, the water that's coming out of your safe is perfectly safe, but don't drink it if it's discoloured.
Exactly. So what you do then in that case, this is the advice I was given by several people, what you do then in that case is let the water run for 10 to 15 minutes out of the tap. And when the water is clear... then we would give you the go-ahead to drink that. Now, where would you go with that?
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Chapter 7: How do local representatives respond to residents' water complaints?
I said I didn't want my complaint closed. I wanted to further it through. And I got nowhere with it. It was really only until I contacted our local TDs that they kicked into gear and they did something. But that was nine days with no meaningful engagement, not able to flush a toilet, put on a wash, shower. It was horrible.
Yeah, I mean, not to be puerile, but how do you go nine days without flushing the jacks?
Well, we were getting big tanks of water, I suppose, from up the road where there was water and trying to flush them that way. And that's all we could do. But there was only two people in my house. I would consider myself lucky. There were neighbours, that's three or four kids in the houses. It was awful.
Yeah, Liz, yeah. Sorry, do you know what it's like? People obviously remember Storm A when they were there last year and the water, they have the electricity for the water. It's like that, but you're living on your nerves because you don't know when your water's going to go and you don't know for how long.
And when ours go, I know it's going to be gone for a sustained period until they come in and do major work. So it's like living... the water shortage from Storm Eamon. Like, if people remember having to go and find showers and find cups of tea and stuff like that, that's what we're at.
Yeah.
That's the daily reality for us, you know, when it's like this. It's just... It's just exhausting. It's exhausting.
Do you think one of the reasons that Irish Water was set up, Liz, was... was so that we'd have one utility. There was a few reasons. One of the reasons, one of the big reasons was that you'd have a single utility. You wouldn't have just each local authority dealing with this and all the inefficiencies that come with it. It was going to make the system much better.
I don't know, can you remember what life was like before Irish Water? It's only been around for about a decade.
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Chapter 8: What is the impact of water issues on families with children?
I'm in Lanesborough, County Longford.
And what's the situation in Lanesborough, County Longford?
Well, I've lived here about 10 years. And this is, again, very much the same as everybody else. long-term water burst pipes at least twice a month, low water pressure, the constant patch-up of the pipes, the poor water quality is absolutely front of line, so I have to filter regularly. You know, the water in a jug to put in the kettle, constantly cleaning the dishwasher, the washing machine.
God knows what my central heating is like, you know, because I don't have a water softener. But why should I have a water softener? Why should I have to have all these products that are costing me money for basic water? This morning... I see on Facebook, Will, that they are now putting in a new infrastructure, new pipes into our patrol, which is right next to Centre Parcs.
So that's telling you that Centre Parcs is getting first dibs of a new water line.
Yeah. I'm sure there's other people on the line and maybe they've needed infrastructure there as well.
I've got friends in Valley Matten and they never say they have a water problem or, you know, they're cut off with water. But here, very much the same. Myself and my neighbours, we complain. You know, we go through the process. You know, again, the complaint is then closed off. We've got on to the local, you know, representatives.
And again, it's just this concept, yeah, you're, you know, they will get funding to you sooner or later. But it's when, and it's dealing with the frustration now, and what annoyed me was the government wanted the country to pay up front for water. It's... have such a poor standard in quality, you know. Yeah.
It's not... What about the argument, Tina, that... People have to pay for it so that they can have the infrastructure, but it doesn't work like that. You know, that's basically putting the cart before the horse.
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