Brendan’s boiling over water announcement

Councillor questions Taoiseach announcing Westport boil water notice


Neill O'Neill

THE reasoning behind the announcement of a boil water notice being implemented in Westport in May coming from the Castlebar-based office of An Taoiseach Enda Kenny was questioned last week by Fianna FΡil Councillor for the town, Brendan Mulroy.
Speaking at the monthly meeting of the West Mayo Municipal District, Cllr Mulroy said the chain of events left a ‘bad taste in his mouth’ and said it was not handled well.
Councillor Mulroy went on to explain that the announcement from the Taoiseach’s office shortly before 6pm on May 6 came out of the blue before any announcement by the HSE or Irish Water, and left councillors ‘chasing their tails’ looking for information. Cllr Mulroy stated that the way the whole boil water issue was handled was a credit to all involved, but reiterated that the way it was announced was ‘detrimental to Westport’.
Councillor Christy Hyland added that the announcement came from the Taoiseach’s office at eight minutes to 6pm that day and ‘Enda Kenny must be the first politician that wanted to spread bad news’.
The debate arose as part of a discussion on the ending of a partial boil water notice for Westport Town being lifted on June 12.

Widespread praise
There was widespread praise for the way the situation was dealt with by officials, management and staff from across the many involved agencies, with Cllr Tereasa McGuire saying: “We can be quick to complain about officialdom, but this was an example of great work.”
Director of Services Martin Keating said that the team had ‘pulled out all the stops’ on the work needed to identify where the issues were and get solutions for them, which brought Lough Mask water to a large swathe of the town centre. He also thanked the Environmental Protection Agency, and council partner organisations like Westport Chamber of Commerce and Destination Westport, for their help during the boil water notice period, and said that lessons had been learnt from what was a new experience for all.
He added after questioning that Irish Water will carry the costs incurred during the boil water notice period, though there would be indirect costs for the council, such as employees’ time.