Update on delivery of long awaited sewerage scheme for west Mayo town

The long awaited sewerage scheme in Newport has taken a small step closer to being realised. 

At a briefing to Oireachtas members this week,  Mayo TDs Keira Keogh, Paul Lawless, Alan Dillon and Rose Conway Walsh questioned Uisce Éireann about the progress for the Newport treatment plant. 

As has been reported in The Mayo News, Raw sewage from the plant in Newport continues to flow into Clew Bay and according to the EPA report is not expected to be upgraded by Uisce Éireann until 2030.

Uisce Eireann applied for a Maritime Usage Licence (MUL) from the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) last December. This will allow it to put an acoustic doppler current profiler in Clew Bay to map the currents and it will also further validate a study from the Marine Institute.

READ MORE: West Mayo sewage group ready to 'make noise' to advance treatment plant

The study provided information that Uisce Éireann was able to use to build a hydrodynamic model of the currents in Clew Bay so that different scenarios can be run through to determine the two different locations for the most suitable landing point and the location of the new treatment plant for the next phase. 

Westport TD Keira Keogh says: “I have been talking to Minister John Cummins and he has committed on getting MARA, Uisce Éireann and the EPA around the table because Uisce Éireann are looking at MARA for the delays and MARA are looking at Uisce Éireann for the delays so getting them around the table is the way forward. I am hoping it will happen later this month.”

Deputy Keira Keogh meeting with members of the Newport Sewage Concern Group

“We didn’t know about this study until yesterday. The good news is that this study has allowed Uisce Éireann to progress to phase two thanks to the work of these researchers in Ireland, Egypt and Greece and has allowed them to build this hydrodynamic model that they can now be running tests on but they still want to verify all that information when they get the Maritime Usage Licence from Mara.

READ MORE: Mayo TD admits delays in progressing Newport Treatment Plant are 'not acceptable'

“All going to plan, it will be 2030 but if there’s bumps in the road, it could push it out to 2031 or 2032.”

The timeline for phase 2 is likely to be 12-18 months, phase 3 is expected to take between 18 months-24 months. This phase is the final business case, where the planning permission, appointment of contractor and land acquisition takes place and Phase 4 construction is expected to take 2 years.

Aontú TD Paul Lawless has expressed his frustration with the delay in processing the MUL application: “Despite a statutory 30-day timeframe, we have now gone well over 200 days as MARA has yet to even assess this application, leaving the people of Newport in limbo while fish stocks are damaged daily and wastewater issues continue.

“I have raised this repeatedly with the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, and Minister Cummins, and while polite nods are all well and good, they won’t clear the waters of Newport Bay or protect their livelihoods depending on them. It is nothing short of absurd after years of waiting that after yesterday's meeting with MARA and Uisce Éireann, the MUL application for Newport’s wastewater plant hasn’t even made it onto their agenda. This is going on some time now, and even as recently as yesterday, the most pressing issue for Newport has still not been discussed.”

Deputy Paul Lawless speaking on the issue in Newport

Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway-Walsh has labelled the delay as "probably one of the greatest successive government failures in Mayo."

The party's spokesperson on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment says, “Back in 2024 Uisce Éireann confirmed to me that the project was at the Preliminary Business Case stage. On Monday we were told that the project remains at Preliminary Business Case.

“This is simply not acceptable at all. Businesses and residents in Newport have been made promise after promise that the treatment plant would be delivered, yet here we are in 2025 and no resolution to the problem.

“The government needs to confirm whether funding has been ringfenced for this project and the Minister needs to liaise directly with Uisce Éireann and the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority to move the project on swiftly.

“I have written to the Minister again to voice my serious concerns that this vital piece of infrastructure will not be delivered until 2030. This is probably one of the greatest successive government failures in Mayo.

“It’s time the government and all the associated bodies got their acts together. If additional engineers and expertise is needed to fast track this project then that is what needs to be done. I am asking the government to pull out all the stops and deliver this vital piece of infrastructure in Mayo."