Irish Water admits more should have been done to keep customers in the loop about a major water outage in South East Clare.
It follows a supply disruption last Friday which left many homes in the Meelick and Cratloe areas without water for most of the day – with customers given little indication of when it would be restored.
Local Fianna Fáil Councillor Cathal Crowe has hit out at the utility, saying communication from the top down was “dire”.
Clare FM’s Fiona McGarry reports:
On the service updates section of the Irish Water website website on Friday, it said supply would be restored to around 200 homes in South-East Clare by 3pm.
However, it was well after this – the utility says it was back for all homes by 7pm but Councillor Cathal Crowe says many homes were left waiting until 11pm before they had running water.
He’s unhappy with what he calls “dire” communication from the top down – he says they received no updates whatsoever on when the supply would come back.
Cllr Crowe also believes it was much more than the 200 homes Irish Water says were affected – and says the area is regularly hit by leaks.
A burst on the water main was to blame for the outage, with further leaks occurring as the repairs went on.
Irish Water has apologised to customers for the delay in restoring the supply – but its Operations Lead for Clare Duane O’Brien acknowledges they could’ve done more to keep people informed.
