IRISH Water is like a teenager going out to a disco, so conscious is it of its image, according to Councillor Cathal Crowe.
At last week’s Shannon Municipal District meeting, the Meelick man spoke about how quick the controversial utility had been to get in touch with him after he posted a critical tweet.
“They’re like a 15-year-old going to a disco; they are very image conscious,” he claimed.
While he said that local staff are outstanding, he was very critical of failings of Irish Water on a recent occasion when there was disruption to services in a number of areas in South-East Clare.
He said they had informed people that the problem was a leak in Kilkee, while separately they had said a crew was sent out on a Sunday, when that was not the case.
“The communication is absolutely dire; it’s chronic,” the Fianna Fáil councillor claimed.
Councillor Mike McKee said that a number being used by representatives doesn’t seem to be answered in or out of office hours.
However, he praised an unnamed individual in Shannon, who he said can be contacted through social media and is “an absolute gem”.
Independent Gerry Flynn said that recently in Shannon there was a major outage, while he said he could not understand the lack of communication from Irish Water.
“It’s very hard to interpret silence on the end of a phone,” he added.
“The sooner Irish Water get the heave-ho the better,” Councillor Flynn stated.
His fellow independent Councillor PJ Ryan said that Irish Water’s communication is “absolutely diabolical” and has been for a while.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.