Nenagh community celebrates their own water supply

A rural community outside Nenagh that has generated its own water supply for the past five decades will be marking that achievement in the Abbey Court Hotel in Nenagh on this Friday night.

The Cunnahurt/Knockalton Group Water Scheme started from humble beginnings in 1964 when it supplied water to just 38 houses.

Today, due to the dedicated voluntary commitment of at least two generations of locals, the scheme now supplies 110 houses as well as numerous local farms and three businesses that operate in its catchment.

'We are proud of what we have achieved, and what the people who went before us achieved,' says Tim Nolan, who succeeded his late father Roger as scheme Chairman after he died tragically in a car accident in 1987.

'When you see all the fuss over Irish Water, and the millions of euro being spent on setting it up, it makes us very happy to have our own independent scheme,' says Tim.

John O' Brien, who has just stepped down from the roles of  Secretary and Treasurer of the scheme after 47 years of unbroken service, conceded that problems arose over the years, but they always managed to overcome them. 'We  are very lucky to have a great water supply, which is sourced from a well that is fed by a whole range of springs,' John told The Guardian. 'The well went low on us a few years, but we have never failed to maintain the supply to everyone on the scheme.'

Photo show John O' Brien, who gave 47 years of service to the water scheme, and his wife Anne.

Full report in the current issue of The Guardian