Call to support anti-pipe campaign

Opponents to Irish Water's plans to pump Shannon water to Dublin and the East Midlands last week made a united call for widespread public support of their campaign.

The River Shannon Protection Alliance, Fight the Pipe, and Emma Kennedy, author of the much-publicised 'Kennedy Analysis' of the controversial plan, held at public meeting at Nenagh Arts Centre last Wednesday night. More than 200 people attended.

Ms Kennedy again challenged Irish Water to a public debate - “calculators in hand” - on the pipe plan. Asked after the meeting whether such a debate might happen, Irish Water said it has already engaged with a number of interested groups on the issues and has issued regular responses.
Ms Kennedy told last week's meeting that she is “really heartened” with the increased level of awareness of the issues surrounding the project over the last six months, and increasing levels of objection to it.

“Tonight is a recruitment exercise,” Ms Kennedy told the meeting, asking those in attendance to think of ways they could find to stop the project. Opponents of the scheme need the help of people with the resources and qualifications to fight it, she said.

“The message Irish Water gives the public does not reflect their analysis. Statements were made that were false about the need for this pipeline,” she claimed, adding that she is putting together evidence on this claim for the Joint Committee of the Oireachtas. If the pipe costs €1.3 billion, that equates to €1,000 for every family in Ireland. “That's a lot of hospital beds,” Ms Kennedy commented.

“They've refused to address any of the questions we've raised,” she said, adding that she referred the matter to the Government only to have it referred back to Irish Water again “to correct its own homework”. “That's poor governance”.

“We need people to start taking action. This needs to become political,” Ms Kennedy said, asking those present to question their local representatives about their position on the matter.

Gerry Siney of the River Shannon Protection Alliance said the opposition groups are seeking cross-political support for their campaign. He said those against the plan would need a “fighting fund” for the planning process.

“It’s time to call them out on this project,” he said of Irish Water, accusing the utility of “hiding behind closed doors” and refusing to debate the scheme with third parties.

“If this scheme goes ahead, the collateral damage will be enormous,” Mr Siney warned.

Liam Minehan of Fight the Pipe encouraged local representatives to have the plan revisited. “If it is, we’re 100% sure that it will fail,” he said.
“The general public are being sold a pup over this one. You can dress it up any way you like; this is waste of taxpayers’ money.”

Local TD Jackie Cahill (FF) was represented at the meeting by Pat Flannery, who told those present that Deputy Cahill (Ind) is 100% behind the anti-pipe campaign. Deputy Mattie McGrath (Ind) attended the meeting and pledged his support. He believed the cost of the project would exceed €2 billion.

Deputy Seamus Healy (Ind) described the project as “monstrosity” and said the money would be better spent on such problems as the housing crisis, “rather than simply pouring it down the drain”. It was possible to fix the pipes in London in a relatively quick time and, “if it can be done there, we can do it here,” Deputy Healy reasoned.

Also among those present was hydrologist Shane Bennett, who said he is “astonished” that the project has gone so far. He believed that underground aquifers storing rainwater would make a far greater alternative. “We do need an independent assessment here,” Mr Bennett said. “Don’t ask Irish Water to be judge and jury themselves.”

Jack O’Sullivan also spoke out against the pipe proposal but said large numbers of people would be required to stop it. Mr O’Sullivan did not think that adequate regard had been given to rainwater harvesting in seeking to resolve Dublin’s problems.

Also among those who spoke was former town councillor Virginia O’Dowd of Nenagh, who said desalination should be revisited as a possible solution. This has been dismissed as being too costly, but technology is improving all the time, Ms O’Dowd said.

In response to some of the questions raised at the meeting, Irish Water said it is advancing wastewater treatment projects in parallel with the new water supply project for Dublin. It will have a waste management plan in place for construction of the pipe and will aim to maximise re-use of excavated material on site.

It said the proposed abstraction will have no impact on the normal operating water level band in Lough Derg or on the statutory minimum flow to the River Shannon downstream of Parteen Weir.

As to whether there could be an independent assessment of the plan, Irish Water said it would submit an application for strategic infrastructure development for the €1.3 billion project to An Bord Pleanála in 2019.

“An Bord Pleanála, as the independent planning authority, will assess all elements of the application, including the assessment of need, consideration of alternatives and the extensive environmental assessments.”