Irish Water denies Meenaleck/ Ranafast protest led to agreement

Irish Water has denied claims by a West Donegal Councillor that his protest was instrumental in an agreement being reached to reinstate the Meenaleck to Ranafast Road to an appropriate standard.
Councillor Micheal Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig blocked the road for two days last week to prevent the utility from continuing works in the area as he claimed the road would not be reinstated in the way the community wished.
Councillor Mac Giolla Easbuig says he is confident he took the right action to ensure the road was left in an acceptable state for the community.
However, in a statement issued to Highland Radio News this afternoon, Irish Water say claims by a public representative that his protest led to Irish Water agreeing to reinstate the road to their specification are utterly unfounded they say the protests instead led to a delay in essential reinstatement taking place.
They confirmed that the road will be reinstated to an appropriate standard and that reinstatement works will be carried out to a standard in consultation and agreement with Donegal County Council and no other third party individuals.
Irish Water statement in full:
Irish Water, working in partnership with Donegal County Council, is replacing approximately 40km of ageing water mains across 13 priority sections in Co Donegal as part of the €12m investment in the Donegal county wide project. Replacing these ageing water mains and service connections will reduce the instances of bursts and water outages and help ensure a reliable supply of water to customers and local businesses throughout the county. It will also lead to improved water quality by removing old cast iron pipes from the network and replacing them with modern plastic pipes which will reduce the risk of contamination.
The Meenaleack – Ranafast area is one of the 13 areas where 3km of old watermain with a frequent burst history is being replaced. The works in this area are progressing well with approximately 100m of pipelaying to be finished.
These works will bring many benefits to local residents who had to endure a lot of bursts and outages over the years including a safer and more secure water supply. This is a very important network upgrade and will end the repeated repairs and associated ongoing disruption for both impacts on traffic and on water supply to the local area.
Irish Water can confirm that the road will be reinstated to an appropriate standard. Donegal County Council are the roads authority and ultimately all reinstatement works will be carried out to a standard in consultation and agreement with them and no other third party individuals. The timing and responsibility for completing all reinstatement works will be agreed between Irish Water, Donegal County Council and the contractor.
Claims by a public representative that his protest led to Irish Water agreeing to reinstate the road to their specification are utterly unfounded. The protests led to a delay in essential reinstatement taking place.
Irish Water would like to thank the locals for their patience and co-operation so far and look forward to completing the remaining section of the works.