35,000 Dublin homes face loss of water supply

Up to 35,000 homes in north Dublin are to be left without water this weekend because of works connected with the completion of the Dublin Port Tunnel.

Dublin City Council has not contacted the residents directly and has given just one day's notice in advertisements in daily newspapers and on local radio of the cut that has been planned for several months.

Most of the northeast of the city will have its supply shut down with a "total loss of water" at some period between 8pm today and 6pm on Sunday.

The areas directly affected are: Fairview, Clontarf, Raheny, Killester, Kilbarrack, Sutton Park, Bayside Park, Baldoyle village, Baldoyle Industrial Estate and Menolly Homes Baldoyle.

Houses in the surrounding areas may also suffer disruption to their water supply. Emergency water tankers will be provided at St Brigid's Church, Howth Road and behind the UCI cinema in Coolock, near Tonlegee Road.

The council said it needs to cut the water supply to change a temporary pipe that had been laid during the construction of the port tunnel, which is now completed and due to open on December 20th.

The weekend was chosen in order to minimise disruption, the council's divisional engineer for water services, Brian McKeown, said.

"Demand is lower on Saturday and Sunday because the non-domestic sector is largely not operating. If we shut it down during the week, schools will have to shut down and parents might have to take time off work."

However, businesses which do open over the weekend such as hairdressers and sports facilities will be affected. There are also several nursing homes in the area which will be left without water over the weekend.

The work was planned but the council decided not to give notice earlier, Mr McKeown said. "This is not emergency work, but if we gave notice earlier we felt people might forget when the time came."

Most domestic water tanks should hold enough water for 24 hours, or slightly longer "if people nurse it", Mr McKeown said. He advised householders to avoid unnecessary water usage.

Local Independent councillor Finian McGrath said the city manager and the port tunnel management team were showing complete disdain for the people of north Dublin.