Annagry family tells of water woes: 'Felt like living in the Third World'

An Annagry family left without water for most of the Easter weekend say they are at the end of their tether over repeated outages.

The Gallagher family - Shaun, Claire and their three children, aged 11, six and two – had to rely on buying five-litre bottles of water from The Cope Foodstore to allow them carry out the most basic of household tasks.

The family, who live in Meenderrynasloe, say that the situation has become 'disheartening'.

Their frustrations are exacerbated with the fact that Claire is a wheelchair user.

“This has been an ongoing problem since we moved here in 2015,” Claire told Donegal Live. “This happens at least once a month. We have reported this issue to Uisce Éireann so many times. They have put in meters to see what's wrong and they've taken pressure readings, but nothing ever goes anywhere.

“About a year and a half ago, they said that they were optimistic about putting us onto another line, but that ran into problems and we are still exactly where we were.

“Some people in the area had dirty water or cloudy water, but we had no water at all. We didn't even have bad water, not even a dribble.

“It just keeps happening. So many people have been here to say they're going to fix it, but it just kicks the can down the line and there's another burst.

“We have had to cook, clean and drink using the big bottles of water from the shop. This isn’t good enough.”

Their Easter issues began on Good Friday. After lighting a fire, they had to douse the flames again when the water went off.

“Whatever water we had in the tank, we had to keep it,” Claire said. “It came back for around half-an-hour, but went off again. It was the same on Saturday and we had the fire lit again. It came back on on Saturday night, but it was gone completely on Sunday morning – and that was that until Monday evening.

“The house was built in '93 and still has the fire and back boiler in. We rely on the water. It felt like we were living in the Third World this weekend. Things like the kids brushing their teeth, washing their faces, everything was just an issue. Even feeding our poor dog was made difficult.”

As she is a wheelchair user, the Gallagher family bathroom has been designed for her to use independently.

“It's just not as easy for me to nip to a relative,” she said. “ We have a wet room and an adapted bath. I have had skin grafts and I need to really look after them. I have a whole routine to keep them clean and make sure that they're disinfected.”

Independent County Councillor Michael Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig has made representations to Uisce Éireann on behalf of the family.

Councillor Mac Giolla Easbuig has criticised the water utility company for not offering bottled or tank water to the community and has sought a meeting in a bid to find a remedy.

“We are so grateful that someone is advocating for us,” Claire said. “Uisce Éireann need to replace the line here. Micheal has been excellent and has been rallying to get a solution – but Uisce Éireann never seem to go anywhere with it.

“We are really at the end of our tether. It's disheartening as we both work full-time and pay our taxes, but it just feels that we are constantly battling here.

“During Storm Isha in January, we went for a while without water or electricity. They have said that they need the pump in a new water plant to pump water, but if the electricity goes off the pump started working.

“That felt like Armageddon at the time, but the Easter weekend was actually worse.”

In a written response to Councillor Mac Giolla Easbuig, Uisce Éireann say that they have 'opened a query' on the matter.

They said: “It must be noted however, that due to the complex nature of some of the queries raised, we may require input from various Uisce Éireann departments to obtain full aspects of responses.

“As you can appreciate, this may extend our response times in certain scenarios. Your continued patience and understanding are greatly appreciated whilst we review your opened query.”