Christmas misery for Trim residents after water outage
Over 200 households in Trim have endured a miserable Christmas after being left without a water supply to their estate.
Residents of The Belfry estate and Talbot Court on the Athboy Road woke up on Christmas Eve morning to no running water with calls made by panicked homeowners to Uisce Eireann seeking answers. Businesses in the Oak Tree business park are believed to be affected also.
A water tanks was supplied on Christmas Eve along with bottles of drinking water, however residents say the tank was insufficient to fulfil the needs of the households in the estate.
"It was empty by Christmas Day," one Belfry resident told the Meath Chronicle.
"It was refilled on St Stephen's Day and empty within a few hours due to people desperately needing to flush toilets.
"We have families, elderly, children with disabilities, one poor family had the winter bug at home and no water. We've been forced to take our washing out to machines at garages. It's an absolute health hazard.
"Irish Water (Uisce Eireann) have told us every time we ring up it has been fixed and will be back on in a few hours.... That was on Stephen's Day and we're still without.
"There's nowhere for people to shower until a hotel (Castle Arch Hotel) opened up for us for a few hours today.
"I'm just off the phone to Irish Water who said again it's fixed but I've told them to bring a refill now, people are desperate. A lot of residents have also been left with no heating and those of us that did have enough in the tanks to heat the house, well it'll be gone very soon."
Local Aontú Cllr Dave Boyne stated that leaving households without water for days over Christmas was “completely unacceptable” and that residents had been failed by both Irish Water and the political system that shields it from consequences.
"For the fourth consecutive day over the Christmas period, households along the Athboy Road in Trim were left without a functioning water supply. Four full days — from Christmas Eve to 27th December thus far, at one of the most demanding times of the year for any household.
"Residents were unable to drink safely, shower, flush toilets, cook meals, clean their homes, wash clothes, or operate heating systems. Elderly residents, families with young children, and people hosting relatives for Christmas were forced into emergency measures — sourcing bottled water, relying on neighbours, or leaving their homes altogether.
“Water is not a luxury or a discretionary service. It is a basic human right. This is an unbelievable level of incompetence from Irish Water, its basically an institutional failure”.
“What makes this situation especially unacceptable is that part of this outage was scheduled by Irish Water! Scheduled maintenance during the Christmas period, when families are at home, demand is high, and alternatives are limited, represents a staggering failure of judgement”.
“If this was a private company, it would face penalties, compensation claims, and regulatory sanctions. Bonuses would be retracted, heads would roll. In my opinion, Irish Water and FFG should face fines for every single outage, calculated per minute and per affected customer. Hit FFG in the pocket. Definitely hit them at the ballot box! Real consequences would change behaviour far more effectively than apologies issued after the fact”.
“All many residents wanted this Christmas was something basic: water from the tap. The fact that this could not be guaranteed is not just unfortunate — it is a scandal. An outrage. We are supposed to be one of the wealthiest countries in Europe – where’s all the money going? Not on water infrastructure anyway! The people of Trim will not accept this”.
Cllr Boyne paid tribute to the Castle Arch Hotel as well as the local community for assisting their neighbours during this difficult period.
Uisce Eireann has been contacted for comment.
The latest notification from Uisce Eireann on its website was 12:39pm 26/12/2025 and states:
"Works are now complete and supply should begin returning to all affected areas
"Essential works may cause low pressure and intermittent supply disruption to Athboy Road, The Belfry, Talbot Court, Whitehall, Trim and surrounding areas in Co. Meath.
"Works are now scheduled to take place until 8pm on 27 December.
"Alternative water supplies are available at The Belfry, Talbot Court and White Hall until 8pm on 27 December. Please boil the water before use.
"Uisce Éireann makes every effort to ensure that the alternative drinking water supply provided, including the tanker/bowser, and dispensing tap, are adequately disinfected.
"However, as it is not practical to provide sterilised containers for the public to transport drinking water from the tanker to their homes, we cannot guarantee that any containers used by the public do not negatively impact or contaminate the drinking water.
"We recommend that you allow 3-4 hours after the estimated restoration time for your supply to fully return.
"Please take note of the following reference number and enter it into the search bar should you wish to return for an update: MEA00104243."
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