Skryne householders no longer prepared to go with the flow on constant water outages

Residents in Skryne who have been left without water on numerous occasions since last December attended a public meeting in the RST Community Centre last week, where they vented their frustration at recent outages.

At least 27 household and 81 people have been affected by the water shortages, which included a complete outage on four consecutive days recently.

Kevin Gogarty who lives in the Five Roads area, said he had carried out a survey of residents and received 27 responses showing how 81 people had been impacted by the outages.

He said that following a particularly bad period in the last two weeks in which there were four days without any water, the supply had come back but they are fearful that supplies will run low again.

"I have lived here since 2020 and as long as we have been here, the mains water pressure was poor in the summer and often runs dry during peak demand on the hottest summer days. This is something we have often reported but have made do with over time, planning ahead with larger storage tanks and bottled water at the ready.

"Since December 2025 something has changed and the water has been wholly unreliable. We had no water coming to our house from 6th March for four days.

"We and many our neighbours have reported this issue to Meath County Council and Irish Water regularly. These reports are generally to the Irish Water call centre and met with 'there are no known issues in your area' and have never had a meaningful explanation of the solution when water returns."

He said that Meath County Council had dropped off bottled water on two occasions, showing there are aware of a wider issue.

He said his survey showed most households in the area had issues over the last 24 months with reports made to Irish Water (Uisce Éireann) 130 times.

"I am extremely concerned that this issue will get worse as the demand increases into the summer. I work in the building and heating networks and critical infrastructure sector and understand there may not be an easy fix but it is past time to start work to find one."

Another resident, Ray Cremin said there had been no explanation from Uisce Éireann for the recent outages which had caused significant disruption for households locally.

"Residents in the area have been experiencing frequent loss of water and very low pressure for quite some time, often during peak usage periods. While individual outages are sometimes restored after being reported, the underlying issue appears to be persistent and many residents are concerned that the existing infrastructure may no longer be sufficient to meet demand," he said.

"These outages have been occurring repeatedly over the past number of years and are affecting multiple households in the area. Losing water for extended periods is extremely difficult for families, particularly when it happens without warning and during busy household periods. The ongoing nature of these outages is creating increasing frustration locally as it appears the underlying issue has yet to be addressed."

Mr Cremin has a four-month-old baby and a two-year-old child. "Losing water for extended periods creates significant disruption for our family. Basic tasks such as preparing bottles, washing, bathing children, and maintaining normal household routines become extremely difficult when the water supply is unavailable for days at a time.

"We have raised these issues with Uisce Éireann on multiple occasions. However, despite repeated reports, the problems continue to occur."

Mr Cremin has written to local TDs asking for their assistance in engaging with Uisce Éireann to help clarify what is causing the ongoing supply outages, whether any infrastructure upgrades or capacity improvements are planned and what timelines or interim measures may be in place to improve reliability.

"Reliable access to water is a basic service, and residents would welcome reassurance that this issue is being actively addressed rather than continuing as a recurring problem," he said.

Deputy Darren O’Rourke called for urgent and lasting action on the water infrastructure in Skryne, warning that the return of supply does not solve the underlying problem and that the community cannot be left waiting for the next failure.

"Since the start of the year, residents on the Five Roads and surrounding areas have been without water or had reduced water supply on 17 different days, including for four consecutive days over last weekend. While supply has now been restored, Uisce Éireann are still unable to identify the root cause of the outage, leaving the community vulnerable to further disruption.

"The fact that water has returned to homes in Skryne is welcome, but it does not mark the end of this issue. It simply means the immediate crisis has passed.

“Uisce Éireann has admitted they are still no clearer on what caused this outage, which means there is absolutely nothing stopping this from happening again today, tomorrow, next week, or next month. That is not good enough. This is a community that has been dealing with repeated outages and low pressure for years. They have logged complaints, they have waited, and they have been let down time and time again. The return of water does not erase the days of disruption families endured, nor does it fix the failing infrastructure beneath their feet.

"This crisis has to be the tipping point. We cannot allow this cycle of failure, reporting, and temporary fixes to continue.

“The community needs answers and, more importantly, they need investment and a commitment to sort this problem for the long term.

"I am reiterating my call for Uisce Éireann to engage directly with me and the residents of Skryne. They must provide a clear explanation of what is causing these repeated failures and set out a timeline for the solutions that will finally give this community the reliable water supply they deserve," he said.

Uisce Éireann and Meath County Council have been approached for comment.