*The Parteen Basin where water will be piped to Dublin.
CO CLARE will get no benefit from supplying water to Dublin and surrounding counties as part of a multi-billion proposal, councillors have claimed.
In December, Uisce Éireann lodged plans for the State’s largest-ever water project which will see water drained from Co Clare to supply Dublin and surrounding counties.
Uisce Éireann have calculated the project will cost between €4.58bn and €5.96bn and can be completed within five years. They have included over with the Strategic Infrastructure Development planning application and Compulsory Purchase Order application submitted to An Coimisiún Pleanála.
Water will be abstracted from the Parteen Basin, upstream of Parteen Weir on the Lower River Shannon. According to the planning documents, a maximum of 2% of the long-term average flow at Parteen Basin will be utilised in the abstraction.
It is proposed that the water will be treated near Killaloe and Birdhill, treated water will then be piped 170km through counties Tipperary, Offaly and Kildare to a termination point reservoir at Peamount in County Dublin, connecting into the Greater Dublin Area water distribution network. This will supply Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow with water. At present, the River Liffey supplies 85% of the water requirements for 1.7 million people in Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow.
East Clare councillors united with a joint motion tabled before Monday’s meeting of the Council. They requested the Council’s planning section “engage with and assist the elected members and the Killaloe MD in the preparation of a submission to An Coimisiún Pleanála” responding to Uisce Éireann’s plans to extract water from the River Shannon.
Senior planner, Helen Quinn said the Council will be preparing a Chief Executive Report to the Commission “setting out its views on the development”. A behind-closed-doors briefing will be held with councillors in February, she confirmed.
According to Cllr Tony O’Brien (FF) the extraction plans are “very serious for our country, the River Shannon is the greatest natural resource we have”. He added, “I’ve serious concerns about the viability of this but more worryingly the potential damage, it could wipe out recreation on the River Shannon and our investment in tourism on the eastern region if this project goes ahead, I have huge concerns on the numbers, data and application, there are serious errors contained within the application and serious questions which we can’t get answers for surrounding the application for. This project has the potential to wipe out the serious investment we’re bringing to the county”.
Co-operation from the planning department was welcomed by Cllr Pat Burke (FG). “This is going on since I came into the Council in 2009, they’ve finally got around to their planning application, my stance hasn’t changed, I’m totally opposed to the project based on the potential disaster it could bring to Lough Derg and East Clare.
Noting it was “a long time” since Dublin City Council briefed their Clare colleagues on the plans, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) commented, “we’re giving our asset away from our region, there’s no proposal in the draft we were shown or given with no pipeline coming across from Ennis or Shannon saying this will support the development of infrastructure and jobs in our area. They talk about a community fund but it is imperative that we talk about the value, it is the same analogy of the tourists coming and going from the Cliffs, taking the water from us to grow Dublin but at what expense”.
“We’re not denying anyone water,” Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF) flagged. “That’s not we’re about but we’re fearful for our own resource at Lough Derg, the water is taken out of Lough Derg and goes to Tipperary to be treated and moved up the country. We’re supplying the water but we won’t get any benefit from it, we’re not au fait with what they are offering from the community fund”.
Lough Derg’s shoreline from Killaloe to Whitegate must be protected, Cllr Conor Ryan (FG) insisted. “This pipeline is no small feat, it is one of the largest projects since the Shannon Scheme, it is no small endeavour, all proper environmental, social and tourist considerations need to be given to preserve the wonderful habitat that is Lough and its surrounding coastline”.
Farming areas of East Clare are also at risk, Cllr Joe Killeen (FF) highlighted. “In North Clare we have special areas of conservation which were introduced because of restrictions and it is impossible to get planning permission there now”.
Voicing his opposition, Cllr Tommy Guilfoyle (SF) remarked, “I can’t understand how we will spend billions of public money to pump water to Dublin and not fix the pipes in Dublin which need to be repaired. I oppose the project, the Shannon needs to be left alone, they have everything else inside the Pale, they don’t need the Shannon”.
Views must be made known before the closing date of submissions on March 4th, Cllr Rita McInerney (FF) outlined. “Uisce Éireann have presented this project as a solution to national water security but it is overwhelmingly serving the needs of Dublin area”. She said half the country’s GDP is generated in the greater Dublin area and the plan “feeds into the whole imbalance, we are very dependent on Dublin as the driver of economic growth”.
Water levels over the next two decades are not clear, Cllr David Griffin (FF) said and maintained the proposal “flies in the face” of what Clare County Council’s tourism directorate are trying to achieve. “It is robbing Peter to pay Paul on the far side of the country and makes no sense”.
Proper and full engagement is required, Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) felt, “what is in it for us and that is what it boils down to”. The quantity of water available to reservoirs along the pipeline needs to be scrutinised, Cllr Michael Begley (IND) stated. Half of the proposed spend could help to solve the leaking Dublin network, Cllr John Crowe (FG) believed.
Responding to the views expressed, Cllr O’Brien said, “We don’t want anything Tom, we just want our natural resource to be left alone and thrive. The community fund on a briefing said 5% of the fund which is €70,000 per year. Leaks are around 50% in the greater Dublin area, for every bucket taken out of the Shannon, another goes down the drain. It has been priced at €6.5bn by Uisce Éireann but independent assessors have come closer to €10bn and that is ridiculous”.
