Pressure put on council after summer of poor water quality in Kilkenny

The Labour Party’s Sean Ó hArgain has raised grave concerns over the water quality in the River Nore following a period of disruption to swimmers and other river users and has asked Kilkenny County Council to make assurances that everything possible will be done to throughly investigate the causes and anyone responsible to account.

In July, the Nore Swim & Marble City Mile joint event was postponed due to poor water quality.

Meanwhile, Kilkenny County Council were forced to announce a temporary bathing prohibition at The Weir, Bleach Road and at Bishops Meadows in the city as well as in Thomastown, Inistioge and Graignamanagh disrupting locals and tourists alike over parts of the summer.

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"There is concern in the city and parts of the county at the issues that arose this summer," Cllr Ó hArgain told members at September’s sitting of the Kilkenny City Municipal District.

"I understand the problems are complex, they’re not simple but I would be looking for an assurance that we (elected councillors and members of the executive) will do everything in our power to ensure that causes of the incidents are adequately investigated as expansively as they can and if they are people responsible for what happened that they are identified and dealt with," the local councillor and former mayor of the city continued.

"We need to ensure this is the last summer that we have bathing restrictions in place in the city centre because it’s too important for it to happen again," he added.

"In hot weather it’s crucial for people that they have the opportunity to use the facility, particularly for those who don’t have the luxury of being able to hop into their cars and drive to Dunmore East or Duncannon," he concluded.

Deputy Mayor of Kilkenny City, Cllr Maria Dollard shared similar concerns, stating actions to rectify the issue must be taken.

"This is not a new issue,” the Green Party representative claimed, claiming, “this has been going on for years."

"It’s appalling what is happening to our rivers," she continued, stating, "everybody understands the problem that we have and we have to address it very, very forcibly because we’re losing species and all of the life that the river supports," she added.

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