The work was meant to have started this week, but now it’s anyone’s guess when the long-awaited section of water main on the Courthouse Road in Fermoy will be replaced.

Councillor Noel McCarthy raised the matter at Tuesday evening’s town council meeting, asking for an update given that work was meant to have begun that day, but hadn’t started. He was told by town manager, Katherine Walsh that there’s an issue with the completion of the contract for the work. “It may take longer, we’ll update you in a couple of weeks” she told members.

URGENT

Cllr. Tadhg O’Donovan said the community hospital is anxiously awaiting the works as they’ve been badly affected by numerous breaks in water supply. Cllr. McCarthy asked that councillors be informed when there’s positive news as he’d asked for a meeting of the contractors with local businesses beforehand, to brief them on the works.

Councillor Seamus Coleman reacted strongly to news of the delay, saying that the council surely has some power if this happens to get the work done. “This is a problem around the county, contractors walking off jobs,” he said. He asked why a bond isn’t put in place when they select a contractor, so that the bond could be called in to get the work completed if the contractor doesn’t do it.