Shipments of water to the Aran island of Inis Oírr and overnight restrictions on the public supply have been lifted by Uisce Éireann.
The agency says that water reserves on the southernmost Aran island have recovered and are “currently sufficient to ensure a continuous water supply into the winter”.
“Uisce Éireann and Galway County Council will continue to monitor and maintain the supply for our customers on Inis Oírr,” it says in a statement.
Tobar Éinne or Éanna's well on Inis Oírr, overflowing even as shipments of water were sent to the island until early November
“We would like to thank residents, businesses and visitors to the island for their conservation efforts during the restrictions,” it says.
Justin Doran of Uisce Éireann said the restrictions between 11 pm and 7 am were “necessary over the summer months to ensure a continuous daily water supply was available for residents and businesses for hygiene and other essential purposes”.
“ Supplies were increased by a significant amount of tankering of water by sea from Ros-a-Mhíl over the past number of months,” it said.
Thankfully, water reserves on the island have recovered and are currently sufficient to ensure a continuous water supply into the winter. Uisce Éireann and Galway County Council will continue to monitor and maintain the supply for our customers on Inis Oírr.
The island co-op has sought a long-term solution for well over a decade, amid growing frustration over the apparent lack of a strategy and large expenditure by the State on short-term solutions.
Inis Oírr, which has a population of 340 people, has long suffered from shortages due to lack of groundwater sources.
For well over a decade, it has experienced regular droughts due to relatively low rainfall, and the difficulty of drilling wells that are not contaminated by seawater.
Visitor numbers can reach several thousand during the tourist season, which is now running well into October, and this has put a strain on the existing supply.
A hydrogeological study conducted in 2015 proposed capturing excess winter rainfall to ease the summer shortages.
A plan was drawn up to install raw storage tanks, requiring planning permission. Large areas of the Aran islands are protected under the EU Habitats Directive.
It is understood that Uisce Éireann and Galway County Council had sought land and tendered for up to three storage tanks, but islanders then heard that this plan was abandoned on cost grounds.
Resident Paddy Crowe had said while everyone on the island was happy that water is being delivered, there remains a question mark over a long-term plan.
“Shipments are expensive, and wouldn’t money be better spent on a long-term cure?” he has said.
Uisce Éireann would not divulge the cost of the shipments, stating that “this is commercially sensitive information”.
It said that specialised maintenance works to resolve an issue at the Inis Oírr water treatment plant were scheduled over this past week.
