On hold: Irish Water defers work near Athlone schools until after State exams

Irish Water has today confirmed that its planned pipe replacement project along Retreat Road, next to three Athlone secondary schools, is being postponed until after the upcoming State exams.

On Monday, Irish Water said the replacement of old water mains would begin in "in the coming days" between the Marist College and Killyon Hill, and would require some traffic management and possible short-term water supply interruptions.

Local councillor Aengus O'Rourke voiced his opposition to the timing of the work, given that it would be happening in the vicinity of the Marist College, Our Lady's Bower and Athlone Community college during the Junior and Leaving Cert.

Cllr O'Rourke called for the project to be postponed until after the exams had finished, and today Irish Water said it would do just that.

"Following our direct engagement with the secondary schools adjacent to the works as part of our planning process, and our efforts to work further on a detailed design to limit the overall impact on the wider community, we are not commencing works until after the State exams of Summer 2022," said Irish Water spokesperson Keith Begg.

"Although works by their nature will create some disruption within the community, the impact on exam students has been removed."

Mr Begg added that Irish Water would "proactively communicate clear details of the project to the local community" in advance of the project moving to construction.

Speaking to the Westmeath Independent, Cllr O'Rourke said he was glad that "common sense prevailed" with the postponement of the work.

He said he had been "pushing hard for this work to happen" and assumed that it would be done during the schools' summer holidays.

"When I got the press release saying that they'd be starting in the coming days, I was startled by it," he said.

He felt that timing showed "a real disconnect" between the project's planners and the reality of the heavy traffic on Retreat Road "every day of the week when school is in session."

Cllr O'Rourke added that although he was "relieved" about the postponement of the work, he had not received any reply from Irish Water to his many calls and voicemails on the project, which was "very disappointing".

The Fianna Fáil councillor also wanted to assure local residents that the work would happen this summer.

"Residents in the area have had to suffer a poor quality of water for a little while, in terms of low pressure and discolouration of their water, and I want to reassure them that this work will be done this summer.

"This is a short-term postponement, not a long-finger postponement," he said.

The project is to be carried out by contractor GMC Utilities on behalf of Irish Water, and it involves the replacement of almost 850 metres of old cast iron water mains with modern pipes.