Death of boxing legend Mick Quigley

By Dan Walsh

The death has taken place of Michael (Mick) Quigley who devoted his life to boxing and progressed from action in the ring in his younger days to referee of international standard and club trainer. He was 87 years old.

There has been many tributes.  “St Aidan’s Boxing Club are very saddened to hear the sad news of the passing of one of our members Mick Quigley. Mick was a gentleman and was always willing to extend his help at all of our tournaments as well as all of the other club tournaments from all the other clubs too, never a man to keep advise to himself, he was always there to listen and advise anyone who sought out his vast experience in boxing, judging, refereeing or any other issues in our sport. It has been an honour to have known Mick and we as a club send our deepest condolences to his family and friends from far and near.”

MICK QUIGLEY in the ring in 1959.

“Arklow Boxing club are saddened to learn of the passing of Mick Quigley who was a great friend of boxing in Wicklow , Wexford and particularly Arklow. Mick was a top class referee and judge and began his boxing interest when he came to work in Arklow driving a lorry in the 50s and boxed as part of the Marion arts. Shows with contests being held between acts. Mick met and married Annie who hailed from St Patrick’s Terrace and visited often especially when our club held tournaments.

Mick while he could, officiated in our county championships tournaments and was a firm but talented referee. He had a dry wit and was hard to figure out if he was been serious! Anyone who knew Mick would agree he was a gentleman a good friend. A top class official and a big loss to boxing in Enniscorthy Wexford Wicklow and Arklow.

A native of Enniscorthy, Mick won many trophies with Arklow Boxing Club and Boolavogue Boxing Club in the 1950s and later trained young Boolavogue club members.

He was a founder member of St. Patrick’s Boxing Club, Enniscorthy. He was a popular and fair referee and had a busy schedule in championships and tournaments in many counties. He also coached young boxers and helped keep the club running smoothly and bringing national titles to the town on occasions.

He was also well known as a long time member of Enniscorthy FCA and was employed as a lorry driver with Wexford County Council based at the Machinery Yard, Enniscorthy.

FAMILY NOTICE; The death has occurred of Michael (Mick) Quigley, Greenville Lane, Enniscorthy, and formerly of Pearse Road, Enniscorthy.  Peacefully surrounded by his family. Beloved husband of the late Annie, dearly loved father of Mary, Anne, Bernie, Teresa, Michael and Thomas and beloved brother of Tommy, Kitty, Lizzie and Mary. Sadly missed by his loving sons, daughter, brothers, sisters, daughters-in-law Eleanor, Audrey and Ann, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, brother-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends. MAY HE REST IN PEACE.

Reposing at Browne’s Funeral Home, Enniscorthy, for family and friends today (Wednesday) from 5.30pm, concluding at 8pm. Funeral Mass at St. Aidan’s Cathedral, Enniscorthy on Thursday morning for Funeral Mass at 10am, which can be viewed online on the following Michael’s Funeral Mass. Burial afterwards in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Enniscorthy.

Murphy calls for ‘independent investigation’

By Dan Walsh

Independent TD for Wexford, Verona Murphy, has called on the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD, to appoint an independent investigator to the recent contamination of the water supply in Gorey.

DEPUTY VERONA MURPHY

Deputy Murphy brought the issue to the Dail today (Wednesday) in the form of a topical issue. She said; “The investigation into the contamination of drinking water in Gorey in recent weeks which is presently an internal investigation by Wexford County Council and Irish Water into their own activities will not resolve public confidence in the provision of clean drinking water”.

The Deputy added; “An Independent investigation must be conducted without delay, people could have died because of the mismanagement and communications debacle around this incident. The investigation into this most serious matter must be both transparent and yield real accountability and no scapegoating at junior staff level in either organisation.

“I have called on the Minister this morning on the Dail Floor as well as writing to him on behalf of the people of Wexford asking that an Independent investigation be conducted immediately, concluded Deputy Murphy, who added; “It is not best practice that an investigation of such a serious matter would be conducted by those involved, being judge and jury from the inside is neither transparent nor effective in ensuring this never happens again.”

Full investigation into Gorey water failures

By Dan Walsh

The Chief Executive Officer of Wexford County Council, Tom Enright, has apologised to the people of Gorey for failures that caused unsafe water to enter the public water supply at Creagh Water Plant in Gorey and has promised “to support a full investigation with Irish Water and the HSE to see what happened and to put measures in place to ensure nothing like this happens again.”

Mr Enright was addressing members at the monthly meeting of Gorey-Kilmuckridge Municipal District Council held at County Council Headquarters, Carricklawn, Wexford, on Tuesday. Cllr Pip Breen, Cathaoirleach, was in the chair.

Mr Enright admitted that there was “unacceptable delays in finding out what was happening”, however, he concluded that “all testing shows no further issues” and gave an assurance to members that “in the last few weeks the water is fit to drink.”

TOM ENRIGHT, CEO WEXFORD COUNTY COUNCIL

Eamonn Hore, Senior Engineer in Water Services, gave a detailed account of happenings at the plant during this time, and while admitting “a serious water incident occurred” he said a full review of settings and repairs were carried out and Irish Water issued a statement stating that “the issues had been resolved and the water quality is now compliant and there are no further health concerns.”

Mr Hore said the failures occurred on August 19th to August 24th, and was first reported on August 26th. “Nothing like this has every occurred in Wexford’s water supply” and he said ‘sorry’ to the people of Gorey.

Many issues relating to the incident and the operation of the Creagh Water Plant were also directed to Fionnuala Callery, Senior Engineer.

Cllr Joe Sullivan asked about testing prior to August 26th, questioned the absence of a power outage back-up system, and he said it was important to have “a transparent thorough investigation to find out where the problems were and to make sure it never happens again.”

Cllr Andrew Bolger queried the timeline. “When the elected members were made aware or why members were not made aware?” He suggested that the HSE be asked for consent from the fifty-two people who became ill to open dialogue with them. He also suggested that the water services are Victorian and this incident be used to leverage investment and upgrading of the system.

Mr Hore assured Cllr Bolger and the members that “the investigation will be thorough and factual and everything will be out in the open.”

Cllr Fionntán Ó Súilleabhain believed far more than 52 people suffered an illness. He was relieved that systems are now in place and described the event as “a catastrophe due to human error.”

Cllr Mary Farrell thanked the officials for a comprehensive report and felt there was “no point in blaming anyone at this stage.”

Cllr Anthony Donohoe described the event as “an awful incident” when everything went wrong at the same time. He said two staff were out on stress leave and was critical of comments on social media.

Cllr Donal Kenny told the meeting that Gorey is growing bigger than any town in Leinster and he is hoping that the Council will go for more funding for the overhaul of the system.

Cllr Willie Kavanagh supported the officials and called for a back-up power supply. Cllr Oliver Walsh said it was “a serious unfortunate incident” and left the team at Wexford County Council and Irish Water had a service agreement. He did not want to see “staff left hung out to dry and should not be vilified on social media.” He added that this was an opportunity for the Council to get more investment in Gorey.

Cllr Joe Sullivan rejected the “blame game”, but he stated that people were angry, very sick and lost time off work and it is an issue for Irish Water and Wexford County Council to repay. He believed that the matter went back further than August 19th and he would like to see it included as part of the investigation.

Summing up, Cathaoirleach Cllr Pip Breen said the incident came as “a great shock to the town (Gorey) and he lamented that the ‘Boil Water” notices didn’t go out, but concluded that “a lesson has been learned countrywide.”

Three injured in crash near New Ross

By Dan Walsh

Three people were seriously injured in a three vehicle road traffic collision on the R734 Dunmain road outside of New Ross this afternoon.

Two were transferred by ambulance to University Hospital Waterford and one was airlifted by Medivac 112 to Dublin. Their condition is unknown currently.

Emergency services were alerted at around 4 pm and National Ambulance Service personnel from Wexford, Waterford and Tipperary attended the scene with Fire Service crews from New Ross and the Gardaí.

The road remained closed on Tuesday evening as a technical examination is taking place.

Emergency vehicles at road traffic collision at Dunmain, near New Ross, this afternoon.

Congrats the Rapps… but gender bias?

By Dan Walsh

It was inevitable that the success of the Rapparees in the county senior hurling final on Sunday would be showered with congratulations at today’s monthly meeting of Enniscorthy Municipal District Council and Cllr Jackser Owens was first up on his feet.

“I am delighted with the Rapparees winning the county title after 43 years. I was on that panel 43 years ago. I am calling for a reception for the greatest achievement – the highest score in the history of the GAA.”

CLLR JACKSER OWENS

Cllr Aidan Browne said he knew a lot of the personnel on the team and described the team as “great ambassadors for the town.” He added that Rapparees-Starlights are reigning county senior football champions and could achieve the double in a few weeks time!”

Cllr Kathleen Codd-Nolan said it was “a brilliant day for the youngsters of the district” and Cllr John O’Rourke was impressed as “the town was painted in red and green for the weekend”, but he wondered about ‘gender bias’ and saw no such colour for the camogie and ladies football teams a few weeks earlier.

Cllr Barbara-Anne Murphy offered her congratulations and agreed with Cllr O’Rourke that the scene was not so colourful for the camogie (won) and the intermediate footballers (lost) marking their big day in Croke Park. “We didn’t go the extra mile for the girls!” she declared.

But Cllr Browne was back in again and pointed out that the Wexford flags had been flying on the Seamus Rafter bridge since before the intermediate football weekend. The girls were not forgotten in Enniscorthy!

Cllr Owens felt ‘everyone should be honoured’ and Cllr Codd drifted back to “a three-in-a-row winning Wexford camogie team,” when Cathaoirleach Cllr Cathal Byrne added his congratulations to the Rapparees on “a tremendous success” and he is referring the notion of a reception to a special sub-committee and there will be further news at the next district meeting.

Irish Water apology to people of Gorey

By Dan Walsh

Irish Water has apologised to the people of Gorey as investigations continues into how, when and why unsafe water entered the public water supply at Creagh Water Plant in Gorey and “late notification of issues relating to the disinfection process at the plant potentially put public health at risk.”

A full investigation is now under way involving Wexford County Council and Irish Water following contamination of the public water supply between August 19th and the 24th. The incident was not reported until August 26th.

Some sources have informed WexfordLocal.com that some earlier outbreaks may have been reported by the public – circa-August 11th and 12th and are calling on Irish Water to trawl their records for the purpose of conducting a thorough investigation.

There were 52 confirmed cases of illness associated with the Gorey failure, including bacteria linked to E.coli and a number of associated hospitalisations. Again, local sources  believe that the figure may be considerably higher and went unreported.

SENATOR MALCOLM BYRNE organised a meeting between local councillors and senior officials from Irish Water today.

Senator Malcolm Byrne organised a meeting between local councillors from the Gorey-Kilmuckridge Municipal District and senior officials at Irish Water this morning and has been outlining a summary of events on his social media page.

“The meeting delegation appreciated the apology from Irish Water to the people of Gorey for the recent incident that led to contamination of the water supply from the Creagh treatment plant.

“The HSE is preparing a final report on the level of illness in the community in August 2021. It seems to be linked to a problem from August 19th to August 24th and the report will identify the nature of illnesses experienced.

There has been no bacterial problem identified since August 24th and the meeting delegation has been reassured that water in the area is now safe.

“We appreciate Irish Water’s apology, but we need action to ensure this never happens again. Over fifty people were left ill. There is still a long way to go to ensure that there is full public trust in the water supply.

“People were vomiting, passing blood and with cramps. The seriousness of this issue should not be underestimated.

“There was an acknowledgment of the failure of communications between Wexford County Council and Irish Water.

“Those who were made ill should contact Irish Water with details about the problems they experienced.”

Irish Water has agreed to meet again with Senator Byrne and Gorey-Kilmuckridge councillors once the independent investigation report is published.

There are indications locally that some of those who contracted illness from the drinking water without a ‘Boil Warning’ or ‘Do Not Consume Notice’ warning may seek compensation through the legal system, however, the HSE will have a role to play and GDPR and ‘patient confidentiality’ may prove to be a difficult obstacle to surmount.

The monthly meeting of Gorey-Kilmuckridge Municipal District Council takes place tomorrow (Tuesday) in County Hall, Wexford, and further discussion is expected with councillors chasing many unanswered questions in relation to the incident which is attracting nationwide media publicity.

Gorey water scandal investigation

By Dan Walsh

A serious incident that occurred at the Creagh Water Plant in Gorey where 52 people are known to have fallen ill and the matter was discussed at ministerial level last Saturday in Dublin is continuing and WexfordLocal.com has learned that local representatives are to meet with Irish Water management to discuss the matter on Monday morning.

Speaking to The Examiner newspaper, Senator Malcolm Byrne that the issue was not treated sufficiently seriously when first reported.

“These are our family members, friends, and neighbours who got sick and we trust in the professionals to provide us with a clean and reliable water supply,” said Senator Byrne, who added; “The meeting is to determine what happened and what mechanisms are in place to ensure it does not happen again.”

WexfordLocal.com is of the opinion that the main discussion will centre around Minister Darragh O’Brien’s statement; “Irish Water will also work with Wexford County Council over the coming two weeks, conducting re-fresher training on incident reporting for all plants. Where appropriate, Irish Water will now put in place a technician on site, to ensure the continued safety of water treatment plants.”

There is strong speculation in the Gorey area that the drinking water became contaminated after a malfunction occurred at the plant and the delay in  reporting was compromised by holiday arrangements.

Hurling title returns to Enniscorthy after 43 years

By Dan Walsh

Rapparees 6-18 St Anne’s Rathangan 1-17

They say that goals win games and Rapparees beat the St. Anne’s defence on six occasions in the Pettitts county senior hurling final at Chadwicks Wexford Park today to bring the first title to the Enniscorthy town club since 1978 – 43 years ago.

Enniscorthy in celebration as Rapparees win first county senior hurling championship title in 43 years.

Rapparees were last in a county final in 2001 when lady luck deserted them on the field of play but the 2021 team lead by Declan Ruth dominated on the field of play this afternoon and are worthy champions.

Of course, Starlights – Rapparees football team – are reigning county senior football champions and will be aiming for a memorable double – adding the football silverware to the Dr Bob Bowe Cup. 

Rapparees: Anthony Larkin; Dillon Redmond, Liam Ryan, Anthony Roche; James Peare, Ben Edwards, Jack Kelly (1-01); Kevin Foley (capt, 0-03), Alan Tobin (1-03); Ricky Fox (1-02), Ryan Mahon (0-03, 2 frees), Nick Doyle (0-01); Lenny Connolly (2-01), Oisín Pepper (1-01), Tommy Foley.

Subs: Tomás Mahon for N Doyle, temp. (41-42), T Mahon (0-3 frees) for R Mahon (52), Dylan McVeigh for Connolly (58), Kevin Ryan for Pepper (59), Tom Wall for Redmond (59), Oran Carty for Doyle (60+1).

St Anne’s: Paul Brennan; Eoin Ryan, Liam Schokman, Kenneth Cloney; Finn O’Driscoll, Brian Kavanagh, Ben Moore; Diarmuid O’Keeffe (1-05, 0-04 frees, 1-0 penalty), Aidan Rochford (capt); Mark Furlong (0-03), Liam Óg McGovern (0-01), Liam Rochford (0-02); Darragh Furlong (0-02), Dylan O’Brien (0-04), Jonathan Fogarty.

Subs: Mikey Fogarty for D Furlong (43), Páraic O’Keeffe for M. Furlong (46), Kevin Whelan for Moore (59).

Referee: James Owens (Askamore).

Refresher training on incident reporting at Gorey Water Plant

By Dan Walsh

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien T.D., has issued an update in relation to a serious incident at a drinking water plant at Creagh in Gorey.

MINISTER DARRAGH 0’BRIEN speaking at Trinity Wharf in Wexford town a few weeks ago.

Commenting following a meeting with the Irish Water Managing Director and the Chief Executive of Wexford County Council on Saturday, Minister O’Brien said;

“In the immediate term Irish Water will now undertake an audit of the water treatment plants across the country. They will prioritise the largest 20 treatment plants, visiting each of them, meeting with the caretakers of each plant to ensure that proper processes are in place in terms of dealing with and escalating any incidents which may arise.

“Irish Water will also work with Wexford County Council over the coming two weeks, conducting re-fresher training on incident reporting for all plants. Where appropriate, Irish Water will now put in place a technician on site, to ensure the continued safety of water treatment plants.”

Gorey Water Supply Serious Incident

By Dan Walsh

Wexford County Council has released a statement regards the Gorey water supply which is under ministerial investigation. The statement reads;

“A serious water quality incident occurred at one of the three Water treatment Plants serving Gorey Town. A chlorine dosing pump failure arising from an electricity power outage at Creagh Water Treatment Plant led to a deterioration of water quality due to inadequate disinfection. This problem occurred over the period 19th to 23rd August.

WEXFORD COUNTY COUNCIL headquarters at Carricklawn, Wexford.

“The water quality incident only came to light on 26th August and was immediately discussed with Irish Water and the HSE.

“The water quality information was examined by Council technical staff, Irish Water and the HSE and it was agreed that the incident had passed and the Water Treatment Plant was operating normally, with all network tests clear. Since the incident, the water quality in Gorey has been tested widely and extensively and again all network tests have been clear.

“Wexford County Council, Irish Water and the HSE are continuing to investigate the incident and are co-operating fully with the EPA.

“Every action is being and will be taken to ensure such a serious incident does not recur.”