Cork housing estate blocks water meter installations

About a dozen residents of the 84-house Ardmore Estate in Passage West are maintaining a protest at the estate entrance today, and have vowed to stay there for as long as it takes.

The residents received notification last week that meter installation work was due to begin yesterday, and they mounted a protest early in the morning.

However the Irish Water contractors, who arrived on site, did not enter the estate.

Husband and wife, Dermot and Noreen Hanlon, who have lived in the estate for 40 years, are among the protestors and they said they felt they had to take a stand.

"We think it's a disgrace. We've no idea what the charges will be," Dermot said.

"We don't know what we're being charged. At least with the ESB and the gas, you know what you're getting. The charges could be double by the end of the years. It's very unfair," Noreen said.

Another local resident Michael Murphy, a newly elected Sinn Fein county councillor, said residents just don't want to pay.

"We feel like it's an extra charge on people," he said.

"The contractors might come back but we are entitled to protest. It's down to individuals. If they want to come out and protest, they can.

"We are working on a rota and we will stay here for as long as it takes."

This protest comes several weeks after residents in the Lehanghmore area of Togher in Cork claimed victory after Irish Water removed several water metres from the estate following a five-week stand-off.