Latest: Fight the Pipe claims 500 farms will be affected by proposed €1.3m water project
A campaign group called Fight the Pipe has claimed that 500 farms will be impacted by the proposed Shannon water pipeline.
Irish Water is applying for planning permission to build the €1.3bn project.
If given the go-ahead, it will supply water from the Shannon to houses in Dublin and the Midlands.
The pipe will measure two metres wide and 170km long.
Tipperary farmer Liam Minihan said that the pipe will ruin his farm.
"When I let out my cows in the morning, I'm going to have to cross the pipe, then I'm going to have to cross the road I've always crossed, then I'm going to have to cross the pipe again to get to some of my land," he said.
"By the time I get my cows out to grass in the morning, it's going to be time to get them back in."
Irish Water has been accused of "economic terrorism" by a local councillor over its plans for a Shannon to Dublin pipeline.
The utility says the project will cost €1.3bn and is needed to supply parts of the Midlands and east of the country.
However, critics say leaking pipes should be fixed first.
Representatives from Irish Water will appear before an Oireachtas committee this morning to explain their plans.
Tipperary councillor Seamus Morris is part of the River Shannon Protection Alliance, and has criticised their handling of the situation so far.
Councillor Morris said: "They're working by press release and soundbite, but we want them to sit down and explain to us why they would even countenance wasting €1.3bn of taxpayers' money on something that is not needed.
"It beggars belief that they would inflict this sort of economic terrorism on the State, whereas what they should have been doing over the last 20 years was fixing the pipes."
