In January 2025, the Irish national water authority, Uisce Éireann, announced its proposal to build a 170 or 172 kilometer (depending on the source) pipeline to transport drinking water from the River Shannon at Parteen Basin; Co Tipperary to Dublin. The planning application was submitted last December. The aim of the project is to secure the long-term water supply in the country. It is one of phenomenal scale, with an estimated cost of €6 billion over five years, with work scheduled to begin in 2028. It is supposed to extract water from the River Shannon, pump it to the treatment plant at Birdhill in Co Tipperary, and then transport the drinking water to a reservoir located at Peamount in Co Dublin. But as soon as the project was announced, signs of unease began to emerge among the population, particularly among those most affected, namely farmers, who will have to make adjustments to their land.
The project is presented as vital for Ireland’s economic and social survival. According to the official Eastern and Midlands Water Supply website, currently the only source of water is the River Liffey, which supplies more than eighty-five per cent of the water to the Greater Dublin Area. However, water demand, which is expected to increase by thirty-four per cent by 2044, appears to be putting Ireland at risk of unprecedented economic vulnerability. This is against a backdrop of climate change, with episodes of drought and the risk of significantly increased water demand. To reassure people about the ecological impact of the project, Uisce Éireann plans to implement moderate abstraction, with a maximum of two per cent of the average abstracted flow from the River Shannon. In addition, the project proposes rigorous protocols to limit its footprint. The sources are committed to restoring the land, hedges, and drainage ditches to their original condition after the work is completed. Archaeologists will be on site to protect any archaeological finds that are excavated, and an Environmental Construction Management Plan will be mandatory so that contractors can learn about local biodiversity and limit the risk of spreading invasive species and agricultural diseases.
On the other hand, although the authorities have planned a genuine process of dialogue and compromise with landowners, the infrastructure still poses significant ecological and economic risks. According to the Landowner’s Handbook of June 2025, topsoil and subsoil must be stripped and stored along a strip up to fifty metres wide, resulting in the removal of natural species and trees. Even if replanting is planned, this still profoundly alters the land. Furthermore, although financial compensation is provided for, the agricultural land will be out of production for eighteen to twenty-four months, disrupting crops and income for farmers and agricultural workers. Once the pipe has been laid, a permanent twenty-metre-wide easement will be maintained and tree planting around this area will be prohibited to protect the pipe. And even if the risk is considered extremely rare, a rupture or leak could have consequences for other rivers, even if the consequence then would be “minimal” according to the national authority.
Furthermore, as the plans for this project have been in place for over ten years, independent experts have been involved in reviewing them. In 2019, an article was published in The Irish Times, reporting on a 2019 study by Emma Kennedy, founder of Kennedy Analysis, which provides analysis of the Shannon pipeline project. She argued that the project would not be necessary if the government effectively repaired leaks in Dublin’s water network. In fact, around thirty per cent of treated water in Dublin is lost in the networks. Repairing would thus meet future needs without resorting to the construction of new infrastructure that could have ecological and economic impacts.
In conclusion, the project appears to be a crucial solution for meeting the growing demand for water, in line with population growth and climate change. However, this project must need a careful analysis in order to address the concerns of the population, particularly the significant risks to the environment and the economy, that must be considered before starting this project.
