A delegation from Bord Gáis assured the members of Castlebar Town Council that they would do all in their power to ensure that all works carried out by and on behalf of Bord Gáis would be done to the highest standards and all damage caused by these works would be restored to the highest quality.
Fianna Fáil Cllr Blackie Gavin was uncompromising in his criticism of how some of the work had been carried out so far. Cllr Gavin told the meeting: “I welcome the delegation, but I’m not happy with the way they have carried out their business in the town. There has been a lot of rubble left around and pipes that have been dug up have not been fixed back properly. Down near Castlebar Celtic the road has subsided, and at Cathal Duffy’s garage the road has been left damaged, and there is a hump people have to drive into now that wasn’t there before.” Cllr Gavin continued to show his anger by leaving the meeting for the rest of the discussion on the issue.
Both Cllr Brendan Heneghan and Cllr Michael Kilcoyne expressed their dismay at the way Bord Gáis had been slow to react when they approached the organisation about getting gas for themselves. Cllr Heneghan acknowledged that since he raised the issue at the last meeting he has been contacted, but he still had a number of people coming to him to ask about the gas because they did not know how to go about getting it installed or if it was available.
Cllr Heneghan’s comments were echoed by Cllr Eugene McCormack, who told the meeting that people didn’t know enough about the availability of the gas to avail of it. “I know one person who is going to get a boiler changed, and does not know whether they should do it now or wait until the gas comes, or if they will even be able to get the gas. You are doing a very poor job on the PR front.”
Mayor Kevin Guthrie was also critical of some of the work carried out on behalf of Bord Gáis in the town. He told the delegation: “Two weeks ago I got a call from Cllr Gavin who really had a fear that you were going to pull up a water main that was bringing water to Mayo General Hospital, and when he said it he was not listened to. And as anyone knows, if someone in this town is going to know where there’s a water main in this town, it’s Blackie.” Cllr Guthrie also pointed out that there was a pipe in Rathbawn that was pulled up and not put back properly.
Fiona Lally, project manager for Gas West, told the meeting: “I’m disappointed Cllr Gavin has left the meeting, but we are taking all your concerns and issues very seriously. We will do all we can to fix these problems, there was always going to be disruption because of these works, but we have made a commitment to maintain all trenches dug by us for two years, and I accept that there have been problems and we will do all we can to fix them. We have also agreed long term damage costs with the county council to cover damage that may occur in time. We don’t just do a job and walk away from it.” Fiachra Quigley of Bord Gáis Networks informed the councillors that Bord Gáis will be upping its sales and advertising in the area and will be looking to give people all the information they need on getting gas.
