Holy water hit in Irish bug scare

A contamination scare in the west of Ireland has seen bottles of holy water being replaced.

Up to 90,000 homes and businesses are at risk from cryptosporidium pollution in County Galway, which experts believe could last for up to six months. The parasite causes severe stomach pains and diarrhoea and has made more than 120 people in the area ill.

Catholic Church authorities are also taking the issue seriously and have decided to use spring water rather than tap in an Easter ceremony. About 3,000 bottles of holy water are blessed on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter, in Tuam, County Galway.

Father Stephen Farragher, administrator at Tuam Cathedral, said that although Catholics blessed themselves with consecrated water, some people had been known to also drink it.
He said that in particular it would be children who came across the bottles who would be more likely to try a taste. "We fill about 3,000 holy water bottles and these are blessed on Holy Saturday," he said. "But we felt there was a public health issue because I have seen people drinking holy water. "And experience has taught us that these holy water bottles can end up anywhere.

"I got a photograph a few years ago of a woman who visited Elvis's grave at Graceland and in the photograph was a bottle of holy water from the Cathedral in Tuam." "There are people who use it when they want cars blessed, and it can end up in glove compartments for luck," he said.

Ireland's Environment Minister Dick Roche has said he plans to travel to Galway to personally examine efforts to deal with the contamination.

The Irish Hotels Federation also issued warnings to all its members within the contaminated zone to put guests on alert. Visitors are being told to use boiled or bottled water even when brushing teeth, washing food or making ice cubes. Hotels have also been asked to tell residents that while it is safe to take a bath, they should not swallow shower or tap water.

Irish city crippled by water emergency
By Stephen Fottrell
BBC News, Galway

A major water crisis has left scores of people ill and tens of thousands at risk from contamination in a west of Ireland city. Galway's water supply has been hit by an outbreak of the parasite cryptosporidium, with up to 170 people now confirmed to have been hit by a serious stomach bug as a result.

The outbreak has severely affected homes and businesses in Ireland's third-biggest city and residents have been warned that the crisis could last for months. Doctors have warned that the parasite could be life threatening, especially to young children, the elderly and people with low immune systems.

Tests found that the city's water supply contained nearly 60 times the safe limit of cryptosporidium pollution.

Residents have already been unable to drink or use water for food preparation for weeks and have complained that no free clean water has been made available by the authorities.
Parents with young families have also expressed real concerns and demanded action.

Galway City Council has told the BBC News website that they have been advised by the health authorities that tankers of free water could create further health problems, by increasing the risk of spreading bacteria.

The mayor of Galway, Niall O Brolchain, has called on the Irish government to provide more funding to upgrade water treatment services.
However, Irish Environment Minister Dick Roche said that the government had already made 21m euros available for such projects in Galway, but the local council had failed to make use of the money. If that is the case then I think Galway council needs to answer a few questions, such as 'where did this money go'?

Business leaders have also expressed worries over the impact the crisis will have on what is traditionally the beginning of the tourist season in the west of Ireland.

One hotelier said it was costing him up to 2,000 euros a week to provide bottled water for his guests, and he was now being forced to install his own filtration system.

However, Galway GP Martin Daly warned that filtration was not the answer.
"The newest water treatment plant we have is 40 years old," he said.

"People have been warning for years about this. Filtration is not the answer. We need to go to the source of the contamination to solve it."
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