Sindo's watery poison pen story left high and dry by hard evidence

A SENSATIONAL story published in the Sunday Independent this month causing public panic by claiming the drinking water supply in Dundalk had been poisoned due to fuel laundering by 'republicans' has been drained of credibility by tests carried out by Irish Water scientists.

The poison pen of Sunday Independent sensationalist scribe Jim Cusack sparked safety concerns with a scare story entitled "Provos dumping cancer-causing toxins into river" on 18 January.

Cusack dribbled that water in the main drinking-water reservoir in Dundalk was contaminated with carcinogenic chemicals due to fuel laundering activities, blaming republicans, his stock-in-trade bogeymen.

Filming himself holding a glass full of cloudy water (in a CSI-style glove for greater effect) in front of Lough Muckno, the main reservoir for Dundalk, Cusack asserted that tests showed the water feeding the reservoir "contain[s] 8,000 times more chemical pollution than clean drinking water". 

He went on:

"The sample, taken from directly behind the plant, one of dozens used by paramilitary smugglers in south Armagh, is also 400 times over the maximum chemical content of waste set by the European Union and Irish Water."

A question by Louth Sinn Féin TD Gerry Adams to Irish Water on the issue showed the Sindo's story simply didn't, er, hold water.

The response from Irish Water stated that "daily testing has not identified any risk to the public water supplies to Dundalk".

What – no risk? Not even from the "eight thousand times more chemical pollution" cited by Cusack? Not even from the "four hundred times over the maximum chemical content of waste set by the European Union and Irish Water", itself quoted in the Sindo sensational story? No risk from the "cancer-causing toxins"?

Gerry Adams added:

"The behaviour of some politicians who deliberately heightened fears and ran scare stories of water having been poisoned, and who for purely electoral purposes sought to blame republicans and Sinn Féin, now stand exposed as irresponsible."

The Louth TD also hit out at fuel-laundering gangs operating in the area who are involved in dumping and said every effort must be made to have them arrested and hauled before the courts.

Irish Water said it would increase measures following the story.

Gerry Adams said:

"None of this can detract from the fact that baseless claims were made in the media about the water system being poisoned and the genuine fears of citizens were cynically exploited by some politicians whose only interest was in attacking Sinn Féin."

◼︎ Gerry Adams earlier today received yet another forced apology from the Independent News & Media Group as it got its latest telling off from the Press Ombudsman over its anti-Sinn Féin hysterics.