Inaction ‘not an option’

Rural Water News Spring 2008
things were not so good for
group water schemes. He
acknowledged those who
kept rural water supplies
flowing in hard times, as well
as those who grasped the
opportunity to transform their
schemes when the opportunity
and finance was there.
We had ‘come a long way’,
he said, an observation with
which his audience could not
quibble, surrounded as they
were by the gleaming technology
of a state-of-the-art
treatment plant.
Kilcoona-Caherlistrane
While the day was about 14
plants and group schemes
across the county, the local
significance of the occasion
for Michael Moran and the
Kilcoona-Caherlistrane committee
was not lost on anyone.
NFGWS Chairperson,
Brendan O’Mahony said that
the local GWS was ‘a model
for all group schemes around
the country’, not least as it
had brought people together
across parish boundaries,
‘which isn’t always easy’.
And he paid a special tribute
to Mr Moran, both for his
local contribution and for his
period of service as an
NFGWS Board member.
Galway’s Mayor, Cllr Seán
Canney stressed the importance
of publicly acknowledging
the contribution of
such volunteers, adding that
‘too often their efforts are not
highlighted in the media’.
Michael Moran
The media may have been
thin on the ground in
Caherlistrane, but the local
community was keen to
acknowledge Michael Moran
as a local hero.
In a moving address,
Brendan Gannon of the
Community Association,
recalled that despite suffering
personal bereavement on
two occasions in recent
years, Michael Moran stayed
with the project and saw it
through to completion.
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