The Council Men Behind The Wire

From a caterpillar to a butterfly…

eading up Blackberry Lane for our daily walk with the trusty Otto, one of the foolhardy souls on the hill stopped us to share their recent interaction with Wicklow County Council.

One that, ultimately, involved quite a bit of inaction.

Down in the dip of Blackberry Lane, they’re doing a little clearing, as they replace an old mobile home with a swanky new one. And so that means the council have had to bring out the big guns – namely, one man and his JCB.

Only trouble is, as the driver was ripping the bejiggers out of the overgrowth, undergrowth and any old fencing that got in his way, he managed to rip the internet cable to shreds too.

The internet cable that was pretty much a lifeline for our work-from-home foolhardy soul.

Calling down to let the JCB driver know what he’d done, our man was greeted with a well-worn shrug and told that he’d best get in touch with Wicklow County Council. Who, in turn, told him that he’d best get in touch with his internet provider to get it fixed.

Which is akin to having someone crash into your car, and then having them advise you that it would be best to get in touch with the manufacturer of your battered motor to get it fixed.

This all happened on April 17th, and so, we got in touch with the Wicklow County Council press office. On the 23rd they replied…

‘Wicklow County Council is not responsible for repairing the internet cable-connection. It is the responsibility of the internet service provider to repairs any faults.

‘Residents should contact their service provider to report any issues.

‘Additionally, Wicklow County Council would also like to remind the public that this area is an active construction site and should not be accessed by unauthorised personnel under any circumstances.’

Just in case we were tempted to go talk to someone there. We wrote back stating that, as an answer, this left a lot to be desired. Mentioning the whole car and “Go back to where you bought it from” analogy.

They weren’t impressed. Or moved. On May 1st, they replied…

‘Wicklow County Council will not be providing a further response.’

So, we’re not sure what the logic might be here. It would have helped, of course, if someone, somewhere within WCC had reached out to explain just how one of their workers causing damage to property isn’t actually their fault.

“You have to wonder where they’re getting all their diplomacy advise,” finishes our keyboard worrier. “I reckon it must be Donald Trump…”