Reads almost like a political thriller... What Brennan has done is gather all the elements of the story and all the perspectives to present a superbly well-rounded and readable account of one of the most controversial and calamitous public policy exercises undertaken in recent times - Caroline O’Doherty, Irish Independent.
This book will - deservedly - be required reading for the inevitable college courses on how not to set up a utility. A really fascinating read, with lots of revelations and insights - RTE Primetime presenter and author David McCullagh
There is a certain economy in the author’s writing, with short chapters and efficient use of fact, that gives In Deep Water a pacy feel that belies its 300 pages. The result is a book that reads like a political thriller yet informs like an academic text - Eoin O’Broin TD, Irish Times
Irish Water was set up in 2013 to introduce the most ambitious water metering programme in the world. The plan was to get Irish people to finally pay to upgrade a nineteenth-century water system. The water metering programme began in August 2013 and was carried out at breakneck speed. However, it did not go to plan and the issue of water charges divided Ireland. There were nationwide demonstrations, and confrontations in housing estates involving water meter contractors, gardaí and water charge protesters. The programme ended in political disaster, with a humiliated government having to send out one million refunds.
With access to unpublished documents, and interviews with the key personalities on both sides, In Deep Water provides a blow-by-blow account of how it all went wrong. The rows at cabinet. The warnings that went unheeded. The water women. The smartphone-wielding protesters. And the minister who threatened to reduce people’s water to a trickle.
Compulsively readable and fast paced, In Deep Water gives an inside view of the controversy that divided Ireland.
