Balbriggan one of the 11 new Family Resource Centres revealed as funding increases by 21%

The number of Family Resource Centres in Ireland is set to grow from 109 to 120, with the addition of 11 new centres this year.

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr Katherine Zappone, and Tusla’s Chief Operations Officer, Jim Gibson, today announced the locations of 11 new centres one of which will be in Balbriggan.

Empower Chairman Kieran Dennison with CEO Adeline O'Brien

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After heavy snow Dublin now faces water shortages

Update: Water restrictions in Dublin area tonight Tuesday 6th March will run from 8pm to 6am.

Following the heavy snowfall and severe freeze, Irish Water has been working with the National Emergency Committee (NEC) and local authorities around the country to restore water supplies.

In the Greater Dublin Area Irish Water saw an increase of over 10% in demand from Friday to Sunday. Despite having plants working at peak output, storage of water in the reservoirs was significantly depleted. Demand is continuing to rise and reservoir levels continue to drop. There is not enough water in the reservoirs to meet the current levels of demand.

As a result, Irish Water will reduce water pressure in Dublin, parts of Wicklow, Kildare and Meath from 7pm tonight, Monday 5 March to 7am Tuesday 6 March when supply will begin to return to normal levels. This is essential to allow reservoirs to refill as repairs to bursts and leaks are underway.

Hospitals on the network will be prioritised and have water diverted to them.

Irish Water need to reduce water pressure in order to minimise the impact on homes and businesses and in a bid to avoid widespread outages.

Homes will have storage in their attic tanks and businesses should also have storage on site. On high ground and on the extremities of the network, people may experience some outages.

Irish Water, working with the four Dublin local authorities, is reviewing the situation on an hourly basis. Vulnerable customers are being contacted to provide advice and support.

Crews have been mobilised across Dublin and prioritising the biggest bursts. Over the weekend three bursts in the North Docklands, Infirmary Road and Skerries were repaired saving the equivalent of the daily water usage of Balbriggan which has a population of around 25,000.

Irish Water is appealing to homeowners and businesses to conserve water at this time. Advice on how to do so is available on water.ie. Any visible leaks should be reported to Irish Water on 1850 278 278.

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