Kevin O'Donnell:KEVIN O'DONNELL, who has died aged 82, was, until his retirement in 1991, the chief engineer for Dublin city and county who oversaw the biggest expansion of the capital's water, refuse and sanitation systems since the Victorian era.
Described by contemporaries as “a brilliant engineer” and “among the very best of his generation”, he planned and implemented the essential infrastructure which enabled major new towns to be built on greenfield sites at Blanchardstown, Clondalkin, Lucan and Tallaght during the 1970s and 1980s.
He addressed long-running public concern and the political controversy regarding pollution in Dublin Bay by upgrading the sewerage plants at Ringsend, Howth and Dún Laoghaire which significantly improved the quality of bathing water, and was confident enough by January 1988 to declare: “There is no health risk from swimming in the bay.”
His comment: “If I had to decide between the bay and the average swimming pool, I would choose the bay,” attracted considerable publicity.
Like many engineers, he discovered that the public – and politicians – show little interest in the “nuts and bolts” aspects of hydraulic engineering until taps run dry.
As long ago as 1974 he warned councillors in Dublin that “increased demand for water exceeded the system’s ability to supply it” and pleaded for increased resources to maintain and repair the existing infrastructure and to invest for the future.
Interviewed by The Irish Times, he claimed that "people don't really believe us when we issue warnings about shortages. They see the rain outside, they think we're crying wolf". He said: "We have plenty of water in this country but it's all in the wrong place."
He was responsible for ensuring that it got to the right places – especially the mushrooming new suburbs – in sufficient quantities and in pristine quality. To increase supply, his most significant project was the construction of a 45km pipeline from the Ballymore Eustace reservoir in Co Kildare to Dublin.
He was frequently in the firing line and in demand for media interviews on occasions such as the water shortage during the “big freeze” of winter 1987 when some reservoirs ran dry as Dubliners left taps running to prevent pipes bursting. That summer, he had to reassure councillors – and an aghast public – that the smelly substance which lapped onto the city’s beaches was simply brown and green algae (and not sewage) which would dry up in the sun.
He showed considerable foresight when, also that year, he called for greater recycling of waste, pointing out: “In the relatively near future we will have no useable tiphead space easily accessible to Dublin.”
He was highly regarded by colleagues and regarded as a kind and thoughtful professional who patiently mentored young engineers.
Born in Burtonport, Co Donegal, in 1929, public service was in his veins. He was the son of national school teachers James and Annie O’Donnell and his late brother, Dr Brendan O’Donnell served as chief medical officer for Dublin.
Educated at St Eunan’s College, Letterkenny and University College Galway, from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree, he worked for the Cork and Donegal county councils before joining the Department of the Environment and subsequently transferring to the Dublin local authorities.
Away from work, his hobbies included wood-turning, photography and sailing and he once built a wooden dinghy in his livingroom. He was exceptionally handy and his daughter Karen recalled the family had “never needed a workman in the house as he could fit a kitchen or plumb a bathroom”.
His skills were much in demand – and greatly appreciated – by his neighbours. Only once did his DIY expertise come to grief. When firemen from Kill O’ The Grange were called to tackle a fierce blaze at his Foxrock home they were assailed by dying wasps – fleeing his attempts to smoke out their attic nest.
He never lost his schoolboy’s sense of wonder and enthusiasm for the scientific world and zestfully embraced new technology – acquiring, in his 80s, an iPad, iPhone and a page on Facebook.
Although battling cancer, he flew over the Irish countryside in a helicopter piloted by his son Paul three weeks before his death.
He was an accomplished linguist and, accompanied by his wife Patsy for 53 years, travelled widely – from the Caribbean to China – but was happiest in his native Donegal where he maintained a holiday home near Carrigart and enjoyed views of the sunset at Horn Head.
Predeceased by his brothers Brendan, Eunan, Kieran and a sister, Eithne, he died at home in Dublin, surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife Patsy, sons Paul and Nicholas, daughters Karen and Anne, sister Crona, grandchildren Stephanie, Eva and Lucy and extended family.
Kevin O’Donnell: born June 23rd, 1929; died September 1st, 2011