‘Í chailleann tú t-uisce go deo go ritheann an tobar tirim’ is an Irish proverb which translates into ‘you never miss the water until the well runs dry’.

It can apply to familial and personal relationships, transactions and, naturally enough, to politics too.

There’s also the very literal application of having no actual water. No-one in the north can be unaware of the very precarious state of NI Water (NIW). It’s quite literally a well that is about to run dry.

Let’s call it as it is: NIW is struggling to draw from the well because, as the song goes, there’s a hole in their bucket.

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It’s being deliberately starved of essential financial subvention required to keep clean, drinkable water flowing through our taps and for flushing our waste into an inadequate waste water system.

© The Irish News