James Joyce helping midland communities to bloom

With almost a decade’s worth of experience in the industry, it’s fair to say that Athlone man James Joyce knows a thing or two about water.

He has been Uisce Éireann’s Water Treatment Operations Manager for County Offaly and Laois since 2023 and leads a team of more than 50 water service employees working hard to bring a secure, safe, and sustainable water service for the people of both counties.

Prior to this he held a variety of roles for both Westmeath and Offaly County Councils including water services engineer, a role he began in 2016. Before this he also worked in areas such as housing, planning, and in the area offices of municipal districts.

He currently lives in Athlone with his wife Lorraine, along with their two daughters Hollie (8) and Sophie (2), and is a keen golfer, with a handicap of 1 and is also heavily involved with Athlone GAA.

Speaking during Engineers Week, he outlined how he became involved in the role. “I was always inquisitive and had a natural interest in how things worked. I went to Marist College in Athlone and enjoyed the technical subjects so when you combine these things together engineering seemed like the perfect career for me. I did a diploma in civil engineering in Athlone IT before doing an honours degree in Napier University in Edinburgh.

James says he would encourage other people to study engineering as it opens up a world of opportunities. “I really feel that people with an interest in engineering should consider pursuing it at Third Level. We live in an ever changing world where technology is rapidly advancing. There’ll always be a role for engineers and you’ll get to work in some very interesting areas.

He also went on to explain why a job in Uisce Éireann was attractive to him. “ To be able to work for a single public utility was a great opportunity. The fact that it’s solely focused on wastewater water, which is the area that I’m most interested in was very attractive. I’m happy to have joined as it’s a great company to work for and they have been very accommodating for me and my colleagues who joined from various local authorities.”

James and his team take great pride in their work, delivering clean, safe reliable water for a population of over 150,000 in both Laois and Offaly. Given the varied nature of the role, he says that no two days are ever the same.

“Everyone in both Laois and Offaly depends on us and what we produce every day. On any given day we could get a call to say that a plant has gone down. We have to respond to that and figure out if it’s a mechanical or electrical issue and decide if our own staff or contractors have to fix it. We also could have a burst watermain that’s keeping half a town out of water in the lead up to a bank holiday weekend or major festival so we have to respond to that quickly. I could also be managing an upgrade to a water treatment plant, or liaising with a caretaker to make sure everything is running properly.”

Serving the public is another attractive aspect of the job as he outlines. “It’s great to be able to help communities in both Laois and Offaly to thrive. Our work is vital for ensuring economic growth. The work we do is essential to ensuring new homes and businesses can be set up in the midlands and it’s really rewarding to see this happen. We also provide a lot of assistance to vulnerable customers which is very important.”

James is fortunate to have excellent colleagues working alongside him in both counties and has praised the efforts of the team he leads for the service provided to customers.

“I’m proud of the work that Uisce Éireann is doing in Laois and Offaly to provide clean and safe drinking water for our customers. It’s work that goes on 365 days a year, often efforts that go unnoticed, but our team is out there, delivering for our customers. Our team members are part of their communities and are motivated to deliver an excellent service in their areas.”

During bad weather events, such as the recent Storm Eowyn, James and his team became front line workers, and had to rapidly respond to several emergency situations. However, this is was an aspect of the job he really enjoyed.

“There’s a phrase that emergency workers run toward the fire when others are running away from it”, he explains. We were a bit like that during the storm. We enjoyed the thrill of reconnecting peoples water supplies; it was very rewarding”.

The job is not without its challenges as he also explains. “Expectations are high for us to deliver so it’s up to us to keep the bar high. Climate change is also a challenge. People think of Ireland as a place with an abundance of water, but climate change can lead to droughts, particularly in groundwater fed plants in late summer, which causes us to manage our supplies carefully. Water is a precious resource. You don’t drink what falls out of the sky. It takes a lot of work to get it to a high drinking standard.”