Murphy hits out at water 'opportunists'

Tens of thousands of homeowners across Northern Ireland went without water for prolonged periods over the festive period, due to frozen pipes bursting in the subsequent thaw.

While NI Water was severely criticised for its response and Chief Executive Laurence MacKenzie quit his post, the Sinn Féin Minister has refused to bow to pressure to resign.

"I will not satisfy those political opportunists whose primary interest in this incident was to see what political advantage it might afford them," Mr Murphy told UTV.

"Their calls for my resignation are widely recognised for what they are, cynical exploitation of people's misery and hardship."

The comments came after the minister made a statement to the Chamber earlier on Monday - his first opportunity to address Stormont colleagues since the water crisis. He again apologised to those let down by the service.

"I have never ducked criticism or avoided answering questions around my own role and that of the Department," he told UTV.

"I have apologised to the public on behalf of my department and I feel sorry for the people let down by the service they received. But apologies aside, my main focus - and that of the Executive - has been the restoration of supplies and the analysis of what went wrong and the immediate lessons learnt."

But the minister's Stormont statement did little to appease his critics.

The UUP's Sir Reg Empey, who said he was "dismayed", added: "Instead of concentrating on the reasons for this massive failure - which saw enormous damage being done to Northern Ireland's reputation worldwide - and attempting to take some responsibility for what happened, Conor Murphy went on a self-justification exercise, blaming everybody except himself."

The SDLP's Conall McDevitt said the statement raised more questions than it provided answers and added: "The Minister's decision to issue a directive in the middle of the crisis will prevent tens of thousands of households from making claims for loss or damage sustained as a result of loss of water supply.

"This adds to the confusion, given his party colleague Martin McGuinness stated that compensation was a possibility."

Two independent reviews are currently being carried out - both are expected to publish reports next month.