Reputational Threat and Image Repair Strategies: Northern Ireland Water’s Crisis Communication in a Freeze/Thaw Incident

Abstract

December 2010 saw exceptionally harsh winter weather cause major water supply disruption for thousands of Northern Ireland’s citizens. Sustained low temperatures followed by a rapid thaw led to burst water pipes on an unprecedented scale, triggering a water shortage crisis that attracted global media attention. Government-owned Northern Ireland Water (NI Water) received severe criticism for their response to the incident. This article analyzes the reputational threat posed by the crisis and examines the image repair strategies employed by NI Water before, during, and after the event. The crisis was complex and dynamic, requiring a multistrategy response including bolstering, corrective action, mortification, and shifting the blame. However, this was ultimately deemed largely ineffectual since it was more operationally focused than consumer-oriented. The case study adds to the limited research in public sector crisis communication and illustrates how politics and the governmental organizational structure complicated the threat to NI Water’s image.

KEYWORDS:

• crisis
• communication
• situational crisis communication
• image repair
• crisis stages
• government agency

Notes

1. Although there is considerable debate about the relationship between these concepts (see Gotsi & Wilson, 2001), Benoit (1995) uses these terms interchangeably.

2. An independent consumer organization representing consumers in transport, water, and energy.

3. Roads Service is a business unit within the Department for Regional Development responsible for public roads, footways, bridges, street lights, and public car parks.

4. Northern Ireland’s strategic housing authority linked to the Department for Social Development.