‘Ireland needs to be more resilient to storms’ as 74,000 remain without power

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

Ireland needs to be more resilient to storms, as they become more frequent, Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said.

He was speaking as about 74,000 customers remain without electricity and about 1,000 without water, a week after Storm Éowyn swept across Ireland.

Most of the remaining power outages are in the northwest, west Galway, Leitrim, Cavan, and Mayo, it is understood.

ESB has said that it could be until next Thursday before every customer is reconnected, as the next phase of repairs is more complex and complicated than in the previous week.

About 3,000 network technicians have been deployed, with more than 400 arriving from abroad to help, including from the UK, Finland, Austria, Germany and France.

Generators from Romania arrived this week and some from Denmark are also expected.

Speaking in Cork, the Taoiseach said a meeting was held to evaluate the impact of the storm and address issues into the future.

“There will be a need for really substantial investment in our electricity grid into the future, because if you look at the table over the last 10 years, the number and severity of storms of this kind is growing,” Mr Martin said.

“Climate change is now having an impact to a significant degree in our country and we have to step-change our resilience in respect of that, in other words, we will have similar storms to this in the years to come.

“Likewise, Irish Water, in terms of backup generators, that needs to be better into the future for me, in terms of that.”

Uisce Éireann, formerly Irish Water, which supplies 4.5 million people in Ireland, lost power at treatment plants supplying about a million people.

As treatment plants have 24-hour storage, they were able to get some of those treatment plants back on line and reduce the outages to 200,000 people.

As of lunchtime on Friday, the number of premises without water were reduced to fewer than 1,000.

In relation to water treatment plants that require generators, utility company Uisce Eireann has about 700 treatment plants and an estimated 8,000 assets that need electricity to work.

There are about 400 fixed generators at treatment plants, it is understood.

During the storm, generators were at 600 additional locations to help maintain water supplies.

As of Friday, there have been 380 humanitarian hubs set up where people can shower, charge their phone and get hot food.

Most are in Co Galway, which has 52, Co Donegal, which has 50, Co Mayo, which has 46, and Co Roscommon, which has 37.

Asked about public anger over water or electricity supplies, Mr Martin said “I understand fully the anger and frustration.

“I think any of us who would be without power for such a lengthy period would be very, very anxious, very worrying.

“We are very, very dependent on technology and electricity in the modern era, so we’re doing everything we possibly can.

“The severity is the reason for the prolonged outage and the severe impact on the grid, but there are issues that we have to certainly evaluate and prepare for future storms of this magnitude.”