Last customer gets power back after Storm Éowyn: It was 'like Christmas morning'

Vivienne Clarke

The last customer to have their power restored following Storm Éowyn has said getting electricity back was “like Christmas morning”.

Storm Éowyn on January 24th cut electricity supply to more premises than ever before in Ireland, leaving almost 1 million homes, farms, schools and businesses without power across the island.

Mary Meehan from Dunmore in Galway told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that the last few weeks had been very difficult.

She said they “knew there was light at the end of the tunnel” when ESB crews arrived outside her home at 5pm on Monday evening.

“It was very difficult, but I suppose like everything else you just learn to adapt to what life throws at you. So I was cooking in my workplace, which is the national school. I was bringing in my slow cooker. I was also doing my washing between there and my sister's house.

“I suppose we found the evenings most difficult when everybody was home again with no proper heat or light for the first 10 to 15 days. And then we got the loan of a generator, which we managed. I suppose you could say we lived very miniscule.”

One of Ms Meehan’s adult children, who depends on online lectures, had to stay in Galway for a number of nights. There were also difficulties for her husband who is a part-time farmer and had to improvise using flash lamps.

The family was also without running water for the first five to six days, which she said was quite difficult with cattle in sheds.

The Government’s response had been “very poor”, she said. “We live in a rural area but we're not in a remote area. And in 2025, we should not be 19 days out of power.

“I think the Government should have employed or brought in extra crews or more manpower on the ground. And we weren't very well informed either. You were getting up every morning feeling very positive by by evening you were well deflated again.

“No one was informing you. You were going on to the ESB website for Power Check, but it was changing from one day to the other about when your power will be restored. So it was just up and down all the time and it couldn't function properly.”