Storm Éowyn: 180,000 without power as crews from UK, Austria and Finland work on repairs

Vivienne Clarke

The vast majority of people impacted by Storm Éowyn will have their power restored by Friday, according to the ESB.

A total of 180,000 premises remain without electricity since the record-breaking winds last Friday.

Crews from the UK, Austria and Finland have arrived here to assist with the restoration of power and are being briefed on the worst-affected areas.

ESB spokesperson Brian Tapley said they will be working around the clock.

"We've 180,000 customers still without power this morning, that's down from a peak of 768,000."

Mr Tapley added: "The worst impacted areas are the North East, Cavan and Monaghan, some of the North Midlands counties and over in the North West, Mayo, Galway, Sligo and Leitrim."

Minister for Housing James Browne has defended the Government’s response to Storm Éowyn describing it as “a storm without precedence” which had “double the impact” in terms of the numbers left without power.

“It's a very challenging situation for a lot of families out there right across the country and businesses and farmers as well,” he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

Mr Browne went on to praise emergency services, responders and all the agencies of the State involved in clean up efforts.

'Absolute worst on record'

Storm Éowyn was the “absolute worst on record” and “nothing has been left on the pitch” by any of the State agencies involved. Initially there had been 760,000 people without power, 580,000 of which now had power restored by ESB teams in very challenging circumstances where the weather continued to be difficult, he said.

Mr Browne acknowledged that would be small comfort to the 180,000 people still without power, but the capacity was not there to restore power to all in what had been an unprecedented weather event.

“Everything has been done. Nothing has been left behind by any state agency in terms of getting services back.”

Lessons were learned from every event, he added and there will be a review to see what can be done in preparation for any future event.

But extreme weather events are becoming more common, he warned.

“The State is leaving nothing on the pitch to get everything done, power back, water back, communications back as quickly as possible. And humanitarian supports are being put in place across the country, 120 hubs have now been established, are opening this morning and more will be opened this morning.”

Responding to criticism by MEP Ciaran Mullooly that the European Commissioner for Crisis Management had confirmed that she offered emergency help to Ireland last Wednesday, but only received a request for help, as in generators and crews, at 4pm on Saturday, Mr Browne explained that a request for assistance could not be made until the event was over and it was clear what help was required.

“Once we assessed what that damage was, we then immediately put in a request to the European Union for specifically what was needed.”

Mr Browne said that the Government had been providing leadership even though the Dáil was not sitting. The response to the storm was being coordinated by the National Emergency Coordination Group, he said.

Support services

Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary has said that people impacted by Storm Éowyn should not be hungry or cold, that there are support services available with which they should engage.

Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Mr Calleary said the funds were available to provide support services.

The main focus for the Government was getting services back up and running such as power and connectivity. In situations where water connections remained down, the Minister said that generators were being located so that water services could get back on line.

The necessary investment will be put in place to future-proof vital infrastructure, he added. This was being done through the Climate and Resilience Fund.

Mr Calleary emphasised that supports were available through the Humanitarian Assistance Fund and he encouraged people to engage with community services. There were also supports available where homes had suffered structural damage.

I want to really emphasise that people shouldn't be hungry, that they shouldn't be cold.

“I want to really emphasise that people shouldn't be hungry, that they shouldn't be cold, please engage with the service, the vast experience of the department of Social Protection right across the country.”

The Minister also paid tribute to the staff of An Post who offered their help to the people in most need, vulnerable people, offering to bring medicines to them.

Mr Calleary also repeated the explanation by Minister for Housing James Browne that the government did not request EU aid until they had first assessed exactly what assistance would be required.

“You can't, through the mechanism, put in a general request. We engaged with the commissioner on Wednesday. We engaged with them on Friday. And then the formal request went in on Saturday once we knew precisely what support we needed, what resources we needed and what care they could give us."