Thousands still left in the dark
Thousands of homes across Cavan are still without power, with some not expected to see the lights come back on until later this week at least.
Shay Beard moved into Drumglen Close with his wife Kelly, brother-in-law Shane, and the couple’s five kids - four girls and a boy - just before Christmas.
As of 10:15pm on Tuesday morning last, February 4, there were among 2,000 homes, farms and businesses across the county still without power - double the number in Monaghan and four times more than in Longford.
With the power still out following Storm Éowyn almost a fortnight ago, Shay says that he and his family are now “struggling”.
He used to work with the ESB clearing trees before suffering an injury to his leg in an accident. His brother-in-law Shane has cerebral palsy and is cared for full time by Kelly. Both are now “confined to downstairs from 4pm in the evening” as a result of the outage.
The four houses in Drumglen Close, and their neighbours, have an estimated restore time, according to ESB Network’s Powercheck.ie, of 9pm on Thursday, February 6.
The houses blacked out on January 24 and, since then, the residents have watched with a growing sense of frustration as others got power back in the hours and days that followed, but not them.
Galling for Shay is that the transformer connecting the estate is located on a pole less than 10 foot from his back garden. “We did have an ESB man down here, because a tree did fall on a line. He pulled the fuses out. But nobody has come back. So how do they know if the fault has been fixed unless they switch it back on?” he asked.
Joe Carney lives next door. He’s 82 years old.
“They’ve power over there,” says Joe pointing into Drumglen Drive, “... and they’ve power over here,” he adds looking over at two houses on the main road. “Then you’ve us sitting in the dark in the middle. Why are we left out?”
Joe and wife Jeanette spent a weekend in a hotel in Dublin. While it coincided with Joe attending a medical appointment, the alternative was “sitting at home in the cold”.
It cost the couple “well over” €1,000 to stay over.
They have a gas cooker, which “keeps us going”, and a solid fuel fire in the sitting room for warmth come evening time. But he’s frustrated at the lack of information and updates coming through.
“It’s the inconvenience of the whole thing. I’d like to get my power back.”
ESB Networks say they are making progress to repair the extensive damage, and that customers who remain without power will “progressively have their supply restored over the course of the week”.
Irish Water meanwhile says that power has been restored to all of treatment plants in Cavan and Monaghan.
Boil water notices, however, remain for customers on the Lough Egish (Monaghan) and Belturbet (County Cavan) Public Water Supply Schemes, with no “conclusive” date for when the orders will be lifted.
“We have commenced sampling, and we will require three clear tests - each a day apart. We will then seek to lift the notice in consultation with the HSE.”