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LAST UPDATE | 27 Jan 2025
OVER 200,000 PEOPLE remain without power, while around 84,000 people are still without water following Storm Éowyn.
A further 100,000 people remain in the “at risk” category – this is when treatment plants have no power and are not producing water, but still have some stores of water in their reservoirs.
Head of Water Operations at Uisce Éireann, Margaret Attridge, told RTÉ that the “focus really is to try and get those treatment plants back today, before the reservoirs empty.”
An additional 265,000 people are now being supplied by schemes where generators have been deployed by Uisce Éireann crews.
Additional generators are one method of getting treatment plants back up and running, and Attridge said Uisce Éireann is “working closely with the ESB to prioritise where we can get power back to our treatment plants”.
“We have taken deliveries yesterday of additional generators up to the northwest, and we’re moving generators that have become free in the south up there as well.
We are looking to get water back as soon as possible, and by the end of the week, most people should have water back.
However, Attridge added that the “problem today isn’t just generators”.
“We do have sufficient generators now, and it’s just a matter of getting them out to the right location, but not all of our locations are suitable for wiring up generators.
“That’s where we’ll be working with the ESB to get power to return to those sites as quickly as possible.”
She added that there were already generators at large treatment plants which kick-in in case of an outage.
“You would have seen very little interruptions in our large cities and towns throughout the course of the last week,” said Attridge.
She also said that in “exposed areas, like the west coast, the Dingle Peninsula, and Mayo, we keep stocks of generators and mobilise them to where they are needed.”
Attridge said the areas worst impacted is “the west coast, from Clare through Galway up to Donegal and then across through Cavan, Monaghan, and over to Meath”.
Of these, Galway is the worst affected, where around 22,000 remain without water.
She added that there are around 50 tankers in the areas impacted, and the locations of these are available in www.water.ie.
She further advised that “elderly or vulnerable people who can’t get out to a tanker can contact us at our Customer Care Centre, 1800 278 278, and we can bring bottled water to their homes.”
When asked how people would be able to make contact if they have no power, Attridge said: “We will have people active in the communities – most of our operators live in their local communities.”
She also noted that in some areas the electricity supply remains intermittent, which can prolong the time it takes to restore water supply.
As of 5.25pm this evening, around 204,000 ESB customers were without a power supply.
While ESB said the vast majority of those impacted by Storm Éowyn will have their supply restored by Friday, it expects that around 100,000 customers will have to wait until the following week.
At the peak of the power outages on Friday morning, around 768,000 customers were without power.
Meanwhile, an eir spokesperson told RTÉ that overnight, there were 77,000 homes and businesses without broadband and that the worst hit areas are the northwest and the midlands.
The spokesperson added that around 10% of eir’s mobile phone network is still down as they are “dependent on power recovery”.
A spokesperson for Vodafone said around 30,000 customers are still without broadband access, while 5% of its mobile phone network is down, with Galway, Mayo Roscommon, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan the worst impacted areas.
The spokesperson said the broadband issues are “primarily because of power outages, because your broadband device has to be powered”.
In the Ballybough area, around 2,000 residents have been without gas since Friday due to a burst pipe which prompted Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) to switch off supply.
GNI and local councillors have been going door-to-door supplying electric heaters.
Local man Brian Coffey says they have no indication of when the issue may be rectified.
Ministers and the National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG) , which deals with extreme weather events, met this afternoon to update the public on the government response.
Keith Leonard, the group’s chair, stressed that the force of winds during this storm are unprecedented. He said that a quarter of a million people are being helped by generators right now, but he wouldn’t give a figure on how many more generators woulod have been needed to avoid the scale of the disruption to power and water.
Asked whether the government needs to better prepare for further extreme weather in light of climate change, Environment Minister Darragh O’Brien said: “We’re always talking about weather events in the future. We have a climate plan. We have emergency climate legislation, which has been brought in, trying to reduce our carbon footprint, trying to get to carbon zero by 2050.
“In this particular event, we have done everything we can … the critical point is, the future debate is happening, and has been happening in the Dáil.”
O’Brien said that, as with all major weather events, a review of the national response will be carried out so the State can better prepare for the next one.
He also said that, while the impact to overhead power lines has been significant, there won’t necessarily be a move towards underground cables, as they’re easier for the ESB to repair when overhead.
O’Brien added that the ESB assesses the risk to these cables on an ongoing basis.
Speaking to RTÉ this morning, Social Protection Minister Dara Calleary said that Ireland has asked for support from other European countries. However, they too have been impacted.
A request for generators was sent to the European emergency response unit in Brussels by government on Saturday, but member states who indicated that they could help required more information.
The Journal has since confirmed that Ireland will recieve 13 emergency power generators from abroad.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has thanked his British counterpart Keir Starmer for the help provided by UK engineering crews as ESB restores power after Storm Éowyn.
Some 52 engineers from England had been scheduled to arrive on the island of Ireland on Saturday, with 30 to be utilised by NIE and 22 to assist ESB Networks in the Republic, and further resources to follow.
Due to the “unprecedented extent of the disruption” caused by Storm Éowyn, the NECG has established two additional Sub-Groups: the Sub-Group on Communications Infrastructure; and the Sub-Group on Humanitarian Assistance.
Local authorities have also established, in the worst affected areas, Emergency Response Hubs to assist people with basic needs such as water, hot food, phone charging, broadband access, shower and clothes washing facilities.
However, not all local authorities will need to establish Emergency Response Hubs.
Meanwhile, Calleary also confirmed yesterday that the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme is available to those living in properties directly affected by Storm Éowyn.
It provides income tested financial assistance schemes to households affected by a severe weather event.
It has been confirmed that the Department of Social Protection will adopt a three-stage approach.
The first stage will provide emergency support payments for items such as food and clothing, and this Stage is not income tested and is based on the immediate need of impacted individuals.
The second stage will replace kitchen appliances and basic furniture, while stage three will focus on damage to a household’s primary residency.
The second and third stages are means tested, and the income limits are €50,000 for a single person, €90,000 for a couple, and €15,000 per dependent child.
Meanwhile, Co Wexford is currently under Status Yellow warning for wind, with Met Éireann warning that this could cause further damage to already weakened structures and trees.
The Status Yellow alert is in place for Co Wexford until 2pm, and has been in place since 2am overnight.
The same warning for counties Cork, Kerry and Waterford elapsed at 9am this morning, having been in place since 11pm last night.
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