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LAST UPDATE | 27 Jan 2025
IRELAND WILL RECEIVE 13 emergency power generators to assist with hundreds of thousands of citizens currently without electricity, The Journal can confirm.
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.
A spokesperson for the national emergency response team, located in the Department of Housing, told The Journal that the government provided the additional information this morning and was offered 13 generators shortly after.
ESB’s updates have now indicated that power might not be restored in some remote parts of the country by as late of 6 February, as crews continue their work to fix outages in badly-hit areas along the west coast of the country.
Approximately 250,000 premises are still without power, as of this morning, and a further 100,000 people do not have water. Potentially thousands of homes in rural parts of the country, who are not connected to water mains, are also impacted by outages.
A request for emergency aid from the EU was issued by the Irish government on Saturday to assist with restoration works after Storm Éowyn.
Officials from Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands indicated that they could deliver much-needed emergency generators to Ireland but asked for more details, such as the voltages and quantity needed in the government’s request.
The Journal reported today that the Irish government did not respond to the EU for two days, leaving the Danish, German and Dutch officials on standby for the time being.
It has since been confirmed that the national emergency coordination team has accepted an offer of 13 generators, three large, industrial units and ten single-phase, diesel-powered generators, from the EU’s stockpile.
The national emergency coordination group will now coordinate with operators of critical infrastructure and essential service providers to allocate the placement of these generators.
The government’s lag in responding to the EU’s request for more information has been criticised by Independent Ireland MEP Ciaran Mullooly. He yesterday called on ministers to “get on top of this situation and get their act together”.
100,000 people in the west , north west and midlands CANNOT be abandoned by the Government for another week - we need the Irish Government to act fast and accept help from Europe pic.twitter.com/uSso5oe13Q
— Ciaran Mullooly MEP (@ciaranmullooly) January 26, 2025
The EU’s emergency response coordination centre grants urgent aid to member states and allies following natural disasters and other emergencies.
Member states assisted in Greece and Italy after wildfires last year and with medical operations in Palestine. Ireland previously donated to the centre to assist India in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to statements issued to Mullooly, the centre contacted the Irish government on Wednesday, 22 January, and provided emergency reports, forecasted the potential damage that Storm Éowyn could cause and offered satellite mapping imagery.
It is the discretion of a member state’s government to request the activation of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (emergency aid). The first request was made by the Irish government shortly after 4pm on Saturday, according to the same statements.
The spokesperson confirmed that the team had been in touch with the EU’s emergency unit in advance of the storm “to prepare for any requests for assistance”.
Irish European Commissioner Michael McGrath confirmed on X last night that the centre has received a request for a large number of mobile generators from Ireland and that the EU is in contact with “a number of member states” to fulfil the request.
He said he is in communication with the crisis management commissioner, Belgium’s Hadja Lahbib, as well as Ireland’s new Housing and Local Government Minister James Browne. McGrath did not detail the timing of the requests or responses.
Mullooly has said many of his constituents, in Midlands North West, have been left without electricity and water.
A spokesperson for the Department of Housing told The Journal that the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management first requested the generators on Saturday following an assessment of the damage caused by Storm Éowym.
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