Electricity supplies back on, but thousands without broadband

SOME 5,000 households and businesses are without telecommunications including broadband as the havoc wreaked by Storm Emma continues to affect the country.

Eir said it hoped to clear

2,000 faults a day, but it

depended on the nature of the problem. More than 1,000 staff were on the ground completing repairs, it said, adding that at the height of the storm, some 11,000 were without service. But thousands remain affected today.

“Some are faults which existed before the storm, but most are in the south east in the areas worst affected, including Kildare, Wicklow and Wexford, but not exclusively there,” said a spokesman.

“When exchanges go down you might lose 100 customers, but when you get the problem resolved, you get those people back.

“But these are individual line faults and the problem is we need daylight to get them back. We can clear up to 2,000 faults in a given day.”

The ESB said it had restored power to all affected houses and businesses in Wexford, and warned of further interruptions to supply.

It deployed two helicopters to conduct aerial surveys and to transport repair crews to isolated areas where faults had emerged.

“We were down to double figures on Sunday evening, with a huge effort in Co Wexford,” a spokesman said.

“We’re all clear now in Co Wexford. But with the damage done to the network, it’s not to say there won’t be interruptions to supply as we complete repair works.”

During the storm, some 150,000 customers across the State had no power. At the height of Storm Emma, some 34,000 had no electricity supply. By comparison, the peak during Hurricane Ophelia was 385,000.

“In terms of Wexford, there was 18,000 at the peak on Friday (without power),” said the spokesman. “We began moving crews as other areas of the country were cleared.

“On the Friday, we began moving crews into Wexford. We used two helicopters to get access in Wexford to move crews around, and for line patrols.”

Some 300 faults emerged across the State, with 800 people in repair crews. Gas Networks Ireland reported no disruption to services.