Over 7,000 Galway homes and businesses still without power
Crews finding faults during repairs
APPROXIMATELY 7,250 customers in County Galway were still waiting for their power to return this evening (Tuesday), according to ESB Networks.
Pockets of customers in places like Menlough, Corofin, Caherlistrane, Brownsgrove, Tuam, Dunmore, Ballygar and Caltra remained without power. Groups of customers in Glenamaddy are not due to have their electricity restored until Sunday evening, according to the ESB Power Check map.
There were up to ten ESB Networks vehicles in the vicinity of Corrib Oil service station in Tuam on Monday morning, along with a number of TLI Group vehicles. It was further confirmation of the extent of the damage done by Storm Éowyn in the North Galway region.
Technicians have been coming across major faults while trying to repair damage to power lines in the county since the storm, which has sometimes meant cutting electricity to customers where it had previously been restored.
As well as retired ESB technicians and crews from the South and East of the country, technicians from the UK, Germany, Norway, Finland, Austria and France have been assisting more than 2,500 local ESB crews and contractors in the worst affected areas of Galway.
The extra technicians have been staying in the Ard Rí Hotel in Tuam, the Galway Bay Hotel in Salthill, and in other locations over the past week.
“In addition to the crews deployed, over 1,300 support staff are involved in overseeing damage assessment, emergency call management, logistics and network operations,” said Aoiffe Llewellyn of ESB Networks.
“ESB Networks’ customer contact centre has also doubled its resources to accommodate the unprecedented high volumes of calls, resulting in short call response times throughout the day and night for their customers.
“We are aware of areas where forestry has significantly impacted on our network and supply to our customers, especially during recent weather events such as Storm Éowyn. During which, our teams have and are continuing to extensively rebuild damaged infrastructure to reconnect our customers.”
Sampling on the public water supplies in the Dunmore-Glenamaddy and Glenamaddy areas begins on Wednesday.
Boil Water Notices (BWNs) have been in place people in these areas since Sunday January 26, impacting as many as 3,000 people. The BWNs also apply to members of Group Water Schemes in Garrafrauns, Boyounagh-Ballyedmond, Cloonkeen, and elsewhere.
“This sampling will consist of a three-day verification programme to ensure the water is within compliance. If all samples come back compliant, Uisce Éireann will be approaching the HSE at the weekend to consider a lift,” said Mark Higgins of Uisce Éireann.
The affected customers are advised to continue boiling and cooling their water until further notification.