ESB Networks teams restore power to 7,000 West Cork customers

Within 15 minutes, ESB Networks teams restored power to most of the 7,000 people in the Bantry, Glengarriff and Castletownbere areas who were left without electricity this morning.

A spokesperson for ESB Networks confirmed that the fault occurred on the transmission system feeding the Beara Peninsula.

‘The fault occurred at 7.40am and ESB Networks teams immediately implemented their local area restoration plan, reconnecting the many of the 7,000 customers remotely within 15 minutes,’ he said. ‘Crews then mobilised to restore to the remainder of customers within an hour.

‘Yellow wind warnings don't tend to cause mass outages,’ according to the spokesperson. ‘At this stage, it seems likely that high winds – associated with the Met Éireann Yellow wind warning – caused branches to come into contact with a section of overhead line causing it to trip.

‘The root cause of the tripping is still being investigated, with crews continuing to patrol the line in question to prevent a potential recurrence,’ said the spokesperson, who apologised to customers affected by the outage.

Met Éireann issued the status yellow wind warning on Wednesday night. It came into effect at midnight on Thursday and will remain in place until 8pm tonight.

Met Éireann said strong winds could present hazardous conditions for motorists and cyclists, and it cautioned people to be aware of loose or displaced objects and debris.

High waves can also be expected under these weather conditions and could lead to overtopping in flood risk coastal communities.

Freak waves have often been reported in West Cork, so people are asked to be mindful of where they are walking, even a day, or two, after a wind or sea surge.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard, Water Safety Ireland and the RNLI have issued a joint appeal for the festive season, urging people to be mindful of the potential risks with their chosen activity and attend to their personal safety in planning and participating in any water based or coastal activities.

The increase in popularity of festive dips and open water swimming will result in a lot of people taking to the water over the next few weeks.

Many people will also avail of the opportunity to participate in coastal walks and hikes. The three maritime organisations are asking people to check that they have the right information to safely enjoy these activities and that they know what to do in the event of an emergency.

People are advised to never swim alone; to ensure that somebody ashore is monitoring their activity; to acclimatise slowly; stay within their depth and always be seen.

Organisers of Christmas Day or New Year swims are also advised to have suitably trained personnel in attendance and to appoint a safety officer.