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Electricity, water and broadband outages across country

Firefighters from the Ashbourne Brigade in Co Meath at the scene of a fallen tree on the N2
Firefighters from the Ashbourne Brigade in Co Meath at the scene of a fallen tree on the N2

Around 790,000 farms and businesses across the island of Ireland are still without power following Storm Éowyn.

ESB Networks said around 540,000 customers are without power, while some 250,000 homes and businesses were without electricity in Northern Ireland.

The damage from the storm, which brought record-breaking gusts of 183km/h, is being assessed around the country.

All Status Red wind warnings have been lifted, as have the Status Orange and Yellow wind warnings that were in operation across the country this afternoon.

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Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Brian Tapley of ESB said that Storm Éowyn caused unprecedented country-wide damage across the electricity network.

Earlier, 768,000 customers were without power.

Mr Tapley also said that he expects it will take more than a week to fully restore power to all impacted subscribers.

"Storm Darragh had about 395,000 customers without power and that took seven days so that’s why - with some degree of confidence - we think it’s more than a week but that’ll be in the worst affected areas."

While the worst of the storm has passed for most of the country, he said that ESB expects further damage to be caused during the orange wind warnings.

Mr Tapley added that ESB Networks has contacted other utility companies in the UK and Europe to assist with the repair works but said that any help will only come once they have dealt with their own outages.

During the storm, a man died in Co Donegal after a tree fell on his car.

Gardaí were alerted to the serious road traffic incident at Feddyglass, Raphoe, Donegal, at around 5.30am.

The N14 is closed while garda forensic collision investigators conduct an investigation at the scene.

Strong winds for Sunday

Met Éireann has said the worst of Storm Éowyn has passed but warned of more strong winds that are forecast for Sunday.

Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, meteorologist Linda Hughes urged people to take precautions if they have any trees or structures damaged by Storm Éowyn.

"Bear in mind that structures or trees that have been weakened by the severe winds from this storm, there are going to be strong winds on Sunday," she said.


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Ms Hughes added: "So we could see a little bit more damage from that even if the winds are not going to be as strong. If structures are weakened, we are going to see more implications."

She said that with the storm is now north of Scotland wind speeds are not below the threshold for yellow warnings with the exception of Co Donegal, which is under a yellow warning until 11pm.

However, trailing behind Storm Éowyn is a front of cold air, according to Ms Hughes.

"It is going to be a cold night, temperatures dropping down to as low as -2C in some places and showers, some of those are going to be sleet and snow.

"Particularly in the northwest and a yellow snow and ice warning has been issued for Donegal from 9pm until 9am tomorrow," she said.


Watch: Footage shows the extent of flooding outside Atlantaquaria in Galway City


Water supplies

More than 138,000 people are without water, according to Uisce Éireann.

The counties mostly impacted are Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Galway, Donegal, Laois, Kilkenny, Waterford and Tipperary.

"[This is] due to treatment plants having no power. Treatment plants aren't in production. There's no water going into supply," said Margaret Attridge from Uisce Éireann.

She said that work is ongoing with ESB Networks to restore power to treatment plants where that is possible.

In Co Roscommon, water supplies have been impacted in Castlecoote and the surrounding areas.

Uisce Éireann said work is continuing to restore supplies and an alternative water supply is available for customers at O'Farrell’s Mill, Castlecoote from 5-7pm this evening and 10am-12pm tomorrow.

In Co Donegal, a boil water notice has been issued for people served by the Glenties and Ardara Public Water Supply.

Public transport

Iarnród Éireann said there are several lines which would not reopen today.

Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, corporate communications manager Barry Kenny said that services between Dublin and Belfast, Dublin and Galway and Dublin and Westport will not resume today.

"Dublin to Westport, as you’re heard, a lot of trees down in that area and we’ve had some level crossing damage as well," Mr Kenny said.

He added that there are still some line assessments ongoing across several train lines including the DART, Dublin-Waterford, Dublin-Rosslare and Dublin-Sligo

Mr Kenny said that Iarnród Éireann is working to resume service on those lines this evening.

Dublin Bus says over 90% of its services have resumed with services being re-introduced on a phased basis.


Watch: Storm Éowyn brings severe winds to Galway


Around 160,000 homes and business lost broadband access due to outages caused by Storm Éowyn, according to Eir.

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Eir’s Chief Technology Officer Fergal McCann said the company was beginning to assess the extent of the damage.

He said there are intermittent outages to phone services across the country and Eir is rolling out generators to restore some services.

"We’ve just commenced generator deployment in Cork...so those generators will be brought to those priority sites to try and restore service there," Mr McCann said.

'Very significant disruption'

National Emergency Coordination Group Chairperson Keith Leonard praised the public for heeding the Status Red warnings and sheltering in place ahead of Storm Éowyn.

"I want to take the opportunity to thank everyone who responded so well to public safety messaging.

"That was really important because it took the pressure off our emergency services at a really critical time and also enabled local authorities to get out and about to monitor and assess the damage."

Also speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Leonard said that the picture across the country is one of widespread "very significant disruption" to many services.

He added that all communities have been impacted to some extent.

"Up along the western seaboard is badly affected and into the northwest and even the northeast there seems to be very significant structural damage and a lot of trees down."

Mr Leonard also warned that motorists must also be prepared to "meet a tree down around every corner" today and into the coming days.

He stressed that conditions were very dangerous, adding that the number of power lines down meant dangerous conditions for walking and driving.