It will take “over a week” to get power reconnected to all homes and businesses, ESB has said. 

All 32 counties are currently under a Red Weather Warning following the arrival of Storm Éowyn, with wind speeds in excess of 130 km/ph in some parts of the country. 

Trees have been felled, power lines have been downed and anyone who ventures outside has been warned their life is at risk. 

“This morning, there are 715,000 homes, farms and businesses without power,” ESB spokesperson Brian Tapley told Newstalk Breakfast. 

“This is unprecedented; it’s widespread and there’s extensive damage across the network. 

“We expect that figure will, unfortunately, increase over the course of the morning as the red alert has been in place for the entire country.” 

The current Wind Warnings in place have a various applicable times. Please be advised that while most of the Red Level Warnings finish by 12pm (Apart from Donegal), there are following Orange and Yellow Warnings in place.https://t.co/lvQFgW9biq#StormÉowyn pic.twitter.com/0L5vyxZUEl

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) January 24, 2025

ESB teams are currently still taking calls and responding only to those whose need is greatest. 

“At the moment, we’re taking all the calls that come in and we’re dealing with many extreme danger calls,” Mr Tapley said. 

“So, we will attend anything that is extremely dangerous and an emergency. 

“We will use our distribution control centre remotely wherever we can but the real task of damage assessment will only take place after the red alert has cleared. 

“An element of repair will take place in the afternoon but it’ll move into the weekend.”

Windy weather. Picture by: Alamy.com.

All counties are currently under a Red Warning but there are some where the damage is particularly extensive. 

“South Kerry and County Clare are impacted significantly,” Mr Tapley said. 

“Into the Midlands, you’re looking at Athlone, Longford, Mullingar, Tullamore have large numbers of customers out. 

“As you move up to the North-West, Sligo and Galway are particularly badly impacted. 

“So far, Donegal isn’t as badly impacted as those counties I mentioned. 

“Then over on the North-East, Cavan is particularly badly impacted.”

Stormy weather in County Donegal. Picture by: Alamy.com

Mr Tapley said he could not give an exact date when all homes would be reconnected; however, the damage is already worse than in any previous storm. 

“This is going to take well into next week,” he said. 

“With Storm Darragh it took us up to seven days to get all customers back and that was 395,000 customers back. 

“So, we’re talking over a week to get all the customers back and that figure [of 715,000] is still rising this morning.”

The Red Weather Warning expires at 2pm today.

Main image: A man working with a power line. Picture by: Alamy.com