Ireland

Power restored to 4,600 homes and firms in Dublin city centre

Crews worked to restore electricity after contractors hit underground ESB cables

A sign on a Dublin shop reads ‘Temporarily closed due to power cut’. Photograph: Dominick Coyle/The Irish Times
A sign on a Dublin shop reads ‘Temporarily closed due to power cut’. Photograph: Dominick Coyle/The Irish Times
Elaine Edwards
Mon Feb 19 2018 - 18:45

About 4,600 homes and businesses in Dublin city which suffered power outages on Monday after construction workers hit underground power cables have now had supply restored.

An ESB Networks spokesman apologised for any inconvenience caused as a result of the outage in the Dublin 1 and 2 areas following the disconnection of a transformer in Temple Bar.

Derek Hynes, operations manager of ESB Networks said that at about 11.20am a transformer at a substation in Bedford Row, Temple Bar, was disconnected resulting in the disconnection of electricity to about 4,600 homes and businesses in the Dublin 1 and Dublin 2 areas.

Scenes in Dublin city centre around the Grafton Street area where some shops had to close due to a power outage. Photograph: Dominick Coyle/The Irish Times
Scenes in Dublin city centre around the Grafton Street area where some shops had to close due to a power outage. Photograph: Dominick Coyle/The Irish Times
Traffic lights out in Dublin city centre due to a power outage. Photograph: Dominick Coyle/The Irish Times
Traffic lights out in Dublin city centre due to a power outage. Photograph: Dominick Coyle/The Irish Times

The outages stretched from Dublin City Council’s offices on the quays to O’Connell Street, across Dame Street, Dawson Street and north across O’Connell Bridge to Henry Street. Some traffic lights were also out due to the power cut.

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Mr Hynes said the company had taken two phone calls from different locations in the Grafton Street and Dawson Street area at about 11.25am, reporting that there had been separate contacts or “dig-ins” with the underground 10,000 volt cable network.

It appeared those cable contacts by contractors working in the area had resulted in the transformer tripping in the Bedord Row area.

Crews had been sent to the locations where there were potential public safety concerns to ensure no one came in contact with anything that might pose a danger to them.

There were also crews working at the sub station in Temple Bar, he said.

Mr Hynes said the biggest concern was public safety and that someone could be hurt if they came into contact with the network.

“But obviously, economic and social life around the city centre is affected by this so we are very conscious of things like the commercial impact on all the businesses that are affected in the city centre, and obviously and traffic impact that we can see on our network.”

ESB Networks later confirmed that power had been restored to all customers.

A spokesman emphasised the importance of contractors contacting it before starting any digging work, to find out if there are any electricity cables in the vicinity of their excavation site.