Demand for electricity throughout Ireland fell today when the British royal wedding began, as householders turned on their televisions and turned off other appliances.
State-owned energy provider Eirgrid said television and web viewers of the wedding "caused a noticeable change to electricity demand in Ireland today".
"There was a unique change in electricity demand at the time of the televising of the event in London. Demand fell as viewers gathered together to watch the wedding and stopped using other electrical appliances," a statement said.
It put the reduction at in the region of 120 megawatts, "equivalent to the electricity demand of 78,000 average homes".
Eirgrid said similar changes had also happened in the past, noticeably during half time during games involving Irish teams such as football World Cup or rugby Grand Slam matches.