Why was Ireland’s infrastructure so vulnerable to Storm Éowyn?

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A tree blown down during Storm Éowyn in Galway city. Photograph:Joe O'Shaughnessy
A tree blown down during Storm Éowyn in Galway city. Photograph:Joe O'Shaughnessy

The aftermath of Storm Éowyn has continued to wreak havoc across the State with up to 100,000 homes and businesses likely to be without power for the rest of the week and some cut off from the grid until the end of next week.

The worst storm to hit Ireland in decades, Storm Éowyn left over a million homes and businesses across the island without power. A new humanitarian group has been established as part of the National Emergency Coordination Group to help deal with the immediate hardship caused by the storm. But what measures need to be taken immediately to avoid similar large scale power outages as these extreme weather events happen with greater frequency?

And why was Ireland’s infrastructure, particularly our energy network, so vulnerable to Storm Éowyn? Dr Julie Clarke, assistant professor in engineering in climate action in Trinity College Dublin, joins the podcast to discuss how Ireland needs to prepare for future storms of this magnitude.

Today, on In The News, how does Ireland prepare for its next weather bomb?

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Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Aideen Finnegan and Declan Conlon.

Sorcha Pollak

Sorcha Pollak

Sorcha Pollak is an Irish Times reporter specialising in immigration issues and cohost of the In the News podcast