The ESB has criticised the unsafe working practices of what it says is a "significant number" of excavation workers, following damage to a 10,000-volt cable in Galway yesterday.
The incident occurred when a mechanical digger was being used by a contractor in the centre of Galway. Some 300 commercial and residential customers in the city centre lost their power supply. All available ESB crews were mobilised, and staff managed to restore power within the next hour. The ESB said more than 1,200 power cuts were being caused annually by building and excavation contractors, who continued to "cause chaos for homeowners and businesses by digging up underground cables, as well as putting the contractors' staff at major risk of death or horrific burns".
