Aran Islands: Inis Meáin and Inis Oírr hit with power failure

Residents of Inis Meáin and Inis Oírr are currently without power due to a major electrical fault.

The two Aran Islands have been without power since 4:00am Friday morning, with many businesses fearing for their custom in what in peak season for tourism.

Tarlach de Blácam, Inis Meáin resident and founder of the Inis Meáin Knitting Company, referred to the outage as a "very serious problem for businesses."

“Small businesses, guest houses, hotels, pubs and restaurants have had no power since 4.00am today. Staff have a huge problem operating at all, not to mind catering for the large number of visitors on the islands. Freezers will probably have their contents well defrosted or melted before power is restored,” he added.

Tourism

The Aran Islands welcome visitors from all over the world during peak season and are heavily reliant on tourism for income.

The (ESB) said: " We are treating this outage with the utmost priority and doing all we can to restore power on both islands as soon as possible. A generator is currently en route to Rossaveal. Weather pending, it is hoped to load the generator onto a barge there early tomorrow morning.

“Specialist lifting equipment will be required both at Rossaveal and Inis Oírr harbours and the organisation of this is in train. A specialist transformer required to supply power from the generator has been sourced in the UK and also en route to Rossaveal. So we hope to have the generator on Inis Oírr tomorrow but this will depend on seas.

“Even with the generator in place tomorrow, the estimated restore time remains Monday at the earliest.”