Independent Ireland TD Michael Fitzmaurice has said it is “disgusting” that residents in the West have again been left without electricity after what he described as a “light storm.”
Speaking after Storm Floris, the Roscommon-Galway TD said homes in the Ballinlough area had been left without power when electricity lines fell just six months after new infrastructure was installed.
“This is not acceptable,” he said. “People who were left without power for 15 or 16 days during the last storm are now suffering again after a mere blow of wind.”
Fitzmaurice claimed that insufficient tree-cutting near power lines was to blame for the recurring outages, and criticised the ESB’s handling of the issue.
“The machines have already been in there cutting,” he said. “Evidently they did not do the job right. They should have cut back enough. The ESB now needs to take this by the scruff of the neck and once and for all decide what they’re doing and what they’re not doing.”
He called on Energy Minister Darragh O’Brien to issue direct instructions to the utility company, and to authorise the removal of all trees near power lines.
“Forget about what people are objecting to,” he said. “They must be taken out, it’s that simple. Whatever the distance is required, get it done to put an end to this once and for all.”
Fitzmaurice said the West was continuing to bear the brunt of what he called “failed policies,” warning that without urgent decisions further outages would follow.
“It is sickening to see new power lines that were only put up six months ago flattened again today,” he said. “When are we going to cop on as a country and put people before everything else?”
As reported by the Roscommon Herald, Storm Floris left homes without electricity in Ballinlough, Moyne, Ballaghaderreen, Boyle, and Ballyfarnon.
In the Ballaghaderreen area, around 1,645 customers were affected, with ESB stating that power was expected to be restored by 11am on Friday.
A Status Yellow wind warning remains in place for Counties Leitrim, Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan until 4pm, with Met Éireann warning of potentially dangerous travelling conditions and fallen trees.