The last customer to have their power restored following Storm Éowyn has said getting electricity back was “like Christmas morning”.
Storm Éowyn on January 24th cut electricity supply to more premises than ever before in Ireland.
In Co Donegal a staggering 80,000 people were without power at the height of the storm.
Most had their supply back in a few days.
Now the last person to be reconnected is trying to get back to a normal life.
Mary Meehan from Dunmore in Galway told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that the last few weeks had been very difficult.
She said they “knew there was light at the end of the tunnel” when ESB crews arrived outside her home at 5pm on Monday evening.
“It was very difficult, but I suppose like everything else you just learn to adapt to what life throws at you. So I was cooking in my workplace, which is the national school. I was bringing in my slow cooker. I was also doing my washing between there and my sister’s house.
“I suppose we found the evenings most difficult when everybody was home again with no proper heat or light for the first 10 to 15 days. And then we got the loan of a generator, which we managed. I suppose you could say we lived very miniscule.”
She said the Government’s response had been “very poor.”
“We live in a rural area but we’re not in a remote area. And in 2025, we should not be 19 days out of power.
