Investigation into ‘major fault’ which left 5,000 homes and businesses without power

ESB Networks has launched an investigation into a ‘major fault’ that left thousands of Inishowen homes and businesses without power at the weekend.

The fault – believed to be at the Trillick substation outside Buncrana – impacted approximately 5,000 customers on Saturday evening, July 12.

The outage affected much of the peninsula, including parts of Buncrana, Bridgend, Burnfoot, Fahan, Moville, Greencastle, Redcastle, Quigley’s Point, and elsewhere.

The fault occurred shortly after 5pm on Saturday. Some local restaurants, which had been packed with customers and bookings during the busiest weekend of the year, had to shut for the night as a consequence.

READ NEXT: Cancer fundraiser in honour of Moville musician

An ESB Networks spokesperson apologised for the inconvenience caused.

“We acknowledge the disruption to family and commercial life this caused and thank all those affected for their patience.”

“The outage was caused by a major fault in one of our substations in Inishowen.”

They added: “ESB Networks crews responded immediately and power was restored to all customers later that evening.”

“An investigation into the fault and repair of the substation is ongoing.”