Conspiracy theories over Aran Islands power cut

As soon as electrical power was restored to the Aran Islands on Monday night, attention turned to the conspiracy theories as to what triggered the four-days outage.

Inis Mór is connected to the mainland via an underwater electrical cable to Ros a’ Mhíl, and the sub-sea cable, linking Inis Mór with the smaller two islands was damaged at about 4.40am last Friday.

Power on all three islands was lost initially but Inis Mór returned to normal some hours later. The other two islands were without power until Monday night when generator power was connected.

The ESB Networks has yet to publicly confirm the cause of the damage to the cable, which it said suffered a “fault”.

A spokesperson said it was likely the cable was “struck under water”.

However, that has not stopped locals speculating about the cause of the damage to the underwater cable, about two kilometres off Inis Mór.

“There are all sorts of conspiracy theories going around,” said Sinn Féin Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh.

“Some people have said in the past that nets and fishing equipment has been damaged underwater, and that whatever caused that damage could be responsible for this. There is a theory that there are submarines, maybe the US or British or possibly even Russian submarines, are out there and that one of them struck the cable. Are they patrolling the Atlantic?

“People are wondering: How does a sub-sea cable, that is fairly sturdy, and is lying on the sea floor, get damaged to such an extent? Your guess is as good as mine but the ESB aren’t saying. It could be that it is old. It is 20 years or so old but still it was hit by something,” said Senator Ó Clochartaigh.

Power was restored to 372 customers on Inis Meáin and Inis Oírr at approximately 9pm Monday.

A specialised transformer arrived from England and ESB Networks crews worked to connect the two generators to the island electricity system. Poor weather on Sunday hampered efforts to restore power.

A detailed investigation of the cable damage and the seabed conditions is being carried out by ESB Networks and ESB International. They will then make a judgement on how best to repair the damage. It will take between two and four weeks to repair, the ESB said.

“ESB Networks apologises to customers on Inis Oírr and Inis Meáin impacted by this outage. We also wish to acknowledge our appreciation for the understanding afforded to ESB Networks crews by islanders while on Inis Oírr putting the generators and transformer in place,” the company said in a statement.

The power fault had many knock-on effects for the two islands, at the height of the tourist season. As well as visitors, there were hundreds of Irish college students staying there over the weekend.

The power cut impacted on mobile phone coverage and internet. “Many people had to throw food out of their freezer and the local doctor had to store antibiotics and supplies in the local pub,” said Senator Ó Clochartaigh, who contacted An Taoiseach’s office Friday to expedite the works.

Islanders are looking for a ‘plan B’ and assurances from the ESB so that future faults can be avoided.

“It’s not quite clear what plan B is but it could be an auxiliary line, running alongside the sub-sea cable, or a generator could be installed on eth islands on a permanent basis,” he added.

Irish Water confirmed its plant was impacted but once a generator was delivered on Saturday, normal treatment operations resumed.

Restrictions were put in place at night.

“Irish Water and Galway County Council would like to thank the ferry operator for ensuring the speedy and safe delivery of the generator to Inis Meáin. We would also like to thank Coffey Water Ltd for their assistance and the local businesses and general public who continue to conserve water during this difficult time. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused and would like to thank the public in advance for their co-operation,” the public utility said in a statement.