Bere Island left without electricity after fishing boat hits undersea power cable

Call for pair trawling involving boats over 18m to stop in harbour areas after cable connecting island to mainland is damaged

An accidental collision with a subsea cable left Bere Island without power for over 24 hours. Picture: Dan Linehan

There are calls for a halt to pair trawling in harbours by large boats after an accidental collision with a subsea cable left an island without power for over 24 hours.

Fianna Fáil TD for Cork South West Christopher O’Sullivan made his comments this afternoon as specialist divers worked with ESB Networks crews to repair the underwater cable which supplies electricity to Bere Island off West Cork.

The fault, which was reported at 3.30pm on Thursday, left 281 customers without power overnight.

The divers were dispatched early today to locate the fault and retrieve the cable to the surface where ESB crews could conduct repairs.

ESB Networks confirmed this afternoon that the outage occurred “as a result of a fishing vessel accidentally coming into contact” with a cable running from Castletownbere to Bere Island.

“Repair efforts are under way which will include a diver safely locating the damaged cable so ESB Networks crews can carry out the required restoration work,” a spokesman said.

“We expect power will be restored to all impacted customers by this evening, Friday.

“We apologise to those impacted for the disruption caused.” 

TD Christopher O'Sullivan said the time had come for pair trawling involving boats over 18m to stop in harbour areas. Picture: Dan Linehan

Mr O’Sullivan said people are aware of the devastation caused to wildlife by pair trawling.

“But now, allegedly, it has resulted in a cable connecting Bere Island to the mainland being damaged,” he said.

He said the time has come for pair trawling involving boats over 18m to stop in harbour areas.

In a tweet earlier, Bere Island resident Helen Riddell, a member of the Bere Island Projects Group, said she has no mobile coverage in her area of the island, and that no power means no broadband modem, which has left her and many other islanders completely cut off.

“We have wood-burning stoves and a gas hob so we’ll survive. Have to head up the hill at the top of the village to get coverage. At least it’s a nice day,” she said.