Traffic lights out during morning rush hour in Dublin

ESB Networks website shows number of power outages in city centre were restored by midday

Traffic lights in Dublin city centre were among the facilities hit by a number of electricity outages on Monday morning.

The ESB Networks powercheck web page showed outages in Misery Hill, Bedford Row, both in Dublin 2, and Sheriff Street, Dublin 1, with traffic lights on major city centre junctions being affected during the morning rush hour period.

The traffic lights at Samuel Beckett bridge, on Tara Street, and on D’Olier Street were among those affected, with Dublin City Council’s traffic management centre’s account on X (formerly Twitter) warning motorists to take care.

“D’Olier Street: Collision just after Fleet St junction. Right lane blocked. Traffic signals are off at this junction. Take extra care on approach,” said one tweet, posted at around 9 am.

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“Tara St/Georges Quay: Traffic signals are off. Slow down and take extra care on approach,” said another.

A number of city centre hotels are understood to have been affected by the power outages as were apartments in Spenser Dock, Dublin 1. The faults at Sheriff Street and Bedford Row were fixed prior to midday, with the fault at Misery Row scheduled fixed by early afternoon.

A spokesman for Dublin City Council said: “There was a power failure in the city centre which resulted in a number of traffic lights being off, the power has now been restored and traffic signals are now operating normally in the area.”

ESB Networks said a power outage occurred at around 9 am that affected customers in Dublin city centre.

“ESB Networks crew mobilised immediately to investigate the cause, which was identified as a fault on a medium voltage underground cable near Sheriff Street, and to carry out repair work. All customers had their power restored by 12.30pm.”

It apologised to all those affected by the disruption in supply.

Colm Keena

Colm Keena

Colm Keena is an Irish Times journalist. He was previously legal-affairs correspondent and public-affairs correspondent