Power outage hits athlone homes and businesses

A number of homes and businesses in the centre of Athlone have been affected by a power cut this afternoon (Wednesday).

Cafes, banks and other businesses in the town are among those whose electricity has been out since appoximately 12 noon.

The ATM at the Ulster Bank on Mardyke Street is not working and a notice on the door of the bank's branch reads: 'Closed due to power cut. Apologies for the inconvenience.'

The ESB said approximately 700 customers in the town have been affected by a fault to the power supply. 

It indicated that the supply was unlikely to return until around 3.30pm this afternoon.

The ESB issued a notification of the outage on Twitter: