Islandmagee incident left over 600 homes without power

A number of residents claimed that a large vehicle travelling through the area on the evening of December 8 had caused damage to vehicles, as well as electricity and telecommunications cables and poles.

One resident described being in her home when she heard a loud “thud”. “We went outside and saw that an electricity pole had been pulled down, and there was a severed live electrical cable lying in our garden,” she added. “My next door neighbour contacted me to say he had seen a large ‘low loader’ type lorry pass by and pull down the cable.

"We contacted NIE and they were amazing; engineers came out in about half an hour and had our power back on in about four hours. But it was a worrying incident; it was lucky no one was hurt.”

Noel Williams, from the Carrickfergus office of Stewart Dickson MLA, said he had been contacted by a number of residents whose cars were also damaged.

Commenting on the incident, a PSNI spokesperson said: “Police received reports on December 9 that a large lorry had caused damage to a number of vehicles, electricity and broadband cables and poles while driving through Islandmagee.

“Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with any information or footage that could assist police is asked to get in touch on 101 quoting reference 610 of 09/12/23.”

A spokesperson for NIE Networks added: “NIE Networks were made aware [on December 9] of a loss of supply affecting 663 properties in Islandmagee due to third party damage. Three engineers were immediately despatched to make the area safe and restore power to customers, which they did within four hours. An investigation is now underway into the damage caused.”

Further to speculation locally that a vehicle transporting buoys may have been behind the incident, Drogheda Port Company said: “We are aware of the incident. It is unfortunate that a number of houses were affected. The carriage of the buoys was undertaken by a third party contractor; it is unlikely Drogheda Port Company will be using the contractor in future.”