The ESB says it hopes to have power restored to the Aran Islands by tonight. 

Islanders have been without electricity or phone lines since early Friday morning – due to a fault on a sub-sea-cable.

The ESB says it’s the first time in 20 years that it’s encountered the problem. 

Spokesperson Bernadine Maloney has said the sea conditions make the repair job difficult: “The visability around the cable, you are talking about ten metres of water at the moment, the sea is quite choppy at the moment so visability is quite poor.”