Laois Macra forced to postpone national event over power cut

There was disappointment in Mountmellick after a large power cut resulted in Laois Macra being forced to postpone the highly anticipated national Macra Capers event at the weekend. 

The hugely popular event had to be cancelled at the last minute due to the power cut and it’s uncertain whether the county will now get to host the national final. In total, 2,124 homes and businesses in the town were left without power for a number of hours on Saturday.  

Macra teams were to travel from Cork, Kilkenny and Tipperary for the Macra Capers final which had been scheduled to take place in Mountmellick Arts Centre on Saturday, February 1. 

Six teams – Callan, Kilkenny City, South Tipperary, Insane, Freemount, and Mountmellick – were  to battle it out for the coveted top prize, showcasing their 20-minute variety shows filled with comedy, dance, poetry, and light entertainment. Each performance promised something unique, ensuring there's something for everyone in the audience.

The Mountmellick team include Amy Strong, Nathan Flanagan, Aoife Oxley, Michéal Kilheeny, Alanah Conroy,  Katelyn Dempsey, Ciara Hennessy, Sorcha Hartnett, Aoife Mallon,  Kellie Fox,  Zoe Dempsey, Niamh Feighery, Conan Kirwan, Sophie Ahern and Sue Le Blanc Meredith. 

Laois Macra’s Andrew Dunne said some people had reached Portlaoise from Cork before having to turn around and go home. 

“We were standing there ready to go at 12 o’clock and the power went,” he explained. 

Mr Dunne said the power wasn’t restored until about 6.15pm. While organisers tried to contact all of the teams to let them know the event was being postponed, some were already en route.

“There was a couple that were on the road, some up as far as Portlaoise,” he explained. He said some of those had travelled for two hours only to have to turn around and spend another two hours returning home. 

Macra’s competitions committee will now have to meet to organise a new date for the event which could be staged outside the county Mr Dunne is hopeful the event can stay in Laois. 

“Ideally it will. It is just whether we can get a date and a venue that will work for us,” he said.

Once a date and venue has been agreed, the teams will be informed and then Macra will put a notice out on social media, he said. 

“Ideally it will happen in the next three or four weeks in Laois,” he said. He described the incident as “very disappointing” but said there was nothing they could do. 

The Leinster Express contacted the ESB Networks on Monday morning for information in relation to the fault in Mountmellick. They confirmed there had been a fault in Mountmellick which has since been repaired but they didn’t elaborate on a cause. 

When asked about the post storm situation in the county, ESB Networks said: “All Storm Éowyn related outages in county Laois were restored by last Thursday(30th Jan).  A number of crews from Laois have been deployed to assist with restoration efforts in the worst impacted areas, additional ESB Networks crews remain in the locality.”