Storm Kills Downpatrick Company Director

A weekend storm that battered the east coast of Northern Ireland left a woman motorist dead in its wake.

Mairead Teresa Shields, 35, from Raholp, near Downpatrick was killed in Co Down after a tree blown down by strong winds struck her car. Mairead was a director in her family business BJ Caraher in Downpatrick, a global plumbing materials distributor.

Dozens of roads across the country were blocked on Saturday due to fallen trees as the police warned motorists not to travel unless absolutely necessary and also urged them to be mindful of ice, snow, and debris on the roads

The tragic incident happened on Strangford Road in Downpatrick at 4pm on Saturday.

The victim died as the severe storms were causing travel chaos and bringing down power lines which left around 40,000 homes across NI without power.

However, the vast majority of homes left without electricity following Saturday's storm have since had their power restored, Northern Ireland Electricity said yesterday.

In fact, the majority of the premises affected by the gales had power restored again on Saturday night, with NIE linesmen and engineers working late into the night.

On Sunday - while NIE field staff were still repairing broken lines in order to restore power to an estimated 400 homes in the eastern part of Northern Ireland - by yesterday evening, most homes were back on-line.

About 400 NIE staff were involved in the mobilisation to repair faults with the areas worst affected by the weather being Craigavon, Downpatrick, Bangor and east Antrim.

A spokesperson from NIE said they would continue to monitor the poor weather.

(BMcC/JM)