Some 53 years after the first village in Ireland (Oldtown, Co Dublin) received electricity, power has been supplied to two tiny islands in Clew Bay, Co Mayo.
The Minister of State for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Mr Eamon O Cuiv, threw the switch which sent power into homes on Inishlyre Island, which has six residents, and Inishgort, which has just a single inhabitant.
The sole inhabitant of Inishgort Island, Mr Sean Jeffers, a single man in his 60s, predicted that the new source of energy would make a great difference in his life. "I will now have heating at the touch of a switch," he said.
Until now, Mr Jeffers has had to depend on a generator for power and, before that, gas heaters. He hopes the availability of electricity will encourage other people to live on the island. "It would be great to have company," he said.
The six inhabitants of nearby Inishlyre were also jubilant that they had been connected. "It was most inconvenient having to haul fuel out from the mainland," Mr Joachim Kelly said. "It was also very costly."
However, he emphasised that the problems faced by the residents of Inishlyre had not been totally solved. He explained: "We still have no piers on the island, which makes landing at low water extremely dangerous and difficult. We badly need a landing slipway."
The total bill for connecting Inishlyre and Inishgort to the mainland electricity network was £110,00 but Mr O Cuiv said the outlay was well worth it.
"We are making huge progress in our bid to provide a better way of life for all islanders," he said.
Already, eight islands in four counties have been connected to the ESB network. In the coming years, a further six in four counties will receive power via underwater cabling.
Yesterday Mr O Cuiv also officially opened an access road to Inniscuttle Island (pop. 4) in Clew Bay via Inishnakillew Island. The road cost £200,000 and is expected to provide an incentive for families to move on to Inniscuttle.