Virgin Media outage hits broadband network across Ireland

Company says it is working ‘flat out’ to resolve widespread issues with internet service

The cause, or how long it will take to remedy, is not yet clear. Photograph: iStock
The cause, or how long it will take to remedy, is not yet clear. Photograph: iStock

Virgin Media has said it is working "flat out" to resolve problems with its broadband service that hit the network on Monday evening.

The service is being cut out for short periods of time on an ongoing basis across the national network. Similar problems are being experienced by users in the UK.

The cause, or how long it will take to remedy, is not yet clear.

In a statement on Monday, the company said it was now investigating the issue which “is seeing broadband connectivity interrupted for a very short period of time before being restored”.

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“Our teams are urgently looking into the problem and will work flat out to fix it. We know how frustrating this is for customers and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

The service interruptions have unsurprisingly drawn ire on social media, particularly given the reliance on broadband during Covid-19 lockdown restrictions and the increased number of people working from home.

Much of the online commentary was directed at just how widespread the interruptions appear to be.

“The entirety of Virgin Media UK and Ireland going down thrice in one day is wild,” said one tweet.

Another noted the internet service was “up and down like a yo yo here in Northern Ireland. Any idea when the issue will be fixed please?”

In the UK, there were media reports that the company had initially said it had fixed the fault.

Mark Hilliard

Mark Hilliard

Mark Hilliard is a reporter with The Irish Times