Longford County Council affected by global Microsoft outage

Longford County Council has been affected by a major global Microsoft 365 outage which has disrupted email services and other online platforms around the world.

The local authority issued a service update this morning, Friday November 13, confirming that its email services were temporarily unavailable due to the disruption.

In a notice to the public, the council said, “Longford County Council is currently experiencing disruption to its email services due to a global Microsoft outage. Our email services are temporarily unavailable, but our phone lines remain fully operational and you can continue to contact us by phone. For general enquires, call Customer Services 043 334 33 00”

The worldwide disruption began on Thursday and affected Microsoft's 365 suite of services, including Outlook, Teams, Copilot and SharePoint.

Hundreds of thousands of users across multiple countries reported difficulties accessing their emails, with some unable to send or receive messages or access their inboxes.

Microsoft, who said it has been encountering problems with some servers while attempting to restore affected services, also said it had no indication that the outage was the result of a cyberattack.

The company reported that some servers had become unresponsive again when traffic was redirected to them, while recovery efforts were continuing across affected regions.

The disruption highlights the widespread reliance on Microsoft's cloud-based services, with businesses, public bodies and government agencies among those affected.

Longford County Council has advised members of the public that its telephone lines remain operational.

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