Bogmen still ready for Strike Action

Trade unions at Bord na Móna (Ireland's state-owned national peat company) have deferred plans for strike action after a meeting with the management this morning. All workers will now be balloted this Thursday on new proposals from the company.

A picket was placed on some of Bord na Móna's production sites early this morning, but the industrial action has now been lifted until the ballot is held on Thursday in Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

The workers at the Bord na Móna peat bogs in counties Offaly, Westmeath and Longford had already voted in favour of strike action three weeks ago.

The dispute concerns some proposed changes to the payment system for the company's staff who are mainly harvesting the peat that is burned in three ESB power stations in the Midlands.
Without regular supply from the nearby bogs, the Edenderry, Shannonbridge and Lanesborough power stations would run into difficulties and might have to shut down if the strike action lasts for a longer period of time.

Largest Irish Wind Farm planned in Co. Clare

Plans have been announced today for the construction of the country's largest community wind farm. It will be developed on Mount Callan in Co. Clare, in the West of Ireland.

The project represents an investment of € 200 million and will be capable to meet the energy needs of all of Co. Clare and half of Co. Limerick.

Thirty local farming families will have the biggest shareholding in the new company - West Clare Renewable Energy - which is developing the project.

They collectively own more than 3000 acres of mostly elevated land on Mount Callan, located between Ennis and Miltown Malbay. There they plan to construct 30 wind turbines with a production capacity of three megawatt.

300 new jobs are expected to be created during the two-and-a-half year construction phase.

Efforts to develop a wind farm in the Mount Callan area have been ongoing for over 15 years, but they had not been successful. Only the combined input of so many local families has made the project now feasible.

Landowner John Talty says that the community wind farm is designed to "create long-term sustainable employment, reverse depopulation in the area, and help struggling farmers secure an alternative form of income".
The project also meets the government's plans to invest in cleaner energy sources.

One can only welcome such a brilliant project with open arms, applaud the entrepreneurial and community spirit of the people in Co. Clare and wish them success and the best of luck.
Hopefully more Irish farmers in different areas - in particular on the west coast - will take note of West Clare Renewable Energy and organise similar projects for their communities.

Only three weeks ago the Spirit of Ireland group has presented their magnificent ideas how Ireland could become energy-independent and even an energy exporter within a few years. (see my entry of May 8th)
There is no shortage of wind and water here, and if we can use them to produce electricity, solve our own energy problems and then become truly wealthy by supplying electricity to continental Europe, let's get on with it and do it.

The Emerald Islander

Seven Anti-Shell Protesters arrested in Glengad

Seven local men, aged from late teens to mid-forties, have been arrested by Gardaí during an organised protest at the heavily fortified Shell compound in Glengad, Co. Mayo yesterday (photo left).

They were taken to the nearby Garda Station at Ballina and kept there overnight. Today it was announced that they all have been charged with a number of "public order offences" and will appear before a Judge at the local District Court on Wednesday.

The campaign group Shell to Sea, which is opposing the Corrib Offshore Pipeline for more than seven years, had planned to dismantle some of the metal fencing (photo right) surrounding the Shell compound, which they claim was erected illegally in recent weeks.

In Erris, Co. Mayo, local activists of the group had in fact declared May 9th, 2009 a "National Day of Action" and sent out a call for supporters to come and join them at 6 pm outside the occupation forces' HQ compound at Glengad. Many came and formed a large protest and support group, while some individuals attempted to work on the metal barrier, which they want to see removed.

Demonstrators criticised the strong Garda (police) presence around Glengad, which was sent there in support of the 'Blue & Limes', hired thugs Shell employs at the compound as private 'security guards'.

Garda Inspector John Ferris declared that the amount of policemen he had been allocated was chosen "on the basis of the threat posed by the demonstrators".

This has been the rolling argument of the government and the Garda Síochána (Ireland's police) ever since the local residents began their protest more than seven years ago.
But the vast majority of the protesters are peaceful and have no intention to escalate the situation. Many of them are elderly and middle-aged people who have lived and worked in the area all their lives.
Occasionally there has been some direct action by activists, but none of it would justify the exceptionally large Garda presence. (At times the government has even despatched two of the eight patrol vessels of the Irish Naval Service to the area, which is not only out of all proportion, but also a colossal waste of money. Our Naval Service is a very small force and over-stretched with its normal duties already.)

Meanwhile Shell EP Ireland said that "all necessary consents have been given for the laying of the Corrib Offshore Pipeline in 2009, including the associated works around Glengad".

But local residents, most of which are active members of the Shell to Sea movement, dispute this vigorously.

Shell to Sea spokesman Terence Conway says that yesterday's demonstration was peaceful and "about sending a message to the government, highlighting the local community's opposition to the dangerous pipeline coming ashore".

As neither Shell nor the Irish government are showing any signs of understanding or willingness to compromise, the protest of the Shell to Sea movement will continue. Local residents have pointed out repeatedly that for them this is - literally - "a matter of life or death" and that they will not back down.

The Emerald Islander

The Answer is blowing in the Wind

For centuries Ireland was a poor and backward country, left quite deliberately undeveloped as a purely agrarian nation by its English masters. After we achieved home rule and established the 'Free State', our resources were scarce and development of infrastructure and industry was an extremely slow process. (And this process is still ongoing.)

When Ireland joined the EU (then called EEC) in 1973, we were regarded as the least developed country in the union (of then nine members), and thus we qualified for enormous payments from the European Development Fund (EDF).
Over the years billions were flowing into Ireland, donated by our European partners, to help us with our domestic development. Without these financial donations the Republic of Ireland would most likely still be a country of small farmers and widespread poverty, with bad roads, donkey carts, appalling communication systems and massive emigration of the brightest and best who could not find suitable jobs in their own country. To put it bluntly: Ireland would still be very much like it is portrayed in John Ford's famous film 'The Quiet Man' (starring John Wayne in the title role).

But, as we all know, Ireland has changed a lot since this film was produced in Co. Mayo in 1952. In fact it has changed beyond recognition, even to a point that some people think we have gone too far down the road of modernisation. However, despite all the breath-taking development over more than three decades, there are still many things not right in Ireland.
Much of this has to do with factors we cannot change, such as our location, our geology, our size, and the size of our population (less than 4 million people, not counting recent immigrants from all over the world).

Apart from peat and some natural gas off the West coast (which our feckless, careless and totally incompetent government has given away as a present to Shell, with not a penny in return), we have almost no natural resources, ores or minerals.
We currently import 98% of our energy, and the prices charged for energy in the Republic of Ireland are now the highest in Europe.

The country is still dominated by agriculture, and our economy is totally dependent on exports. More than 80% of what we produce here - predominantly food and other agricultural products, and more recently also computers, software and technology - are exported, while we still import most of the consumer goods for our own needs.
For decades successive Irish governments (of various political parties) have spent vast sums of taxpayers' money to attract foreign investments - mostly from the USA - into the country, and thus we are now completely dependent on the grace and good will of the Americans.

In economical terms we are not an independent country at all (and probably never were), and despite our nominal sovereignty as a republic and our membership of the EU, we are de facto more the 51st state of the USA than anything else.

This is not a healthy condition, and if we have not noticed it that much in the past, we are certainly feeling it now, as Ireland is not only suffering from the fall-out of the big global financial crisis, but also from an even more serious domestic recession, which is a direct result of colossal mismanagement by our government, our banks and parts of our own economy (in particular the construction industry and so-called 'property developers').

If we do not find a solution for this massive crisis, which is by far the most serious challenge to Ireland's existence in economical as well as in political terms since the foundation of the state, we will find ourselves soon as a poor third-world country, controlled by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and with no more say in our own affairs, domestic or otherwise.
Which ever party (or parties) would be in government then would be of little consequence, as the Taoiseach and his ministers would be reduced to the value of glove puppets. And the members of both Dáil and Seanad would be not more than over-paid and functionless bystanders.

If that is what we desire, then all we have to do is to sit back and watch how Fianna Fáil and the Green Party destroy the little that is left of our national wealth, economy and independence.

But, we don't have to go down that road of collective self-destruction, if we use our brains and skills, and have the courage to take a big step forward into the future.

We are fortunate to have still a large number of bright and well-educated people in Ireland, and also highly intelligent and skilled foreigners who live and work here.
Some of them, from different backgrounds, but all with plenty of ideas and experience, came together about six months ago and formed a private initiative. Quite fittingly they called their group Spirit of Ireland, and the plan they have developed since and presented to the Irish nation yesterday is brilliant, fascinating, breath-taking and - most importantly - absolutely realistic and feasible.

The team includes very experienced engineers, academics, architects, geologists, construction experts and consultants, as well as legal and finance professionals. They have worked intensively - and completely free of charge - on the initial design and costing of hydro-storage reservoirs, wind farms and the power networks necessary to connect them to the National Grid.

According to Spirit of Ireland the solution to our current economic crisis may lie in harnessing Ireland’s huge and constant wind energy potential. Or, to say it with the words of Bob Dylan, who gave one of his amazing live performances in Dublin on Tuesday: The Answer is blowing in the Wind.

The first phase of the suggested project promises energy independence for Ireland within five years, with a € 10 billion boost for our economy.
The second phase would see energy exports from Ireland to Europe, creating additional revenue in the range of € 3-5 billion per annum (in years six, seven and eight) and up to € 50 billion over the following ten years.

If you think this is just theory or science fiction, then wake up, realise that we live in the 21st century, and think again. All the details of this plan have been worked out thoroughly, and they have been tested and costed. This is not some pipe dream. This is reality, ready to happen, if the government and the people of Ireland want it.

The proposal is based on using natural coastal valleys to provide hydro-storage reservoirs. Wind farms would be built and used to pump sea water into these reservoirs, and the stored water can then be passed through turbines, generating massive amounts of electricity.

As well as producing excess energy for export, the project would also create many new jobs in Ireland and cut our carbon dioxide emissions significantly.

A similar model has been adopted successfully in Japan, and senior executives and engineers visiting from Japan confirmed the validity of this approach for Ireland.

To achieve energy independence and save € 15 billion in fossil fuel imports over five years, only two hydro-storage reservoirs (at a cost of € 800 million each) would be required. Wind farms - already existent ones as well as newly created installations - would then be connected to the reservoirs.
Speaking on the Today programme with Pat Kenny on RTÉ Radio 1 yesterday, the group's initiator Graham O’Donnell explained that the project could start "very soon", since "all the conditions are right". He also said that no new technology is needed and materials and machines required to make it happen are "available in Ireland, off the shelf".

And Mr. O’Donnell knows a few things about energy and how to create it. He is an electrical and electronics engineer with more than 20 years experience in the control and communications area of international power networks. During his career he worked on project management of water, gas and energy facilities in Ireland, Europe and Asia, before founding his own company, which specialised in control of power networks and high voltage substations, in 1988. It was responsible for the design of 400kv grid synchronisation equipment for National Grid UK, remote substation grid control for Scottish Power, and other large power utilities in the UK.
Graham O’Donnell also developed power network control systems in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

His principal partner in developing the new idea is Prof. Igor Shvets (left), one of Ireland's most eminent and innovative modern physicists. Originally from the Ukraine, Professor Shvets works at Trinity College in Dublin since 1990, teaching science and engineering students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
He leads the Energy Group within the School of Physics and has also established the Cleaner Energy Laboratory of Trinity College; he regularly publishes papers in the world’s leading journals for Applied Physics, and in addition, Igor Shvets is probably Ireland’s most prolific inventor with over 50 patents and patent applications to his name.

However, the key inspiration for the new energy project came to him not in a laboratory, but in his spare time. Professor Shvets likes to keep fit and does a lot of walking, especially hill walking, around the country.
And while out on his walks, he noticed that many of our hills and valleys - created during the last Ice Age - are "perfectly shaped", as he explained to Pat Kenny. This makes them most suitable for the creation of hydro-storage reservoirs.

Meanwhile Prof. Shvets and his team have identified "about 50 suitable locations in Ireland", mostly in the West, but to make it all work and economically successful only two are needed.
It was mentioned that, at a later stage, more hydro-storage reservoirs could be built to increase the production of energy for export, but that would be far down the lane.

Spirit of Ireland proposes to establish a public company in the form of a national energy co-operative, in which anyone (including very small investors) could buy shares.
This business model would give the people of Ireland real and direct ownership of the project and thus create a true national treasure.

As we all know, there is never a shortage of wind in Ireland, and we are surrounded by plenty of water. Using these natural resources to our benefit would create proper and continuous wealth, and it could be the key to achieve at long last our economic independence, to go hand in glove with our political sovereignty.

Over the past ten to fifteen years we were told of a mythical creature called the 'Celtic Tiger', which would make us all rich beyond imagination. No-one I know ever saw this 'tiger', and only a few people benefited from the hype people created around him.
We now know that it was all an artificial bubble, mostly based on over-inflated and unsustainable property deals, financed with immense sums of borrowed money. And as a result of this we find ourselves close to the edge of the abyss, just a few steps away from long-term poverty, hardship and damnation. On top of that we are also becoming ever more the laughing stock of the 'global village'.
The pot of gold that greedy 'property developers' and criminal bankers apparently found was only fool's gold, and the 'rainbow' they followed was not more than a strip of coloured paper.

We should learn our lessons from this, step away from gangsters and charlatans (and from the stupid and incompetent politicians who supported them and made their deeds possible) and turn to our oldest and closest friend and ally - Nature - to build the new Ireland.

The Spirit of Ireland group is showing us the way and is willing and able to lead us into a future with new hope, new jobs, 'green' and cheap sustainable energy, technological innovation and eventually economic independence. Only a nation of complete fools and clinically insane people would reject such an offer.

Let us therefore embrace the Spirit of Ireland, as our ancestors have done it many times over the centuries. But this time let us make it last, let us produce clean energy and let it flow all over Europe, day and night, as steady as the wind blows over our green and beautiful island.

The Emerald Islander


P.S. - For more information about the group Spirit of Ireland and their proposals you should visit their interesting website at http://www.spiritofireland.org/

Irish Customers are fleeced by the ESB to finance new Power Plants in Britain

The Electricity Supply Board (ESB), the Republic of Ireland's largest producer and supplier of electricity, is "planning to expand its operations in the British energy market significantly, with a € 4 billion investment drive to build new power plants in the UK".

ESBI, the ESB's international arm, has "acquired an interest in a number of British power companies" and plans to build "over 3000 megawatts of gas-fired and renewable energy plants before the year 2020".

ESBI currently has operations and projects in more than 35 countries including the UK, and the ESB says this initiative will rank them "in the top ten energy companies in the British electricity market".

"The investment opportunity comes because of a projected shortfall in generating capacity in Britain over the next few years", an ESB statement says.
"ESB will build and operate a gas-fired power station near Manchester, which will generate electricity for 1 million homes by 2013, while another gas-fired station near Southampton will be operational by this time next year. ESB's plans in Britain also include wind-power projects."

I don't know about you, but I was very surprised - and almost stunned - when I read this. The ESB is an Irish company, originally established in the 1920s by the government to produce and provide the energy needed for this country, its development and industrialisation.

Until recently it has been a state company, concentrated on the needs of Ireland and our population and industry. That is how it should be.
Then - following the general trend in capitalist countries - Fianna Fáil part-privatised the ESB. Since then we have experienced several significant changes in their work and relationship with customers.

1) Prices for electricity in Ireland went up several times, without real need and explanations.

2) ESB closed its nation-wide network of shops, thus cutting off the normal way for a customer to contact the company and interact with it.

3) Most of the former shops' premises were sold to a large UK bank, at the height of the Irish property boom, for a massive profit.

4) So-called 'customer relations' are now reduced to contacts by telephone only. If a customer is lucky and skilled enough to get through the system of automated messages and electronic barriers, designed to minimise the number of calls, he is connected to a 'call centre', where predominantly young and very clueless 'operators' are trying to tell him that everything is in order, even if it is not.

5) Letters of complaint written to the ESB, even those addressed to senior management, are never answered.

6) ESB, now a commercial company and no longer a national service provider, is engaging more and more in other countries, while neglecting the Irish market.

7) Nevertheless it is predominantly the money created in Ireland that finances these foreign operations.

I did not know before that the ESB is now active in 35 foreign countries. And I did not know that all the money extracted from Irish customers at exorbitant rates is now going into the financing of the electricity supply of other countries. Did you?

As things stand, Ireland has one of the highest energy prices in the world, with ESB being at the top of the league table.
Whenever we are hit by another price hike for electricity - a utility which is now needed by everyone, so we have not really any choice - the ESB tells us that it is "because of the rising prices of oil, gas and coal on the international markets".

That is a lie. In fact the most barefaced and outrageous lie we have been given by an Irish company for a long time.
And it is about time to stand up to these liars and scoundrels and tell then what we think of them!

Fleecing the Irish public ever more drastically, in order to spend € 4 billion on new power stations in the UK - for the supply of British customers and the benefit of international share holders - is not acceptable in general, and especially not now, in a time of economic recession and financial crisis.
Not to mention the other 34 foreign countries, which have not been named. (I am trying to obtain a list, and if I get it, I will share the information with you here.)

We should not take this quietly, and begin to voice our protest.

Write letters to the chairman and CEO of the ESB!

Write to your TDs and to newspapers!

Talk with your TDs when you see them, and express your anger and disgust.

And use any other form of communication as well, to make your family, friends and neighbours aware of this scandal. They might not have heard of it yet.

The ESB was created by the Irish government, using taxpayers' money, to work for the Irish nation and provide us with enough electricity at affordable prices. Its purpose does not include to fill the gap in the energy market of our former colonial rulers, whose failure to plan properly for their own needs created a shortage of energy in Britain in the first place.

At a time when every single Euro and cent make a difference, we - the Irish nation - should not be robbed of € 4 billion, which then leave the country to help those who oppressed us for 750 years. No, I say, and once again - NO!!!

If you care for your country and the money in your pocket, then follow my example and make yourself heard. There is still time to stop the ESB from this blunder, but every day counts.

Éirinn go Brágh!

The Emerald Islander

Energy Prices may remain unchanged after all

Price increases for the supply with gas and electricity, which had been expected in January, are now unlikely to go ahead. This is - after all the bad and gloomy news of this week - at last a positive turn of events.

Following significant falls in fossil fuel prices on the world markets, the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) and Bord Gáis have said that the price increases they both have sought from the Commission for Energy Regulation "may now not be necessary".

Yesterday the price for oil has reached a three-year low of $ 48.25 a barrel. Which means that crude oil is now trading at levels not seen since May 2005, and it costs almost $ 100 a barrel less than in July, when the price peaked at $ 147.27 per barrel. (A 'barrel', the old-fashioned unit of measurement still used by the US-dominated oil industry, equals 159 litres.)

Because of the global recession, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says that world oil demand will rise at its slowest pace for 23 years this year.

The price of natural gas has meanwhile fallen by 60% from the peak it reached earlier this year.

Bord Gáis sought the Energy Regulator's permission to increase its prices by 4.2% only three weeks ago, which would have added about €3 a month to the average household bill. (see my entry of November 4th)
This application for a price rise is still pending with the Regulator, who can accept or reject it. In light of the drastic price reductions on the international energy markets Bord Gáis should now withdraw the application without further delay.

The Emerald Islander

Irish Gas Prices to rise even further

Bord Gáis, Ireland's largest supplier of natural gas, is looking for a further increase of 4.2% on their gas bills from next year on.

The proposed increase is in the firm's submission document published today by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER).

With the average domestic gas heating bill standing currently at € 910 per annum, the 4.2% increase would add another € 38 a year to the costs of home heating.

For small businesses Bord Gáis proposes a price increase of 2.8%.

The company was initially expected to ask for a rise of between 5% and 8%. However, while gas prices are still 50% higher than last year, they have fallen from recent record highs and Bord Gáis has taken the fall into account.

The company has said it will "continue to monitor gas prices in the coming weeks" and has stated that any continuing falls will be reflected in CER's final decision due out on December 1st.

These are all nice words from Bord Gáis, but the fact remains that our energy prices - already among the highest in the world - will rise even further. Every home heated with natural gas, which is by far more environmentally friendly than any other form of heating, will have to bear the brunt of the ever higher prices. In the current situation of economic recession and financial crisis this will be expecially hard for Irish families.

If the CER had even the slightest concerns for consumers, they would block this price rise, which comes on top of already two increases in gas prices this year. But the so-called 'Regulator' never does anything else but rubber-stamp more and more price hikes, for gas as well as electricity.
And both utilities are not something one can easily do without, which means that the consumers are trapped between an ever more greedy industry and a toothless 'Regulator'.

Would Bord Gáis be run and managed more efficiently, a lot of the money they want to raise now through these further price increases could be saved through ralitionalisation and better internal structuring. But that would be too much to expect from the formerly state-owned - and now partly privatised - Irish energy industry. They just muddle on as always, inefficient, arrogant and greedy, and take us - their customers - for granted.

Maybe it is time to have a mass demonstration of gas customers outside the Bord Gáis head office in Dublin, like we had several demonstrations of outraged citizens with other concerns recently outside the seat of our parliament at Leinster House.

The Emerald Islander

Another Company withdraws from Ireland

News of job losses, companies closing or foreign enterprises withdrawing from Ireland are now a daily occurrence. So some might not even follow those announcements with great attention, as a gloomy mood of apathy besets the nation, which is now officially in recession.

But it is very important to take notice of each piece of news - bad or good - so we can understand what is going on, where the economy is heading and what our political leaders are doing - or not doing - to stabilise the country and lead us into a prosperous and secure future.

Today another company announced that it will cease to work in Ireland. Enterprise Managed Services Ltd., which currently employ 200 people here and carried out maintenance on the network of Bord Gáis (Ireland's largest supplier of natural gas), has decided to leave the Irish market, putting more than 100 jobs at risk.
Negotiations are continuing in an attempt to ensure that some of the jobs are retained by a new contractor.

In a statement Bord Gáis said:

Enterprise Managed Services Ltd., the company contracted to carry out maintenance and development work on the Bord Gáis network in the eastern region, has confirmed that it has made a strategic decision to exit the Irish market. Consultation between Enterprise and trade unions has commenced with respect to Enterprise employees. The Bord Gáis maintenance contract will transfer to a new contractor on October 24th, 2008.
In the transition period, Bord Gáis and Enterprise will work closely together to ensure a smooth and effective transfer of operation and the continuous and safe supply of natural gas to customers.
Bord Gáis will continue to ensure that the natural gas network is operated and maintained to the highest international safety standards at all times and that customer service expectations will continue to be met.

When we are shown our Place in the World...

There is a widespread idea, especially among the followers of Christian religions, that the human race has been chosen to rule the world. After all, in Genesis - the first book of the Old Testament - 'God' is saying so to Adam. Well, we all have heard and read better stories meanwhile...

Nevertheless, there is this underlaying thought that we are the most superior of all the species on Earth, because we are (so far) the only one that developed certain physical, mental and intellectual skills and abilities that put us above the other animals. But ever so often Nature, the true ruler of this planet, shows us humans our actual weakness and puts us into our place.

I just had such an experience, which is still causing me some inconvenience and lots of problems. It is also the reason for my two weeks of absence from the internet and in particular from this weblog. Naturally, to access the internet one needs electricity.
During the past couple of weeks it actually came to me how much we - the human race in general and the inhabitants of the developed and industrialised world in particular - depend meanwhile totally on electricity for almost every element of our lives.

But let me explain: As I had mentioned here earlier, I had been away for some time. Not unusual during the summer, although for me it was, as I never have holidays and do not take time off like most people do.
My absence from home was for a good and creative reason, but while I was away, the extremely bad weather that has messed up the Irish 'summer' (as it did already last year) chose to turn on me as well. The rain, which was often torrential for hours and from time to time interspersed with hail and thunderstorms, caused the flooding of many houses here. Entire villages suffered severe floods, most of which came without any warning and built up within a very short span of time.

In my case it was - fortunately - not so serious, although the trouble I had (and still have to a certain extent) is bad enough. The massive rain found a way through the roof of my very small and very old house. Once it had done that, streams of water flowed freely around as much as it was architecturally possible, and when I came home from my assignment, I found the cottage not only water-logged and with a damaged roof, but the walls were wet, water covered the floor and in some places mold was beginning to spread. The smell was very strange, too, and it was in more than one way quite a shock for me.

I am not a rich man, and monetary wealth has never played a major role in my life. But since I am rather a 'home bird' who prefers sitting in front of the fire place with a book and a cup of tea to going out to a pub for a drink, the sudden unavailability of my modest comforts did effect me in various ways.
First of all there was a lot of physical work, naturally. The rooms had to be emptied, furniture had to be cleaned and dried, and the water that had entered the house had to be put out again.
Then I started the drying process for the building, by having a blazing fire for many hours each day in the open fire place (which is the only way of heating the house). Slowly but steadily there was some success visible. And by now - after two weeks of struggle - I am almost reaching the state of normality again.

Certain items were damaged beyond repair and further use, but those are only material losses. What turned out to be the much greater loss for me was the time I was forced to spend on the salvage and repair operation. Much of my work was left undone, I had to cancel appointments and meetings and pass on certain projects to a colleague.
The whole experience has shown me in a very personal way how small we humans are in the vast structure of the Universe; how helpless we are against the elements of Nature.

In a very particular way I realised how much I depend on the availability of electricity. Without it - and I had of course to switch off everything for days until the house was dry again, in order to avoid more trouble - there was very little left one could do. Yes, I could heat the cottage, as I still use wood and peat for that. And I could cook, as for that purpose I use bottled gas. So all was not completely lost and I was not entirely dependent on others.
But all my work these days is done with the help of computers. They, of course, need electricity and - in order to communicate and write the weblog - also the internet connection. And here the experience has taught me a very interesting and special lesson. By basing everything on systems that will not work without the 'invisible stuff that comes out of a socket in the wall' I am in fact no longer truly independent. I am - as so many millions of others - a slave of modernity and for all my professional progress totally dependent on electricity, a substance that is not only invisible to the eye, but also far removed from every individual in this country.

A friend of mine in Germany is in a quite different situation. He took advantage of a government grant some years ago and installed his own small wind turbine, which now produces more than enough electricity for his and his family's needs.
In fact, for most of the year the rotor in his garden produces a surplus of electricity, which he sells to the national grid of Germany's commercial electricity companies, and they pay him handsomely for this environmentally friendly contribution to energy security.
This is the way forward, making everyone not only aware of energy, but involving thousands of individual citizens in the production of the national energy. It is a win-win situation with no-one losing out or being ripped off.

Here in Ireland things are not that progressive. In fact, when it comes to energy policy, we are still in the Dark Ages. Due to an incompetent and widely uncaring government, private energy projects - as they are meanwhile quite common in Germany, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and a number of other European countries - are non-existent. Instead we - the people of Ireland - are still completely dependent on the old ESB (Electricity Supply Board), a once entirely state-controlled body which has meanwhile undergone some changes and part-privatisation. But this has not improved the situation. Quite the opposite. Since there are private interests involved now, the greed of the company has risen to new heights, while the traditional incompetence and lack of management skills are still the most significant hallmark of the ESB.

The cost for electricity in Ireland has just gone up by 17.5% in one step, with a further rise already announced for January. Ireland has not only one of the highest energy prices in the world, it has also one of the most rigid and inflexible systems. Thus millions of citizens are in the constant stranglehold of the energy companies, whose existence alone is already a license to print money. (Not to mention that our incompetent government has given away Ireland's only reserves of natural gas practically for free to the international giant Shell...)

What we need is a complete rethinking and restructuring of the energy supply system. Individual citizens should not only be allowed, but encouraged to contribute to the national grid (as they do very successfully on the continent). And the monopoly of greedy city slickers who do not give a damn for their customers needs to be broken.

I have no problem with the state controlling the supply of electricity. This is better than leaving the matter to the squabbeling of the market place. But it also includes a general responsibility a state and government has for the population as a whole.
If necessary, then the price for electricity - at least for a certain amount that is needed by people to survive and conduct basic domestic operations - will have to be subsidised by the government as a matter of social care. As long as we are not able to create our own electricity - which would be the preferred option for me - we should not be held over a barrel by the energy companies and ripped off left, right and centre as they please.

Fortunately my little house was not destroyed and will remain inhabitable. But the unpleasant experience of the past two weeks has made me think even more deeply and be even more determined to live an alternative and sustainable lifestyle.

The Emerald Islander

Reflections on the Weekend...

Having been away once more and thus unable to post entries on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, let me reflect briefly on the events that caught my attention and need a few words of comment.

Unbelievable Rise of Gas Prices

After the Electrical Supply Board (ESB), Ireland's largest supplier of electricity, announced a rise of consumer prices by 17.5% for August (see my entry from July 22nd), households and small businesses are now also facing a 20% increase in gas prices this autumn.
The 'Energy Regulator' has given the country's largest gas company Bord Gáis permission to increase their prices by one fifth from September 1st. Together with the rise of electricity prices this is an unbelievable act of daylight robbery, committed against a large number of Irish people and sanctioned quite happily by the government agency that is supposed to control the industry.

The Commission for Energy Regulation, as it is officially called, has also warned that a further increase of energy prices will be needed in January 2009, due to the sharp rise in gas prices on international markets over the past year. The regulator says that Ireland imports 90% of its gas from the UK, where the wholesale price has almost doubled in the past twelve months. The two price rises are apparently "an attempt to cushion the immediate consequences for customers".

How cynical is such a statement, at a time when prices for almost everything are spinning out of control and large companies squeeze consumers more and more, while incomes for ordinary working people are not rising in equal measure and many people are losing their jobs due to the onset of recession in Ireland.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul says it is "very concerned at the price increase, which will impact hardest on the most vulnerable". As usual the poorest are ripped off by large and weathy companies, whose profits have risen steadily and are passed on to their shareholders, many of which are not Irish.
The society expressed the hope that Bord Gáis will not include the Standing Charge in their price increase. It also called on the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Mary Hanafin, to tackle the issue of fuel poverty among those depending on social welfare payments.

Meanwhile Age Action has called on the government and the energy providers to "take steps to ensure that vulnerable older people are protected from rising fuel costs".
"This increase along with the recent increases in the cost of oil and electricity leaves many older people praying for a mild winter. They know if the winter is hash they will suffer", said Eamon Timmins of Age Action.

As things stand now, it is time for the government to consider active price controls for energy as well as the most basic and common food items. Otherwise we are running the risk to create in a very short time a large class of poverty-stricken people who are no longer able to afford the most basic items needed to survive and live a decent life. Apart from immense hardship this would cause for many, it would also inevitably lead to a rise in crime and disorder and all gains we have made during the 'Celtic Tiger' boom could disappear into thin air in a very short time.

The annual Climbing of Croagh Patrick

Yesterday, on Reek Sunday - the last Sunday in July - more than 25,000 Catholic pilgrims assembled in County Mayo for the annual mass climbing of Croagh Patrick, Ireland's 'holy mountain', which is situated 8 km from Westport.
Despite the drastic decline of the Catholic Church in Ireland, this traditional spectacle, which has its origins in the dark ages, still attracts large numbers of believers, and a good number of them climb the 764 metre high rocky mountain barefoot "to atone for their sins".

Under the leadership of the Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, Michael Neary, eleven Masses were celebrated on the mountain during the day, and hundreds of members of ambulance corps and mountain rescue teams were in attendance to look after people who suffered from exhaustion or injured themselves on the climb.
Thanks to their efforts there have not been any deaths for some years during the event, but in the past numerous people died during the irresponsible religious mass hysteria.

Irishman sentenced in Greece for starting a Brush Fire

Meanwhile a court on the Greek island of Crete has sentenced a 20-year-old Irishman to a suspended sentence of three months in prison for starting a fire by negligence.

The unnamed Irish tourist burned 500 square miles of brush and olive trees in Hersonissos, in the east of the island, on Friday by setting dry brush alight, the local fire department said. He was arrested by firemen soon afterwards.

Hundreds of fires have broken out in Greece this summer, many of them due to negligence and assisted by dry weather conditions. And often tourists, who don't know the country and have no understanding of the local conditions who are responsible.

Last year devastating forest fires left 77 people dead and burned 270,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land in Greece.

The Emerald Islander

Home is where the Hearth is

It has been a very cold day in Ireland today, and even here - in the "sunny" South-East - the temperature stayed at 1°C all day. In the afternoon even some snowflakes were spotted, and in the Midlands there were reports of some more serious snowfall. This is quite unusual weather for this country, especially in March. But as most of us must know by know: the world's climate is changing and this does not always mean global warming.

The fire in the hearth has been burning since the early morning, and despite its best efforts to heat my little old cottage, it still feels quite cold in some of the rooms. So I took some advice from a nice magnet (pictured below) that sticks to my refrigerator and spent most of the day with my laptop in front of the fireplace. And I did indeed feel the truth of the old saying: Home is where the hearth is.

Magnet Design & Copyright by Mayfield Communications

The unexpected cold spell has brought home - literally - a problem familiar to most people: Here in Ireland about 95% of all existing houses are not properly insulated. So no matter how much I put on the blazing fire, a significant proportion of the heat is lost because the walls and roof of my house are more than 100 years old and were built when no one thought or even knew of the fine art of energy conservation.
Cottages, meant to accommodate the working underclass, were built cheaply and fast, and many a clever builder made a few extra shillings by cutting corners on the quality of walls, foundations or other parts he could get away with. Even though the house has meanwhile been modified and modernised several times, it is still an old building without proper insulation.

The vast majority of people in Ireland live under similar conditions, and even most of the new houses, built during the "Celtic Tiger" boom, lack the environmentally friendly energy-saving devices which are by now common standard - at least for new buildings - in most countries on the European continent. Once again Ireland seems to trail far behind the rest of Europe, even though we are now fully aware of climate change, carbon footprints and energy saving.

In many of the other EU countries the government provides generous grants to people who are willing to put modern insulation and other energy-saving measures into old houses, and people take it upon themselves to improve their buildings and save energy and the environment at the same time. But no such programme exists here in Ireland. While the government, and in particular Fianna Fáil, is happy to see more and more new houses built in a very short time, no one gives a thought to energy conservation.

Not even the fact that the Green Party is now a coalition partner of FF in the government has done much in this direction. Neither John Gormley, their party leader and Minister for the Environment (who seems to be obsessed with energy-saving light bulbs), nor Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Energy and Natural Resources, have yet come up with an attractive grant scheme that would encourage the owners of old houses to properly insulate them.

Forget the changing of light bulbs and grand new energy schemes that won't be effective for many years! Help us to save energy on a wider scale by insulating our houses in the way our European neighbours on the continent can do it already. The energy savings would be massive, we all would benefit from it greatly, and the environment in Ireland would become cleaner and a lot more pleasant. Home is where the hearth is, and if our hearths can warm our houses more efficiently, we all have better homes and a better life.

The Emerald Islander

Power tends to corrupt

As so often in Ireland the bad weather lasted only one day. When I went out this morning for my usual round of Jogging it was not only calm and dry, there was actually bright sunshine and a clear blue sky with not a single cloud to see. Such is always a joyful experience and makes my morning exercise even more successful.

However, there hangs a cloud of thought over this part of the world, which results from an event that made the news yesterday and continues to be discussed on the British airwaves.
On one of the coldest and most miserable days of the year, one of the largest suppliers of energy in Britain, called N-Power (these days large companies have ever more anonymous and meaningless names), announced an increase in consumer prices for electricity and gas of more than 17% on average (and up to 27% in certain areas).
This came only a few days after Britain's railway companies (all private now, after the last Conservative government broke up the well-functioning national railway group British Rail and fragmented it in the most ridiculous and shambolic way) raised the prices for their tickets by 4.8% on average (and up to 8.7% for certain fares).

Consumer groups have issued statements of protest, there are interviews on the BBC, and a couple of politicians did raise the question of need, fairness and even legality. But this is as far as such things go. No one, and certainly not the British government (always the capitalists' best friend), will stop N-Power from charging ordinary British consumers until they bleed dry. For large industrial customers there are of course the so-called "heavy user tariffs", which means that those who use a lot of energy are getting it cheap, while those who use a normal or small amount are massively overcharged for it.
This happens despite a growing general awareness of global warming, carbon footprints and energy misuse. And despite a clear statement of Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown that the UK would be reducing the amount of energy used, in order to make a real contribution to save the planet.

Well, maybe this is what is really behind the announcement. People are beginning to understand the environment and save energy, so big utility companies like N-Power (which is, by the way, now owned by the large German energy group RWE) make less money from selling energy. And to compensate for the losses by volume they are now raising the prices per unit.
There is absolute no proper reason or justification for such a drastic increase in energy prices, several times the rate of inflation! But who is going to stop it? These days all British utility companies are completely privatised and care a lot more for their share holders and directors than for customers. They are like the industry's private herd of cows, to be milked as much and as often as it pleases the bosses. Ordinary people have no rights, and no ways to avoid this shameless exploitation of truly Victorian dimensions.

We all need electricity, as it is practically impossible to live and function without it. So the likes of N-Power have consumers over a barrel, in particular as no politician or regulator will come to their aid. All people can do is pay and pay, and should they run out of money, the energy companies will disconnect them and - to add insult to injury - even charge a hefty extra fee for doing that!

Here in Ireland things are not much better, and the price for electricity rises and rises just as our main national supplier ESB (still partly controlled by the government, but partly in private hands now as well) pleases. Subsequently Ireland has one of the highest energy prices in Europe, which makes life for ordinary people increasingly difficult and has even already some negative influence on the growth of our national economy.

What kind of world have we created for us and our children? Is this really how we want to live in the 21st century?! Handing the control over our lives to governments, police, intelligence services and greedy private utility companies? Where are our Human and Civil Rights? And where is the Common Sense that is supposed to guide society?

Lord Acton, the great British historian and author of many well-known quotations, would be livid if he were still alive. Yesterday, when I heard of the shameless greed of N-Power, I thought immediately of one of his most famous statements, which he made 120 years ago in a letter to Bishop Creighton. It is so fitting that it could be the motto of the privatised energy industry, and especially of N-Power.
"Power tends to corrupt," Lord Acton wrote, "and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

With this I rest my case, and remain for today

The Emerald Islander