Editors letter

Hello and Welcome
to the November issue of EM.

This month we travel to Cork to attend double celebrations for our Power Generation business line. Earlier, we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Lee Stations and amid brilliant sunshine, we joined many past and current staff to celebrate a long life in the history of ESB in Inniscarra and the surrounding area. It was wonderful that so many spouses of deceased former staff could attend and celebrate the memory and work of their loved ones. It was nice to meet old colleagues from the Hydro group within ESB Power Generation from around the country, who had many connections with Lee stations.

Cork always gives a wonderful welcome to visitors and there was a great fáilte at Lee Station, which is nestled in the picturesque Lee Valley and surrounded by beautifully landscaped, tended flower beds and walkway areas. When you visit the station, the first glimpse you get, as you round a bend on the road, appears to be a waterfall tumbling in the distance. The 'waterfall' is of course the spillway tumbling down and you would be excused for thinking you were entering an area of outstanding natural beauty instead of a power station (which many Lee staff would surely argue it is).

Leaving 50 years of history behind us, with the plant still operating efficiently to this day, we travelled to Aghada in east Cork to celebrate the future. The turning of the 'first sod' for the new station at Aghada took place on Friday, October 12th. So it was a great double celebration for ESB power generation in Cork who, within a month, could 'acknowledge the past and embrace the future', which was actually the theme of our 75th Anniversary celebrations five years ago. The year 2007 marks the 80th Anniversary of ESB.

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,
I write on behalf of the community here at the Avila Carmelite Centre to thank your staff for the prompt and efficient response we received when we lost one phase of our electrical supply on September 12th. As it was our first experience of losing one phase, we were a bit mystified as to why there was light and power in some sections of the centre and not in others.

When I phoned ESB Networks at 11pm the lady who answered could not have been more helpful. She explained that the problem was likely to be that one phase of the system had gone and she booked a call with a repair crew. Within less than an hour the crew arrived. When they established that the cable had been damaged, they put our supply on one phase overnight. As we had a group of older people staying, this was very valuable in that it gave us light and some power. Unfortunately, I did not get the name of either of the repair men, but they too were most helpful.

On the following day John Harkin and a crew called to repair the cable. As we needed our supply until lunch time, he kindly agreed to delay the repairs until the early afternoon. Mr Harkin and the crew returned at lunch time as agreed and within little over an hour we had power restored. As a number of pieces of equipment were not functioning due to the breakdown, Mr Harkin went to quite a bit of trouble to get them up and running again.

At a time when we are quick to criticise, I think it is important to acknowledge good service. The service we got was first class and for that we would like to express our gratitude to all of your staff who helped resolve the problem.

Yours sincerely,
Fr. Michael McGoldrick, OCD
pp Avila Carmelite Centre.