Tag Archives: ESB

Limerick City and County Council has been informed by the ESB of plans for further significant releases of water from Parteen Weir. The volume of water planned for release is at a level which is likely to cause flooding of roads and could also potentially affect property in flood-prone locations, according to the council. The areas most at risk of experiencing flooding are Montpelier, Castleconnell and the Mountshannon Road, Lisnagry. The local authority is liaising with householders in these areas that were affected by the 2009 flood and is putting additional measures in place to help alleviate the effects of flooding. At this time, there is no expectation of flooding in Limerick City but the council is monitoring the situation on an ongoing basis. The council is advising property owners in flood-prone locations, and motorists, to exercise vigilance over the coming days. The Council is also calling on property owners and landowners to ensure that drains and gullies on their property …

The National Co-ordination Group for Severe Weather Emergencies has met to assess the current weather forecast and flood threats. The group will meet again shortly to review the situation. Met Éireann has issued a series of severe weather warnings for the weekend. Extremely heavy and prolonged rainfall is forecast for West, Mid-West and North West regions on Friday night and all through Saturday. Met Éireann has issued a number of severe weather warnings for the weekend. A RED rainfall warning has been issued for Connacht, Donegal, Clare and Kerry, with accumulations in excess of 70mm expected (valid Friday from 6pm until Sunday at 3am. These levels of rainfall are expected to give rise to local flooding, possibly severe, in some areas and which may block roads and affect transport infrastructure. A level ORANGE rainfall warning is in operation for Cavan, Clare, Cork and Limerick (valid Friday from 9pm until Sunday at 3am), and high winds are expected across the country with a level ORANGE wind warning is in operation for Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and …

Clare County Council’s opposition to the proposed Lough Derg water abstraction project may be drowned by the huge waves of support from vested interests in the east of the country, local councillors have claimed. Councillors have warned that the lack of professional, technical and engineering support for their objections makes it harder to fight the huge volume of submissions supporting the planned abstraction of over 330 million litres of water daily from Lough Derg, to supply the greater Dublin region. Local councillors expressed trenchant opposition to Irish Water’s plans to take water from the lake at a special briefing session for the Killaloe Municipal District. Councillor Pat Hayes lamented the fact there is “no one to fight for our side” and noted the former North Tipperary Council still had not made a submission after entering into an agreement with the previous promoters of this project, Dublin City Council, to get financial assistance for an independent assessment of the plans. Claiming …

The ESB it is to recruit 300 apprentices over the next five years, as part of a large scale development programme. The company has a long history of involvement in offering apprenticeships resulting in qualifications mainly in electrical and mechanical trades. The announcement took place at the ESB Networks Training Centre in Portlaoise, where network technician apprentices complete 23 weeks of training during their four-year electrical apprenticeship. This is in addition to 42 weeks spent in Solas and the IT colleges, and significant on-the-job training segments. There has traditionally been keen interest in the apprenticeship programme, which is open to candidates who have successfully completed their Junior certificate. This recruitment of apprentices will help fill a skills gap predicted in ESB and the energy sector over the coming years. Speaking at the announcement, ESB chief executive, Pat O’Doherty said, “We want to continue to renew and develop this workforce, for our company and our economy. I am very pleased to …

County Clare remains on alert for high winds following a night of bad conditions across the county. Met Éireann says it’s status orange wind warning remains in place, while Clare County Council has urged residents in coastal areas to remain vigilant. There have been no reports of damage but the ESB is dealing with a power outage in the Ennistymon area, which should be restored by 1pm

Homes and businesses in Clare are set to benefit as a result of a joint ESB and Vodafone venture to upgrade broadband facilities across the country. The  €450 million investment will benefit 50 towns, among them Ennis and Shannon. ESB and Vodafone are to invest €450 million in building a 100%  fibre-to-the-building broadband network offering speeds from 200 Mbps to 1000 Mbps, propelling Ireland into the ranks of the world’s fastest broadband countries. Ireland will also become the first country in Europe to utilise existing electricity infrastructure on a nationwide basis to deploy fibre directly into homes and businesses, initially reaching 500,000 premises in 50 towns.

ANTI pylon campaigner and Ireland South Euro candidate, Kieran Hartley, has claimed that converting the ESB Moneypoint plant to a biomass-burning facility could secure jobs, help the environment and reduce the cost of imported American coal. “I know from leading the national anti-pylon and industrial wind turbine campaign that we need to take dramatic initiatives to avoid the building of thousands of giant pylons and windfarms across the country, while working to meet our commitments on sustainable energy,” he said. The European election candidate maintains that such a move would secure the future of Moneypoint as an integral part of the nations energy infrastructure and preserve jobs there. “A recent report by a leading UK energy expert Malcolm Brown showed how Ireland’s target of having 40 per cent of energy needs met by renewable sources by 2020 could be met in a single stroke if Moneypoint was converted from coal to biomass,” Kieran Hartley claimed. “This would save over €3 …

By Dan Danaher MONEYPOINT electricity generating station has been earmarked as a possible site for a nuclear power plant, a local county councillor has claimed. Councillor Brian Meaney has warned that a lobby group has already made representations to the Oireachtas Committee for Transport and Communications requesting the conversion of Moneypoint to a new nuclear plant once it is decommissioned in 2025. Speaking at a council meeting on this Monday, Councillor Meaney revealed  Pro Nuclear Lobby Group BENE (Better Environment with Nuclear Energy) has stated that the coal-fired  915 MW ESB  power plant at Moneypoint is the only suitable site for a nuclear power plant for Ireland. One of the main reasons is that it is the only power plant in the country that has the existing 440 kv  grid connections to distribute the power generated from a nuclear power plant. Also it is a costal location, seen as optimal when siting a nuclear power plant According to Councillor Meaney, the need to …