Letters to B&F
Sir,
The enthusiasm by the Greens in Government that renewable energy represents the grand solution to Ireland's future energy requirements needs a critical appraisal and to be put into context.
Yes, the Government has set an ambitious target to have 40% of our electricity needs generated from renewable sources by 2020. However, we will still remain very dependent on fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) which currently account for 88% of our needs and these fuels will continue to remain critically important in the overall energy mix for Ireland.
Gas is the main fuel used in our conventional power plants and we currently import over 95% of our gas. To ensure security of supply of fossil fuels in the medium term, it is vitally important that we exploit our own natural resources and utilise natural gas from the Corrib field, for example, which has the potential to account for 60% of Ireland's gas needs.
Indigenous fuels such as natural gas, represent the cleanest of fossil fuels (43% less CO2/kWh than coal) and ideally complements Ireland's shift towards renewables and a low carbon economy.
Yes we should invest in developing renewable energy but we must also continue to support strategically important projects such as exploiting our natural gas reserves.
Yours sincerely
Richard Coffey
Terenure
Dublin 6
Sir,
I would like to add my tuppence worth to the Shell Corrib gas story. We have been told by those who oppose the project that the State has given away our natural resources to the big evil multinational that is Shell Oil. What I would like somebody from the Shell to sea camp to explain is how was the State supposed to know exactly where the gas was located?
As far as I know, when the Irish Republic was legally established, there was no accompanying map with the exact location of each gas find that lay off our coast. If, to follow the logic of the Shell to sea protesters, the Government had set up a national oil company which would have had the exclusive rights to explore Irish waters, how many dud holes would have been drilled before Corrib gas would have been found? How much would this have cost the taxpayer?
When the terms of the Corrib field were originally negotiated, the track record of successful oil/gas discoveries in this country was appalling. Moreover, oil and gas prices were extremely low. Would any company have paid what is now seen as the rightful, yet in actual fact exorbitant, price to explore Corrib?
There is a huge amount of willful ignorance being disseminated about the rights and wrongs of the Corrib gas field. It is a project of vital national importance. Could we at least have a proper and honest debate about this?
Jim O'Sullivan,
Douglas,
Cork City
Sir,
The resignation of Willie O'Dea was the correct outcome of a sorry debacle that shines a light on the political machinations of the Fianna Fáil party and its mentality. However, O'Dea's resignation came one day late.
How, I ask you, did he survive the motion of no confidence? Where was the Green Party's moral compass when the votes were being cast? The Greens needed a mini-revolt within the upper echelons of the party before they decided that the actions of O'Dea were wrong. That's not a moral compass, that's fear.
The notion that O'Dea would remain in office is a laughable indictment of the Irish political system itself. Disregarding the Green issue in all this, where was Fianna Fáil? Is it still the case that the swathes of backbench TDs will tow the party line on such a clear abuse of power and influence and only fold when public opinion becomes too much?
I shouldn't be surprised, as that is the extent of party politics in modern Ireland but surely there is a line? And surely O'Dea crossed it. A Cabinet member accusing a local politician of owning a brothel and, then, claiming he never said it, is crossing the line for a public representative. Going on to, then, claim it was a mistake and that he had forgot that he said it was just an insult to our intelligence.
The aftermath of the debacle proves that Fianna Fáil and its mentality will never go away. O'Dea positioned himself in front of the public as a victim and that the situation can be attributed to a "mistake".
This is the mentality that a senior politician can get away with anything as long as they follow the formula of "playing the honest broker, fighting against the detractors out to get them". It's a disgrace. The fact that he is taking such a position tells you a lot about Willie O'Dea the man, Fianna Fáil the party and the amoral political society we live in today.
F Mulcahy,
Drumcondra,
Dublin 9
