EM - December 2010 / January 2011 - (Page 3)

www.esb.ie/em Dec 2010 / Jan 2011 NEWS 3 ‘Journey of Hope’ Roadshow Christmas message 8ElectricAID Ireland visits various locations throughout Ireland EsB ELECTRiCAiD ireland ‘hit the road’ in October, bringing a hugely well-received Roadshow to head Office, Waterford, Cork, Limerick and sligo – all in one busy week! The objective of the tour was to give staff a better appreciation of the breadth and quality of the work enabled by our grant-making. since 2005, more than 520 separate projects and services have been funded with a total of €4.8 million. We have met and funded many fantastic people and organisations, the real stars of our show, doing magnificent work fighting homelessness and suicide, the two areas chosen by staff for ElectricAiD ireland to focus on. Funding has been on an all-ireland basis, reaching 31 counties so far (no applications received from County Fermanagh). Each Roadshow featured speakers from national and local charities as funded in each region, whilst many more organisations displayed information on their work. informal information exchange, networking, and oneto-one discussions were integral to the design of the show and to the success of each day. staff were very interested in the work funded in their own localities and were impressed by the variety and depth of the projects funded both nationally and in their own back yards. The Roadshow was opened in Dublin by the Minister for health, Mary harney T.D., with EsB Chairman, Lochlann Quinn and Chief Executive, Pádraig McManus, in attendance. The regional shows were extremely successful with staff getting plenty of opportunity to discuss the work of the various organisations in their regions. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our guests and speakers, who made each day such as success for us. Particular thanks goes to Joan Freeman of Pieta house, who spoke in Dublin and Limerick, and to Paul Kelly of Console, who provided speakers for three of the venues. n from the Chief Executive, Padraig mcmanus James Foley, amy Coll and Paddy Wilson, both from Foyle Search and rescue in Derry, at the Sligo event. at the Dublin launch in ESb head Office. (l-r): ruth Guy, barnardos; Paul Kelly, Console; ESb ElectricaiD ireland chairperson Joyce Farrell; Joan Freeman, Pieta house and Nicola Jordan of DePaul ireland. Garda brendan Mills, Cork Community Policing, Don O’ leary, The life Centre Cork, Colette Foster, Sophia housing, Cork, Paul Corcoran, National Suicide research Foundation and Pearse Crilly ESb Electricaid ireland. at the Waterford launch (l-r): Sean McCath, hSE Suicide Strategy Waterford; Meave Savage Tinteán housing, Waterford; Denis O’Connor, Console Waterford; Fergus Keane, Good Shepherd hostel Kilkenny; Caitriona McManus, Electricaid ireland and Tony Merriman of ElectricaiD ireland. at the limerick roadshow (l-r): Pearse Crilly, ElectricaiD ireland; Emer O’Neill, Console limerick; Terry logan, limerick Marine Search and rescue and Michael O’Connor, ElectricaiD ireland. at the Dublin launch are ESb Chairman, lochlann Quinn, Mary harney, Minister for health & Children and ESb Chief Executive, Padraig McManus. NOLLAiG shONA libh go leir agus guim beannachtai na feile ar mo chomhleacaithe agus a muintir. My warmest good wishes to you and your loved ones for Christmas and the New Year. By any measure, 2010 has been a momentous year with the irish economy feeling the full force of the global credit crunch and our severe banking crisis. Few could have predicted the sheer scale of difficulties confronting the European and irish economies when the Euro itself would come under such sustained pressure. As a company, EsB is not a bystander in this turbulent environment and is not immune from such seismic stresses. it is critical that we adjust and plan to maintain our financial stability while supporting the irish economy and implementing our business strategies. This we have been doing throughout 2010. The customer remains at the heart of all our activity and throughout the year, EsB has subsidised the market while staff on the frontline have worked sympathetically and flexibly with those facing difficulties dealing with bill payment. Confidence and ambitious longterm planning have always been central tenets of EsB’s operations. When the company was founded in 1927, the construction of the shannon scheme was the transformation of impossibility to reality. Nothing will work more to our advantage than confronting our challenges together, in partnership - as we did this year - in order to maintain the financial strength of the company. The achievement of an agreement on the company’s pension deficit was ample demonstration of how this relationship can work to such positive effect. Between 2010 and 2015 EsB will spend €6 billion in capital investment, prioritising its networks, smart grid, smart metering, electric vehicles renewable energy and the integration of our Generation and supply businesses. Financing that kind of growth and development requires continuous prudent and focussed planning and the kind of joint approach that underpins EsB’s success. support from our shareholder has always been of critical importance also and this year EsB received the backing of government to proceed with the purchase of Northern ireland Electricity, a major deal for this company. The opening of our 430mw Combined Cycle Gas Turbine plant at Aghada in Cork; the opening of the 840mw CCGT station at Marchwood, southampton in England and the completion of the environmental retrofit project at Moneypoint represented other landmark developments for EsB in 2010. Throughout all this we continue to put large resources and time towards health and safety of the public, our staff and contractors and we will continue our progress towards achieving the goal of an injury free workplace. i am particularly proud to look back on 2010 as a year when EsB achieved so much in terms of giving generously to those less advantaged than ourselves. in Accra, Ghana, EsB volunteers helped to complete the full reconstruction of schools at Teshie and Kaneshie school through the ElectricAid project. These education projects bring real hope and help to literally thousands of children and, by extension, their families in Africa – a continent that has seen continuous recession and economic trauma. in ireland we announced a further €1m funding for projects and services dealing with suicide and homelessness through 2011. ElectricAid ireland has already funded over 500 such projects in the past five years. After what has been a very challenging year, we look forward to celebrating Christmas – a time for family, friends and reflection. We recall with special fondness those colleagues who passed away and their families and friends for whom Christmas has a special poignancy. We send good wishes to our retired colleagues, whose legacy of hard work and dedication is reflected in the company we have today. i thank each and every one of you for your professionalism and commitment to maintaining EsB as ireland’s leading sustainable energy company and we look forward with hope and optimism to 2011. Gach rath ort fhein agus ar do mhuintir. n http://www.esb.ie/em

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of EM - December 2010 / January 2011

EM - December 2010 / January 2011
In This Issue
News
Energy Solutions
ESB Networks Ltd
ESB Energy International
Health & Habitat
Life

EM - December 2010 / January 2011