EM - December 2010 / January 2011 - (Page 9)

www.esb.ie/em Dec 2010 / Jan 2011 NEWS 9 Fond memories Bring the Light 8 An Exhibition of the photography of Franz Sebastian Haselbeck 1885-1973 Kaneshie School Project – another milestone By Brian Cronly The school choir welcomes the volunteers. at the launch in the hunt Museum in limerick (l-r): Great grand-sons of Franz haselbeck, Darragh and Sean Flynn, Gerry hampson and Pat yeates of ESb archives, Patricia haselbeck Flynn, brid horan, Executive Director Energy Solutions, Malcolm alexander Group heritage and brendan Delany, archive & heritage Manager. EsB, TOGEThER with siemens portant place of pride in the history Ltd. has sponsored an exhibition of of both EsB and siemens”, said Brid the photography and equipment of horan, Executive Director EsB. Franz sebastian haselbeck (1885- “We are delighted that EsB’s Ar1973). Like many professional pho- chive was able to collaborate with tographers of his generation Franz the haselbeck family over the last sebastian haselbeck’s work was not two years to restore this wonderful fully recognised during his own life- collection.” Paul Lynam, Chief Financial Oftime. Over the last two years however, a collaborative project between ficer siemens added; “Captured EsB Archive and the haselbeck by sean Keating in paintings and family to restore and catalogue his Franz sebastian haselbeck through photographic collection and equip- the medium of photography, the ment has been successfully under- shannon scheme has become an taken. This has ensured the survival inspirational milestone in irish hisof what is undoubtedly one of most tory and was the key to economic important irish photographic collec- progress for the young Free state. tions from the 20th century. Franz’s Franz sebastian haselbeck, who photographic legacy spans almost was a siemens employee during seven decades and his work pro- the shannon scheme, witnessed vides a prism through which we can at first hand the major revolution view the major political, commer- that technology would have on the cial and social developments which lives of the people, and captured happened over the greater part of this profound change in some of the the last century. A representative marvellous photographs that are on sample of the photographer’s work display here.” speaking at the Dublin launch of has been selected, including early images of Ardnacrusha under con- the exhibition in EsB’s head Office, struction, which would not be un- Padraig McManus, Chief Executive typical for any commercial studio said, “We are very fortunate that Franz sebastian haselbeck’s family photographer. Welcoming visitors to the exhibi- preserved this important legacy for tion at the hunt Museum in Limer- ireland. it is a story, told in black ick, Dr. hugh Maguire, Director of and white, that could so easily have the museum stated; “What differ- been lost. We are particularly apentiates the images in this exhibi- preciative of the photographs of the tion from lesser works is their sheer EsB shannon scheme, the country’s first hydroelectric power stapower to captivate and engage tion, which Franz took while the viewer”. working for siemens durGrand-daughter of ing construction.” the photographer, Records also show Patricia haselthat Franz applied beck, explaining unsuccessfully to the rationale for join EsB two years the exhibition later when his work said, “Following with siemens ended. my grandfather’s in retrospect, perhaps death in 1973, his it was as well - he went on life’s work remained to be a professional phoin the family home tographer and lived until where it was kept at the Dublin launch are Padraig McManus, 1973, capturing images intact by my father, ESb Chief Executive and Frank haselbeck Jnr, Patricia haselbeck Flynn. over half a dozen decades and leaving us with such a who on his deathbed in 1990, asked me to preserve his unique chronicle of some of ireland’s father’s work for future generations. industrial and social developments. The Dublin exhibition runs until i made that promise having no idea how i would keep it. This exhibition December 12th and can be accessed via EsB’s Georgian Museum, house is the fulfilment of that promise.” “The shannon scheme which 29. n features in the exhibition has an im- The Ghana and ireland flags are hoisted at the site. As ThE ThiRD school building humanitarian aid project at Kaneshie (a suburb of Accra in Ghana) comes to an end it is time to review what’s been happening on site during the last year. To begin with the original school was in a totally dilapidated condition. There were holes in the roof, open sewers running through the site, toilets and drains blocked up and overflowing. This was the net result of 50 years of neglect and lack of investment of any sort. Early this year, design work was completed by local architect, Mr Yooku sampson, and after a tender competition civil works commenced on the refurbishment of the school in March. By september the works had advanced sufficiently for the site to be ready to accommodate the EsB volunteers. The role of the volunteers, thirty in all, was to carry out the electrical installation and complete painting and decorating. These tasks were to be completed within a two-week time span, a pretty tight schedule. On previous occasions quite a number of the volunteers came down with tummy upsets and a touch of dysentery but fortunately this time the amount of down time was minimal. in fact the works were completed well on time and costs were reduced by savings on the electrical and painting materials. An advance team of Brian Cronly (Project Manager) Martin O’Brien (Painting supervisor) and Brendan O’Connor (Electrical supervisor) had gone out four days ahead of the main group and great efforts were successful in getting the best value from locally procured materials. The main group of volunteers arrived on sunday 19th september and the work commenced in earnest on the Monday morning. A daily diary was posted on the EM website describing events on site. This provided a chance for loved ones and colleagues at home to keep track of what was happening and feel connected with “we are so the workers in excited and Africa. can’t wait to The volunstart school teers, as had next week - just like the children their previous counterparts, from Ireland”! put their backs into the tasks and within a few days the work began to take shape. Weather conditions were relatively benign. When the original feasibility study was carried out, one of the concerns was that because Kaneshie was in the heart of the city and sheltered from the wind, it would become unbearably hot. This did not happen in practice and a sprinkling of rain even helped to keep the temperature and dust down. The team meanwhile gelled very well and lots of new bonds were forged in a way that is unique to an endeav- The Kaneshie choir. “ our like this. People from many different departments, business units, age groups and walks of life became good friends. Besides the gruelling work there were some lighter moments and the team did get to meet up with the teachers and students of the school during the Open Day ceremony. The student choir sang for us and some of the students put on a beautiful display of traditional dancing. Our Chief Executive, Padraig McManus, and the Regional Minister and Vice President of Ghana were guests of honour and it was wonderful to see the enthusiastic response and heartfelt appreciation of the teachers, students, local community and stakeholders to their new school. Padraig expressed his sincere thanks to the team for travelling out to Ghana to work on the site and to everyone who contributed selflessly in whatever way they could to the project. To leave the last word with the pupils of Kaneshie school – “we are so excited and can’t wait to start school next week – just like the children from ireland”! n ESb volunteers arrive on site. a team shot on Open Day. 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
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EM - December 2010 / January 2011