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ENERGY INTERNATIONAL
Feb/Mar 2011 www.esb.ie/em 
Santa relishes the snow as he visits ET&R
SANTA VERY MUCH welcomed the snow, ice and freezing temperatures as he made his annual visit to Generation Asset & Trading’s ET&R (Energy Trading & Regulation) team on Christmas Eve – his sleigh, as we all know, is designed for those conditions. While anxious parents, grandparents and 62 eager children were slipping and sliding their way to Head Office, Santa was making a perfect landing on the snow-covered roof just above ET&R.
There was a tremendous turn out given the weather conditions. It seems that once the visit was promised to the kids, parents had no option but to literally move snow and earth to get there. Given the amount of preparation that went into the day, it was fantastic to see so many got to enjoy the experience.
Adults sampled Irish coffees and mince pies, while the kiddies got stuck into sweets, crisps, popcorn and drinks. The meeting room turned into a cinema with The Ice Age proving very popular with some. Colouring proved popular with budding artists and their parents now owners of some sustainability pictures to pin up at their desks. The Wii also provided plenty of energetic entertainment.
Santa’s grotto was remarkable – complete with fireplace, Christmas tree and decorations. For the smaller kids, the dancing bears were a big hit. For the older kids, Santa told them about how poor Rudolph got his red nose… it would be a world exclusive if we could reveal the reason here, but we can’t… that’s a secret between Santa and the 62 kids that got to hear the story.
Many thanks to everyone who helped make this a wonderful occasion.
A review of safety & Health in ESB 2010
News
Pages 6 & 7
Visit by Athlone-based Probus Club to Lough Ree Power
GENERATION OPERATIONS
SEVENTEEN MEMBERS of the Athlone PROBUS Club recently visited Lough Ree Power where they were warmly welcomed by station staff.
PROBUS is the association of retired and semi-retired men and women who join together in autonomous clubs throughout Ireland, Britain and the rest of the world. The word PROBUS is an abbreviation of the words PROfessional and BUSiness but membership is not restricted to people from these two categories. The group consisted of men from a wide variety of backgrounds, including some engineers and a retired ESB man, Pat Brophy.
Pat, a Carlow man now living in Athlone, joined ESB Head Office as a junior engineer in 1958. He spent 37 years with ESB and retired in 1994. He spent 22 of those years on the construction of power stations, including Ringsend, Poolbeg, Great Island, Turlough Hill and Marina. He worked on the installation of Unit 3 at Lanesboro and on Units 2 and 3 at Shannonbridge.
This was Pat Brophy’s first visit to the new Lough Ree Power and he was delighted to see this turnkey project. He climbed the flights of stairs to the viewing platform on the roof, despite the fact that he had been recently discharged from hospital!
In a thank you letter to Plant Manager, Jerry McKenna, the President of Athlone Probus Club, Fred Carney, said they rarely have more than 10 members on their outings so this big turn out showed the high level of interest among the members. The group appreciated the warm welcome and hospitality of the staff and in particular expressed thanks to Liam Doyle ‘for the excellent presentation he gave with clarity and wit and for his ability to describe technical complexities in layman’s terms’. The presentation sparked off a flurry of questions and comments.
The basic purpose of a PROBUS Club is to provide regular gatherings of persons who, in retirement, appreciate and value opportunities to meet others in similar circumstances and of a similar level of interest. PROBUS is a non-sectarian and non-political organization. There are 138 groups throughout the island of Ireland with a total membership of 4,800. Groups can be for men, women or both. Athlone is a men’s group.
The Athlone PROBUS group recently travelled on day trips to Dublin Castle, the Guinness Brewery, Newgrange and the Battle of the Boyne site, Kilmainham Gaol, Kilkenny Castle and Renmore Barracks, Galway. A highlight of the year was a trip to Inis Mór, on the Aran Islands, by train, bus and Aer Arran. However the members regard the trip to Lanesboro with fondness and still talk about it as a very happy and interesting day.
New members are always welcome to PROBUS. For the Athlone Group you can contact Fred Carney (087 212 8842). For further information on PROBUS Groups throughout Ireland contact: Paul Hillis (01 298 6344) for the Republic and Mary Sinnamon (0044 289086 4068) for Northern Ireland.
Santa spotted in Aghada
GENERATION OPERATIONS
THE CHILDREN, PARENTS and teachers of five schools local to Aghada Generating Station were delighted to receive a visit from Santa on Thursday December 23rd. This was the 20th Anniversary of ‘Aghada Santa’ and his band of merry elves bringing good cheer to their local community.
More than 700 children, from Whitegate National School, Scoil Iosagain Aghada, Saleen National School, Aghada Parish Play School and ‘Small Ones’ Play School in Saleen, cheered on the arrival of Santa and his helpers.
The organising committee comprised: Santa, Anthony Lynch; Sleigh Driver, Ger Walsh and Santa’s band of elves; Pat Wall, Willie Cunningham, Catherine O’Connell, Helen Sheehan and Terry Cummins.
Congratulations to all involved on such a wonderful event.
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