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22
Energy International
Aug/Sept 2011 www.esb.ie/em
Sustainability with a smile!
ESBI
Page 28
Engineers Ireland Charterships
Vietnamese Delegation visits ESB
ESBI’s Day-in-the-Life event
ESB International
OVER 150 STAFF who joined ESBI in the last three years had a special invitation to the annual ‘Day-in-the-Life’ event that showcases a range of projects underway in ESBI through an afternoon of presentations. The conference, on Friday May 20th, was opened by ESBI Manager Ollie Brogan and the event was compered by Noel Caffrey, of ESBI HR, who introduced speakers including:
- William O’Sullivan, of the Power Plant team, discussing his role on the Moneypoint Environmental Retrofit Project.
- Catherine O’Brien, of the Civil and Structural Renewables team, outlining her role on the construction of the Garvagh Glebe Wind Farm.
- Siobhan O’Neill, of the Power Systems Studies group, summarising her responsibilities on the Bahrain distribution system planning project.
- Vincent Power, of the HV Design group, sketching out his role in designing substations over the past few years.
- Liam O’Sullivan, of the Asset Management services team, providing a review of his investigation into what appeared to be a type fault on a circuit breaker.
Presentations were also made by ElectricAid and the Irish Red Cross, the latter focusing on the Japan Tsunami Appeal and how ElectricAid is helping the victims of that natural disaster.
“It was a fantastic conference,” said Ollie Brogan. “The presentations were informative and provided a great opportunity for new members of staff to learn about the work being done by their colleagues from different parts of the organisation.”
Francois celebrates Irish citizenship
Bahrain profile: Patrick Phelan
ESBI
PATRICK PHELAN JOINED ESB in 1968 and worked in Portloaise District Office. He moved to Bahrain in 1978, two years after the first wave of ESB staff arrived in the Kingdom. With the exception of a short year stint back in Ireland, he has lived there ever since and now works the Electricity and Water Authority.
Patrick recalls his early days in Bahrain ‘getting to know employees with strange names like Mubarak, Hassan and Latifa, learning the Arabic numerals and settling into a house along with colleagues John Morgan, Aidan Kilkenny and colonies of ants, cockroaches and lizards!
For Patrick, working away from home brought with it a feeling of being part of an ‘ESB family’ where he says, the phrase ‘Ni Neart go chur le cheile’ reflected the ESB ethos. ‘When Frank Malin [Head of Accounts at ESB] came out to review progress in Bahrain with Charlie Lee, he became Frank rather than ‘Mr. Malin’ as he was back home, and his visits would culminate with a night out for the team at the BAPCO Club in Awali. We also played the bachelor card well and evoked great sympathy from the ESB families, who made sure we got at least one good meal a week!’
Patrick’s first assignment in Bahrain was with the order / invoice unit of the Bahrain State Electricity Directorate and he later worked with a team that developed and managed a multi-element billing, collection and information system for Electricity, Water and Municipality property rates charges. This led to another assignment working with the Municipalities, where he stayed until his retirement from ESB in 1999.
In 2007, he returned to Bahrain to support the transition of the Ministry of Electricity and Water from a ministerial body to an authority. Since then, he has continued to work for EWA and is proud of what the organisation has achieved. ‘In 2009, EWA became the first Bahraini organization to be inducted into the Palladium Hall of Fame awards 2009 in recognition for improvements made on key performance areas including customer service’.
ESBI’s involvement in Bahrain has had a very positive impact on people from both islands, he says. ‘Within days of arriving in Bahrain, Ray McElroy introduced me to his friend, a Bahraini manager of the Commercial Department named Jaffer AlGassab. It was in Jaffer’s office that I first tasted chai lumi, a lemon tea with special flavouring. The ritual of tea/coffee drinking with friends elevates friendship to the fore in all transactions between individuals. It occurs in the homes, the offices, the market place and for me it symbolizes the wonderful hospitality of Bahrainis. It’s something I could greatly miss away from Bahrain.
