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THE LAST WORD
Oct/Nov 2011 www.esb.ie/em
IT’S AN EMERALD YEAR FOR ESBI IN BAHRAIN
For 35 years it has been a marriage of hearts and minds between ESB and Bahrain. EM talks to some of those who have benefited from these ties of friendship and family
This year marks the emerald anniversary of ESB’s 35-year involvement in the Kingdom of Bahrain, a relationship that has helped forge very good relations between these two island nations.
Much has changed over the last three decades and a half, in both Ireland and Bahrain, but in that time the friendships between the two countries have grown stronger and more enduring.
Hundreds of ESB personnel have served in Bahrain over the years, indeed that continuing involvement with the Kingdom led to the formal establishment of ESB International in 1989, which has since operated in 115 countries. It can also be argued that the relationship contributed to the formation of today’s Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) of Bahrain.
ESB’s first contract in 1976 involved helping upgrade the Bahrain State Electricity Directorate’s distribution network, now ESBI is involved in upgrading the EWA’s distribution network. However, in addition to engineering skills, the technology transfer between Ireland and Bahrain has also involved commercial expertise and management know-how.
The first ESB person that Jaffer AlGassab met was an accountant: Joe Maher, who arrived in Bahrain in the middle of Ramadan in 1976. Shortly afterwards, Jaffer found himself “Sent to Ireland, where after getting an overview of ESB operations at head office and district level, we found ourselves in Tralee at Christmas. My wife was able to join me and together we experienced snow, ice and Irish hospitality. We spent the Christmas with District Accountant Seamus McEvoy and his family and we learned the significance of the greeting ‘A hundred-thousand welcomes!’.”
Another memory etched on Jaffer’s memory is ESB’s cutting-edge IT: “A massive IBM mainframe that occupied room at head office, with punch cards for inputting data, meter-reading books on trolleys and customer records on cards kept in revolving drums.”
Jaffer’s training facilitator was Mick O’Shea, who played a major role in developing ESB’s own accountancy management systems. Known to the Arabs as ‘Black-haired Mick’, he had a strong regional accent, says Jaffer, “ESB CEO Paddy Moriarty told me that if I could understand him I would understand every Irishman that I would have to deal with!”
A year after returning to Bahrain, Jaffer was made head of the Ministry’s commercial department where he led the modernisation of Bahrain’s electricity billing and information systems and also the integration of electricity and water billing and the streamlining of municipal rates collection, all with assistance from ESB.
“I have a vast store of fond memories from times spent with Irish colleagues in Bahrain and Ireland. I did not just develop work relations, they went beyond into the realm of brother-to-brother. My son Khalil studied in Ireland and there was more than one Jaffer looking after him! I have a large family throughout Ireland that is near and dear to me!”
Speaking of families, husband and wife team Mark and Orla Halpin are currently both working as ESBI project managers in Bahrain where they have lived with their three children since January 2009. They try not to bring work home, but Mark says: “Our jobs are so interconnected that a simple question like ‘How was your day?’ can end up in a big discussion about a particular project.”
The couple try to put the focus primarily on their children during time off. They attend a nearby international school and the local facilities for children are ideal. Orla says, “We often spend our weekends hanging around the compound socialising with neighbours. Because the weather is so reliably good, we often barbecue by the pool. We do really miss our extended families and not being at family events such as birthdays and christenings, but being able to predict the weather for the rest of the day, week or month, is a luxury we will definitely miss when we leave!”
“This year marks the emerald anniversary of ESB’s 35-year involvement in the Kingdom of Bahrain, a relationship that has helped forge very good relations between these two island nations
The biggest challenge of working in Bahrain, ‘Without question the climate, it can reach 50 degrees in the summer!’ says Brendan Stafford, who has been in the Kingdom since 2008 on his first permanent overseas assignment with ESBI. Previously, he served for three years in Ireland as a substation design team leader. “This has been a great experience for me,” he says. “The work can be tough and pressurised, but I enjoy the responsibility and the fact that I have the authority to take quick and informed decisions.”
Brendan trains with the Arabian Celts GAA Club and says there is plenty in Bahrain’s social clubs and restaurants to keep him occupied at weekends.
Ray O’Gorman has worked in Bahrain since the early 80’s and has lived there on two occasions in 1987-88 and 1993-95. He says Bahrain is a great place for families and you quickly feel that you all ‘fit in’.
“Approximately half the population of Bahrain is made up of expatriates, so there are lots of societies and clubs catering for the needs of different communities. We attended Mass in the American naval base in Juffair, played tennis and swam at the British Club in Manama and spent afternoons at the Sheikh’s Beach. These were very enjoyable periods for us as a family.”
“Bahrain has developed enormously since my first visit in 1985,” says Ray. “The country has expanded due to land reclamation from the sea, high-rise buildings have been built on reclaimed areas and there is considerably more traffic on all the roads.”
Yes, much has changed in both countries, but some things remain strongly the same: our cultures of hospitality and friendship and our great love of family.
Jaffer says, “The cornerstone of ESB involvement in Bahrain is that it is beyond a commercial relationship – it embodies the way that a caring family behaves.”
