Back in 1925, when our nascent State was grappling with massive economic struggles and desperately trying to negotiate a path to a prosperous and peaceful future, a visionary decision was made to build what was then the biggest hydro-electric scheme the world had yet seen.
The building of the Ardnacrusha facility took four years and was done at a cost which was equivalent then of one fifth of the State’s annual budget, but it signified an intent on behalf of the government of the day to develop Irish infrastructure in a coherent and businesslike fashion.
When it opened in 1929, the plant enabled an enormous surge in demand for electricity across the country and illustrated the determination of the new State to place Ireland to the fore in building core infrastructure to allow the country develop economically.
While Ardnacrusha was constructed by the German company Siemens-Schuckert, it was done so mainly on the back of the design work of Irish engineers and a largely Irish workforce, underlining the fact that we had the expertise to carry out large-scale engineering projects.
The proposal, announced earlier this month by Taoiseach Simon Harris, to establish a dedicated Department for Infrastructure to oversee the development of several massive projects in the coming years is potentially as radical as the Shannon Hydroelectric Scheme was back in the 1920s.
That such infrastructure projects may well occur over the the lifetime of several governments makes it imperative that they are co-ordinated and strategised in a way that does not see massive cost over-topping.
There are many strategic infrastructure projects needed in Ireland right now — especially with regards to housing, roads, the development of the rail network, environmental management, and the delivery of port facilities — and the Irish people want these developments to happen.
We want them to happen not only to keep Ireland at the cutting edge of economic progress, but also to develop jobs and expertise within our design, engineering, and workforce sectors.
But we also want them to occur on time and on budget, and if a dedicated Department for Infrastructure can help make that happen without the nightmarish bureaucratic, legal, and management issues with which we have become so familiar in so many ambitious and large-scale projects, then it certainly seems worth pursuing.
Search for remains reminds us of atrocities
Some of the ugly legacies of this island’s problematic and violent recent history were brought to mind with the news at the weekend that a search was to begin this week for the remains of Robert Nairac.
Mr Nairac was a British army captain and undercover officer who was kidnapped in 1977 by the IRA from the Three Steps public house in Dromintee, Co Armagh, a part of the world which, during the Troubles, would become known as ‘Bandit Country’.
The Three Steps was close to the border and it is believed, after a brief struggle, Nairac was taken across that border into Co Louth, tortured, murdered, and buried.
There have been previous unsuccessful searches for his remains on lands in and around the Ravensdale Woods area in north Co. Louth, but the search announced this week is focused in nearby Faughart.
The Grenadier Guard is considered to be one of the 17 people known as ‘The Disappeared’ who were killed and secretly buried by the IRA during the Troubles and, besides Mr Nairac, the remains of three others, Columba McVeigh, Joe Lynskey, and Seamus Maguire, remain unrecovered.
This week’s search is being carried out by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) on the basis of credible information received. Whether or not it will prove productive remains to be seen, but the fact it is happening is another grim reminder of some of the Troubles’ worst atrocities.
Mr Nairac has two living sisters who are being kept informed of developments by the ICLVR, but as has been the case with each of The Disappeared, their agony will continue until his remains are found and he can be given a Christian burial.
Beach action
In the aftermath of Storm Lilian last week, almost 30 beaches in counties Clare, Mayo and Dublin were closed due to risks of elevated bacteria levels. In Cork, for some months now, there have been repeated ‘no swim’ notices posted at the Owenahincha and Warren beaches which are having such an impact on businesses during the holiday season that a public meeting was called to highlight concerns.
Sadly these are not once-off incidents and beach closures the length and breadth of the country have become commonplace in recent years not only because of bacteria fears, but because we as a nation have yet to fully address the issue of pumping sewage directly into the waters that surround us.
And, it is not only a problem with our seawaters, but our rivers as well (as was highlighted in extraordinary detail in this newspaper last week). In fact, only about half of our sewage is being treated to EU environmental standards.
Work to eliminate raw sewage flowing into our seas and rivers from 32 towns was due to have started this year and Uisce Éireann is required to provide for all improvements needed in these areas in its next investment plan, covering 2025-29.
While there have been notable successes in places such as Castletownbere and Cobh in Co Cork in cleaning up wastewater being pumped into the sea, places such as Ringsend in Dublin (the site of Ireland’s largest treatment plant) consistently fail to treat sewage to the required standards. If the state of our rivers is an ongoing concern, so too should be the condition of our sea waters and particularly so in a nation for which tourism is such an important economic contributor.