He's making a list, he's checking it twice. He's going to find out who is naughty on price. Former Rip-Off Republic star Eddie Hobbs doubled as one of Santa's elves last Sunday, turning on the Christmas tree lights in Granard, Co Longford.

Granard's tree lights are powered by a wind turbine built by local outfit Airsynergy, which has raised about €6 million in recent years. A funding round earlier this year put a valuation of €40 million on the company

Airsynergy's directors include Hobbs, Colin Morgan, former the chief executive of Quinn Insurance and Setanta Sports, and Ciaran O'Brien, who ran Airtricity's business in the US.

The company will enter the market in January with a range of small turbines suitable, it says, for “farms, homes, offices, hotels, factories, telecoms masts, golf clubs and sports facilities, car parks, streetlights, ports” and, possibly, partridges in pear trees.

On the dirtier side of the energy industry, Hobbs also fronts the Own Our Oil (Ooo) campaign to reap a higher share for citizens of Ireland’s hydrocarbon resources. He sent a season’s greetings email to supporters this week, also including a promise to seek a referendum on the natural resources of Ireland.

Presumably, that also includes all of the nation’s hot air.