Sir, – It’s great to read about the teams arriving from Finland, France and Austria to help restore electricity to our citizens in our hour of need. That is surely the pinnacle of the European spirit. The urgency and scale of the response to the ESB outage in Ireland highlights a weird juxtaposition of what happens at home when, without the drama of a storm, many of our struggling families find themselves without electricity. In Ireland, tenants have had their electricity summarily cut off by certain landlords. Individuals and families are left without power or water for days, weeks and months in a move to intimidate them out of the property. Families with children sit in the dark, despairing and without hope. I’ve heard the stories first hand, but if you don’t believe me, look up the Residential Tenancies Board online if you want the full picture. What happens when this insult is reported to the ESB? We are told the landlord has to consent to the restoration of power. What happens when this is reported to the Garda Síochána? We are told it is a civil matter. The indignity and stress suffered by these families are disgusting and shameful. – Yours, etc,
Dr IRENE McCORMICK,
Graiguenamanagh,
Co Kilkenny.
