Sir, – What a brilliant concept your "Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks" ("The first 30. Which is your favourite? Tell us and win", June 6th) is turning out to be. "1927 – Ardnacrusha Hydroelectric Scheme" is a case in point. However, the statement "The ESB brought electricity to thousands of predominantly rural homes across the country by the end of 1920s" is not quite accurate.
The scheme allowed a transmission backbone of electricity which was primarily used by urban consumers in cities and towns; our 400,000 rural dwellings were virtually untouched.
The Rural Electrification Scheme was inaugurated in January 1947, in the north Co Dublin village of Oldtown and criss-crossed the country until 1964. Some of its parameters are most interesting, and carry significant messages for present enterprises. Over its 17 years the total cost to the State was about £34 million, almost 800 areas were developed, each approximately 25 square miles, averaging 500 houses per area. At its peak of activity in 1955/56 up to 40 gangs were operating, in one of which I had the good fortune to be the engineer. A total of 75,000 miles of overhead lines were erected, requiring over a million poles on private land.
A remarkable aspect of this huge programme was that the number of disputes and wayleave objections which were not settled on the spot, but which went to boardroom level, could be counted on the fingers of two hands. Central to this success was the “bottom-up” initiative of 500 local committees; what a contrast with the fumbling efforts of Irish Water and the Corrib gas project. – Yours, etc,
CHRIS SHOULDICE,
Templeogue,
Dublin 16.