‘Where would we be without the Turf now?' Ireland’s self-sufficiency questioned

Seven days after Storm Éowyn, Ireland is still reeling from significant electricity and water outages, with 86,000 customers without power and 2,800 without water.

Aidan Wynne, Chairman of the Turf Cutters of Ireland, strongly criticized the government’s energy policies, emphasizing the critical role of turf in ensuring self-sufficiency in rural Ireland, where many have been left without power for over seven days now.

“Where would we be without the turf now? Like, where would we be?” Wynne demanded, highlighting the government's plan to phase out and ban turf. “The government doesn't have a plan for a national emergency."

Wynne, from Drumshanbo, Leitrim, condemned the government’s reliance on imported energy sources. “Bord na Móna is after bringing in over 40,000 tonnes of woodchips from the Amazon forest for burning in power generation, cargos of ships in Foynes,” he explained.

“Look at the wind turbines, that’s the greatest sham ever,” he stated, pointing out their inefficiencies. "They are not generating power now."

“Where would we be without the interconnectors that supply us electricity from France? We wouldn’t have power. We are supposed to be a modern country.”

"It's not fair our elderly people should be sitting in the dark freezing cold. We're not a modern country, we're going backwards."

He criticized modern heating solutions, stating, “I know people that have air-to-water systems who are freezing. They have young children and had to move to another house that had a stove, that had heat.”

“How bad are we that we don't have enough staff in the ESB, and we are relying on workers to come in from other countries? If we had a third world war and the oil was cut off, what would we do then?"

“They’re trying to take the turf away from people.” He emphasized the need for self-reliance, warning, “If you think that the government is going to save you and your family, or me and my family... You’re going to have to paddle your own canoe.”

Wynne lamented Ireland’s loss of self-sufficiency, noting, “We’re not self-sufficient at all. We should be one of the more self-sufficient countries in the world. We had our fishing. We had our oil. We had gas. They have our forest, our farm.” He criticized the government’s export policies, stating, “They’re trying to sell everything out from under the Irish people. They have done it with a lot of things. And people start to see reality now, and they won't see it until too late.”

“The most important thing in life you have is your family, your heat, and your food. They’re the most important thing you need. Everything else after that is material.”

Wynne highlights a pressing debate in Ireland regarding the balance between traditional energy sources and modern alternatives, as the nation faces ongoing energy challenges revealed by Storm Éowyn.

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