Gas man with a light-hearted message for Cork retailers

BUSINESSES must get their Christmas decorations out as soon as the jazz weekend is over.

That was the message Bord Gáis chief executive John Mullins delivered in a speech resembling more of a motivational talk from American self-help writer Tony Robbins than a lecture from the head of a public sector company.

Like many conferences, delegates at Cork Chamber of Commerce’s annual get-together were still sipping coffee when Mr Mullins was supposed to be 10 minutes into his talk on energy being a real beacon of light.

However, the Bord Gáis chief didn’t stop for coffee and when delegates returned to the darkened room of the Radisson Hotel in Little Island it was Mullins who proved the beacon of light.

We must conserve energy, we must be take risks, we must believe, he said. We must take aim and shoot.

But before he left, he had one final message for delegates. “Once the jazz weekend is over don’t have a cynical attitude to putting up the Christmas lights,” he said. Retailers, he said, must realise people need cheering up and so for that reason retailers must get their Christmas decorations out as soon as possible.

There’s no doubt as Cork glows at Christmas, the use of electricity will soar. But the Bord Gais chief insisted he was making this call in his role as a member of the board of the Cork Chamber.

Given the power of his speech, expect Christmas to come early to Cork this year.