Gormley to keep the public in the dark... but just for an hour

THE accusation of keeping the public “in the dark” is often thrown at the Government, but for Environment Minister John Gormley this time it can do it for real.

As part of the ludicrously titled Earth Hour, the Green Party leader has urged us all to sit in the dark for an hour on Saturday, March 28.

Just imagine the excitement of gathering around with your loved ones after a long week at work, switching off all the electricity and peering blankly into the darkness for an hour. Everyone is getting involved, it seems.

In Dublin, iconic buildings like the Customs House, Government Buildings and Leinster House will switch off for an hour. Even the banks will turn to the dark side for an hour, although some would argue they have been doing that for years.

It won’t involve too much pain for Leinster House either. Let’s face it, there won’t be too many politicians knocking around the Dáil on a Saturday. The place is like a morgue on Friday, let alone a Saturday.

The reality about events like Earth Hour is that they are essentially meaningless. Empty, token gestures that serve to raise awareness about global warming for about a nanosecond but serving the less noble goal of making all the eco-friendly among us feel that little bit better about being “green”.

In reality, a handful of people will sit in the dark for an hour and think about the plight of the ice caps. Sure, they will have saved a few bob. Big deal.

According to the Environment Minister, however, even boring empty vessels like Dark Hour can be fun.

Of course, Mr Gormley took part in Dark Hour last year. Yes folks, in case you hadn’t guessed it, he’s a veteran.

He spent it with his family sitting by lamplight, adding there could be a sense of romance involved like arranging acoustic guitar sessions “like Bob Dylan in the early days”.

Arranging acoustic guitar sessions in the dark may seem romantic to Mr Gormley but to the plain people of Ireland it seems just plain creepy.

Apparently, in Israel last year they played a rock concert in aid of the event. It was powered by bicycles. Rock on.

The Green Party leader also found something for the kids. Forget the Playstation: children can sit in the dark and get the chance to “see what it was like in the olden days”.

In the “olden days” we had mass unemployment, a basket-case economy and a general lack of faith in the ability of our leaders to get us out of it. Wait, that all sounds pretty contemporary. We don’t need to switch the lights off after all.