Country mustn’t be held to ransom by ESB

No energy trade union or energy supplier should be allowed to hold an entire country to ransom with power cuts.

Every time the old guard at ESB — the country’s only distributor — has a gripe, everybody must pay with blackouts. It is not the fault of ‘the people’ that their bloated pension fund went sour, is it? Like so many others, employees at the ESB have to accept the pros and cons of capitalism.

Workers at the ESB are some of the most highly paid blue collar workers in the country with the most steadiest employment imaginable.

Not to mention massive bonuses at Christmas time in the thousands. The army should be brought in immediately to counter any blackmail tactics by workers who did enough to cripple this country in the past for long and inconvenient periods of time to suit their own selfish demands.

That is why so many businesses have had to get an uninterrupted power supply to counter the old shop at the ESB and the monopoly it holds on distribution.

The ESB may also face lawsuits which will cost taxpayers from other energy suppliers who will be in a position to sue for failing to distribute. The days of putting a shotgun to the heads of the government and the people should be a thing of the past. How dare they — who the hell do they think they are?

Go, army go!

Maurice Fitzgerald

Shanbally

Co Cork