Sorcha O'Brien: Ardnacrusha was a defining moment in history of Ireland

The Ardnacrusha power station was constructed during the first ten years of the Irish Free State, when it provided 80% of the power required by the nation.

The last few weeks have seen the war in Ukraine and the supply of Russian fossil fuels added to the ongoing climate crisis. We have seen temperatures in the Artic and Antarctic spike by up to 30 to 40C and Irish household energy bills following, as the burning of non-renewable resources continues to send both temperatures and bills skyrocketing. The issue of where we get our energy from has never been so pressing, and requires dramatic changes to ensure that we move to renewable resources that don’t make matters worse.

If you take the back road from Limerick city out to O’Briensbridge, you will be rewarded by glimpses of Ireland’s greatest engineering achievement of the 20th century. The Ardnacrusha power station was constructed during the first ten years of the Irish Free State, when it provided 80% of the power required by the nation. Still in operation today, it was recognised in 2002 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) as an engineering milestone of the 20th century and remains the pride of both the ESB and Siemens, the company that constructed it.