Someone would want to tell Malachy Harty (first I’ve heard of him), that he’s about five weeks too late.

Although if he’s timing it for the local elections, he’s right on target.

This announcement by Padraig McManus is part of an overall investment by ESB in sustainability and energy efficiency initiatives of around €22Bn or so. The aspiration is to reduce carbon emissions by a third by 2012 (just three years now), half by 2020, and to be carbon neutral by 2035 IIRC.

Youghal will stand at no advantage above any other population centre in this regard, but people seeking work should be advised to keep an eye out on recruitment sites for more information, as we have already begun recruiting existing apprentices to complete their time, and more opportunities will be arising as the year goes on.

However I will echo Eoin’s comment that hopefully Youghal will benefit from the new jobs.