My name is Padraig. I’m your ordinary bloke. I have a loving wife and a very sick child. I have decided to call myself Paddy Pylon cos I have powerful enemies with bank balances larger than Tesco’s annual turnover. They are sailing huge boats loaded with pylons and wind turbines across the Irish Sea as we speak. They do not like being contradicted. They treat politicians like cheap toys: if they can’t be controlled, they are ruined and tossed aside. I don’t see many ruined politicians in this country. Go figure.
Two years ago I was approached by your man in a sharp suit. He asked if they could build a pylon near the bottom of my plot. There would be 30 000 euro in it for me. I remember asking at the time why specifically 30 000 euro? He told me it was a popular figure in the pylon industry as they found it was enough for most people. I believed his smile at the time.
Things were not good then as I had just lost my job in the building trade and I had a young child. My wife had a job in one of those talk centres but that went belly-up after the government weren’t bothered to step in. My pension funds with Irish National went away and never came back, along with the bosses of that fine institution. The whole thing was desperate altogether. So 30 000 euro was enough to bring me over. I never copped on that it was 30 pieces of silver and I had just placed my family in wicked danger.
We don’t sleep. We always feel bad. We have aches and pains all the time. We look shook all the time. My daughter has missed so much school I have started home-schooling her. Even when she does get to school the lads all laugh at her cos she’s so pale and skinny with big black circles around her eyes. When I manage to get a job here and there the lads are always asking if I’m scagged cos I look awful. My wife’s hair comes off in bunches. But nobody wants to mention the C word.
That pylon makes such a feckin racket so there is no sleep. I surf the internet a lot, looking for stuff on pylons and trying to avoid EirGrid’s shite website. I came across this English professor called Dennis Henshaw. Sure, he’s the auld enemy but what an eye opener. Your man Dennis explains that when dust settles on pylons and power cables it becomes electrically charged, sort of like iron filings left on an electromagnet. Only smaller. And deadlier. And they can fly on the wind much further.
This is from an open letter that Dennis wrote a while back:
“In the case of high voltage overhead powerlines, these should not be built close to houses or farms where cattle and poultry are housed.
The available evidence on adverse health effects of MF exposure speaks for itself. No longer can we talk of differing opinions of whether or not there are such adverse health effects: the question is not about what people think, rather it is about what the evidence says.
Official review bodies are usually constrained by their Terms of Reference and have not been in a position to access the bulk of our scientific knowledge of MF interactions with biological systems. As I will explain below, I estimate that such bodies have at most addressed only 10% of the available evidence/data.”
All we hear from our Ministers is that there is no danger and that they (the Government) would never dream about hurting Irish citizens. What a crock. And now they have appointed an expert panel with terms of reference as narrow as Victoria Beckham’s arse. As Dennis says, they will only be allowed to see 10% of the evidence. If that wasn’t bad enough, your man Rabbitte now says the panel’s findings won’t be binding, which shows they are running scared even from that 10%.
The talking heads on the government payroll have been very cute with their little speeches. All they talk about are non-ionised dust particles in their bogus studies telling us there is no danger. Sure, why would ordinary dust be dangerous? Do we look like eejits?
The dangerous dust is the supercharged stuff that comes off and down from the electric cable. It sticks on your skin and gives you skin cancer. It sticks on your lungs and gives you lung cancer. It attacks our kids with their weaker immune systems and gives them leukemia. It does the same with cows and horses.
As you can see, I’ve learned a bit from the internet. I’m still just your man who used to lay blocks for a living, but I have some knowledge that the government is trying to hide from me, and all those others with families in the EirGrid corridors. And by Jaysus I am hoppin’ – how dare you make my family sick without warning me about what I was getting into?
All I can say is when your man comes sliding up with his 30 000, answer him and the Minister like I should have: ” I will in me hole, now feck off my land”.
Dennis Henshaw is speaking in Trim on the 10th of February. I will be in the front row. I hope Nationwide or your wan on Prime Time make a film of his talk.
paddy pylon 
I think I know this one, your the majority of the citizens under the grid link, who have been screwed by the past and present governments, banks and builders. You were self employed so not entitled to social welfare, you owe suppliers as the main contractor went bust. Your the guy who employed others in the boom paid their tax and have nothing left to show for it. Your him the average Joe blogs. Beware of the masses of average Joe Blogs waiting in the long grass to regain some form of sanity.
Ah Niamh, you know things girl. The neck of these politicos who think they’re such cute hoors that we don’t see where they comin from. that rabbitte has an arse big enough to shove my pylon up there where the sun don’t shine. but I need to keep my head and look after my little sick girl.
The tide has turned, we are all finding out a lot more. Im not afraid for my childrens future any more as I was before Christmas, I know the grid25 plan they have wont be going ahead. Theres stuff happening every day that is beating them bit by bit. Getting info out to everyone is one of the biggest weapons we have, and even thats getting better and better. Just keep posting, this sounds like a right cliche but you are not on your own now.
Bless you my dear. It is all over for me up here, sure even the horse has cancer, but you folk in Munster still have a chance to stop it. You must fight like you are wearing that Munster jersey – don’t let those bastards through.
Midi my lovely, you must be strong in taking your fight to them. You are an inspiration, bless you.
my friend
I came upon your horrible story when I was researching electric and cancer. For your government to treat you like this is terrible. In my country if you treat a pig like this you will to jail go. I come to Ireland with my ma en pa when I was small boy and remember how green en juicy the land was but now you tell me it is full with pylons. I was to bring my own children to there but now it does not happen as maybe they get cancer too. I don’t think anyone will want to go holiday there or buy food from there. We have small house in Haarlem but if you want to escape that place you must come stay with us. We will make a place. My heart is sore for you.
Hugo
My face is wet after reading this. For you to invite a stranger into your home. Truly you are blessed amongst men. I am sorry you will not be visiting my country which could still be lovely if we stopped this madness. Bless you, bless you.
Paddy I know there’s no point going over old rope but what were you thinking of ! Selling out to Eirgrid that was like selling your sole to the devil. Damned for all time. Here in the Comeraghs not sure if you even no where that is but we are absolutely committed to No Entry to Eirgrid you see it was never about the money. Eirgrid would have known that, had they actually read the submissions.
Now the government have set up an independent commission that is not that independent at all. The devil is certainly in the detail of the agreement. No community involvement we were told today. Do you read the papers much or get out at all, it would do you the world of good, there’s anti pylon meetings in every cross roads on every night, a bit like the hedge schools of old. Come down to County Waterford its pylon free, plenty fresh air, a landscape to die for and that’s the way it will stay.
When reminiscing about the good ole days of pre boom, plenty work, holidays, new cars every week, a healthy family, a disease free donkey or was it a horse think of Eirgrid on a slippery slope facing down a large gorge with Labour and Fine Gael hanging at this stage by a mere thread to a Slye fox’s
ass soon to come crashing down, one big fart and its all over. Keep the faith this will all be over soon
Niamh
I know and I hang my head for taking that devil money. I am paying for it now. I will bring my little girl down to the fresh air of the Comeraghs. We have not been down there. Your a dote.
I wish I could be as confident that the powers will take the correct action as you are Niamh.
There is an awful lot of money riding on this project for an awful lot of high powered investors. It will take a concerted effort by every Irish citizen to stop it!
I sincerely hope we can put a stop to it for all our sakes. It’s not just those who live close to pylons and high tension, high voltage cables who will be effected if this is permitted.
How will the general population react when they realise that even though they are ‘not in the path’ of the ‘power corridor’ they may well be in the lee of a wind-farm or their local amenities such as their rivers and streams may be damned and woodlands may be turned into reservoirs for hydro-electric facilities to feed the cables on the ‘pylons’/underground?
See: http://www.digitaldoit.com/photographers-canvas/
It behoves each and every one of us to refuse the kings shilling and fight this monster.
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PS. Paddy, I wrote my piece last summer when I was trying to make sense of what I was discovering in my locality, before the movement against ‘pylons’ began. There is a sentence at the end which I wrote long before I read your blog or knew of your child’s illness.
I’m very sorry to hear of your circumstances. You are not alone, there are many more like you all over Ireland who would act in the same way in similar conditions. That is exactly when these bullies are banking on.
You have my best wishes for your family into the future. Niamh is right, put your energy into your family and fighting these people.
With your permission, I’d very much like to put a link on my post to this website. Please be aware that I am active in Facebook etc and occasionally link my post to Facebook pages who are opposing this awful development.
We must not lose hope that out there somewhere there is somebody who can lead us out of this mess. Mary Robinson, where are you when we need you?
Seriously though, your point about this affecting the whole country is a valid one. GridLink is just the spine of the project – wait until you see the ribs of the beast stretching out over the whole country, city and fields alike, with cables and pylons in every neighbourhood, in every parish. This will affect everyone, even cityfolk, as the rulers intend on turning us into the wind farm of Europe. The number of windfarms in the pipeline is terrifying – people simply have no idea how big this thing is.
I have read your lovely words many times but couldn’t reply as anything I would say is crass compared to your lyrical verse.
Thank you. Please link me to your Facebook page, the more that know about this madness, the louder the voices in protest. God bless.
I agree we cannot lose hope and we need must continue to raise awareness and encourage others to become involved. People power is effective.
We need every Irish citizen involved in this movement against pylons if we are to succeed against the concerted efforts of investors, stakeholders and political will.
People support an issue if they are directly affected – which they will be if Eirgrid’s Gridlink is permitted – the clue is in the name ‘Gridlink’
Exactly. We need every person in every community to stand together and not allow EirGrid or the Rabbitte to succeed with their divide and rule tactics. Shoulder to shoulder, we answer Ireland’s Call.