EDITOR – I am strongly in favour of MEP Seán Kelly’s efforts to retain summer time on an all-year-round basis.

It would be good for people working outdoors in gardening and horticulture, industries, as well as agriculture construction.

It would also be appreciated where outdoor sports activities are pursued, especially after-school sports. Tourism would also benefit.

I encourage all of his efforts and wish him every success with a positive outcome. I encourage early liaising with the British Government to synchronise their time policy with Ireland, to facilitate air, sea, and land transport.

John Hosford,

Enniskeane.

Our letter writer thinks maintaining summer time all year would be of benefit to those working outdoors. In the meantime, we remind all our readers to ‘keep with the times’ and put the clocks back an hour on Sunday morning.

Wind energy regulations are 20 years out of date

EDITOR– Ms O’ Brien’s long letter to the people of West Cork (The Southern Star, 18/10/2025) could have been expressed far more succinctly: shut up and put up.

The problem is, unlike Wind Energy Ireland who lobby on behalf of their domestic and international members and view this small, damp and windy island as a highly lucrative building site to be developed to the maximum, for me it’s home.

So, excuse me if I do not want to find myself living 650 metres from a cluster of industrial scale turbines, 160 metres high, enduring the blight of flicker, noise, infrasound vibration, and building disturbance while not very ‘green’ concrete is pumped into the hills for these so-called ‘green’ windfarms.

Check out the manufacturing process, building process, fire risks and current difficulties in disposing of obsolete turbines.

As for turbines not being invisible, we in Cork and our neighbours in Kerry are highly aware of that. According to WEI’s own data, these two counties account for just under a quarter of all wind energy capacity on the island.

Current wind energy regulations are twenty years out of date and the promised update still has not been published.

For how many more years will the carrot of cheaper energy bills be dangled? Our energy bills continue to rise as we continue to pay twice to subsidise green energy development through our bills with the Public Service Levy (PSO) and personal taxation. Cheaper bills? I won’t hold my breath.

The goal is, of course, to supply the energy and water guzzling AI datacentres; there are forty more in planning at the moment in addition to the 82 in existence and 14 being built.

Data centres used 22% of all electricity used in 2024, due to rise to an estimated 30% by 2030.

If we produce enough power for our needs, the government could say no to more AI datacentres, thus minimising the need for many more windfarms and preserve our beautiful landscape for future generations to enjoy.

But where’s the money in that?

Brid Collins,

Kealkill,

Bantry.

A dreary campaign, into electoral apathy

EDITOR – As the Presidential election campaign draws to a close it is becoming even more dreary, and the two remaining contenders less and less impressive.

The campaign may well be remembered for its descent into electoral apathy after worthy prospective candidates were unceremoniously sidelined by county councils. Party allegiance clearly took precedent over giving the electorate a meaningful choice.

Far from exercising their privilege to assess, and where appropriate, nominate those who would be an addition to the ballot, the party-whip system was used upon councillors to ensure non-party candidates were excluded irrespective of their suitability for the office of president.

Fianna Fail TDs too, were found out to be mere yes-men, following their leader, unable to question or think for themselves. This presidential election has revealed just how much our democracy has become paralysed, short-sighted, and self-serving.

Ironically, a deliberate, assertive and principled spoil-the-vote campaign, may be the first necessary step to focus our public representative’s attention and so recover an authentic, functioning, democracy.

Gearoid Duffy, 

Lee Road,

Cork