Published: Wednesday, 3rd February, 2010 4:44pm

Power problem doesn't hamper Kildalkey NS eco campaign

Pupils at Kildalkey National School committed to change their lifestyle to reduce carbon emissions.

In the same week as Kildalkey National School signed up for a new environmental programme, it has been revealed that the school is also affected at times by a shortage of electricity.

Kildalkey school has been hampered by a lack of power, causing what principal Christopher Fox has called a "minor inconvenience and an annoyance".

He added that there have been problems with the power supply to the school but steps have already been taken to address the issue, although it could be some time before the changes are made. The problem become particularly acute during the recent big freeze when school personnel were unable to plug in electrical heaters without affecting the lighting system.

"At present there is not enough power going into the school. There are times during the day when there is a big draw on the electricity when the lights flicker.

"They don't flicker all the time and there are times during the day when it can be a problem. The supply of electricity fluctuates and there is too much demand at times during the school day," added the principal.

"There is electricity to the school and the heat is on and all the systems are working. However, during the very cold spell when you wanted the extra heat, plugging in electric heaters, that was the problem."

This week Kildalkey school was the venue chosen for the launch of the 10:10 environmental campaign aimed at teaching youngsters how to make changes in their lifestyle and help in the reduction of carbon emissions. The launch was shown on RTE TV on Monday evening.

Irish people have are being encouraged to work together to reduce carbon emission by 10 per cent this year. The campaign manager is Johnny Hesnan who formally attended Kildalkey National School.

"We've made a commitment to the 10:10 campaign. First of all we need to highlight to the children how they can reduce their impact environmentally such as plugging out mobile phones at night, not leaving things on standby," added Christopher Fox. "Simple things such as closing doors and not over-using resources such as water all that is part of it as well."