Corkmen return from work in Holland on world's biggest wind farm project
Thursday July 29 2010
TWO North Cork electricians had to embrace from minus 18 degrees Celcius just before Christmas to a searing 36 degrees in July as they worked in Holland on the largest off-shore windfarm in the world
Jason McAree from Mallow and Tadgh Mullane from Liscarroll were among the 200 Irish men working on the Greater Gabard offshore wind farm in the North Sea. The duo are now back in Ireland and Jason told The Corkman that the work on the wind farm was an invaluable experience for both of them.
So, how exactly did two young North Cork men end up at isolated portal town at Vlissingen, Holland?
With a smile, Jason (26) said he had heard about the job through good, old fashioned word of mouth in Mallow and after that things all happened pretty fast. He secured a contract to work as a electrician with Sepam on a Wednesday thinking he would be placed somewhere in Galway. "On Sunday morning, I got a call to pack my bag and to get on a plane to Amsterdam," he said.
He worked on 140 turbines which provide electricity for 500,000 houses. The two men worked from 7am until 6pm five days per week, and then on the third week they worked six days. He said Holland has absolutely embraced wind turbine energy and the scale of the engineering involved was nothing like he had seen before.
However, during his eight month stint in Holland he did manage to make it back to Mallow five times, which he said was great.
"Before I left there was just no work and men that I knew were on the dole. I'm back after an eight month contract and those men still do not have any work. It is very tough out there right now. I'm hoping to get another job as quick as I can," he said.
- MARIA HERLIHY
