Fergus Cassidy

Power mad

Carnsore Point in Wexford is known for its beautiful beaches and frequent mentions on the shipping weather forecast. But if things had worked out differently, there would now be a ring of steel there with only seagulls to distract the heavily-armed guards.

The area was chosen in the mid-1970s as the site for a nuclear power station, a technology this country was going to embrace for the first time. It was prompted by rising energy costs due to an oil crisis but it also became, for a time, a symbol of Ireland's modernity and technical ambition.

A deeply-divided national debate, two major protests on the site and the involvement of many committed dissenters ensured that the project never got beyond the drawing board.

A public inquiry was agreed at one stage but that too was abandoned and forgotten. And when it comes to new technology, it appears a lot of the lessons from that time have also been forgotten.

By its very nature, technology sometimes can not be easily explained in a way we can see with our eyes. The 'magic' of voices travelling down wires or energy travelling down cables is hard to describe or understand without a technical grounding.

But the consequences of a given technology are more easily understood. Those consequences - the pros and the cons - are where public debate generally becomes heightened.

There may have been perceived benefits in going nuclear but there was also massive potential for damage and harm. Those who belonged in the latter camp dedicated themselves to informing the public of those dangers. In response, elements within the government resorted to mud-flinging and invective.

At the 1978 Fianna Fail Ard Fheis, energy minister Dessie O'Malley said he wanted "an informed debate on this", before going on to remark: "We don't want members of the Flat Earth Society shooting off at a tangent".

Over twenty-five years later, electronic voting has become the new Carnsore and only the language has changed. Flat-earther has been replaced with Luddite, crank, anti-globalisation and "that lot". Witness this exchange in the Dail from last month:

Bernard Allen: "The Irish Computer Society said: 'Any electronic voting system must include a paper-based voter-verified audit trail'."

Bernard Durkan: "Are they cranks?"

Minister Cullen: "They are linked to the anti-globalisation movement. The deputy should check them out. They are all the same".

Allen: "Irish technology experts have told the government its system must include a paper-based voter-verified audit trail."

Cullen: "They are not experts in this field."

Allen: "The Minister has made a serious allegation about genuine people--"

Cullen: "They are not accredited to anything. They have no expertise or international accreditation."

(Interruptions).

Allen: "The Minister has vilified people who cannot protect themselves."

Cullen: "I have not vilified them. I said they are not accredited--"

Allen: "The Minister said they are linked to the anti-globalisation movement and suggested we should check them out."

Cullen: "Yes, they are."

Allen: "The Minister should withdraw that allegation against people who cannot protect themselves."

Cullen: "I will not."

Durkan: "The Minister has cast aspersions on people outside this House. In accordance with Standing Orders--"

Cullen: "I think they are proud of their links."

Durkan: "No, I am sorry, I do not agree. On a point of order, the Minister has cast aspersions--"

Cullen: "They will regard my remarks as a compliment, a badge of honour."

Minister Cullen last week withdrew his ignorant remarks concerning the Irish Computer Society. But I haven't witnessed such hostility toward those with a differing view on technology since the Carnsore Point days.

Electronic voting is still in its infancy, much like nuclear power once was. The Americans are still in the process of setting up a national standards body for electronic voting. The world's foremost engineering body, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is attempting to do the same.

To date, no national parliament in Europe has been elected using electronic voting. In India, currently doing just that, a Supreme Court challenge was launched last week by a retired computer professor.

While some countries use electronic voting for local or municipal elections, it is still very early days for this fledgling technology.

The big error, and one worth learning from, is that the Irish government didn't (or wouldn't) stop the issue of electronic voting becoming a party political one. Like their predecessors, it treated the issue as just another element of the rough and tumble, argy-bargy of Irish politics. With no room for input from those standing outside.

This country owes a debt of thanks to those technically minded people who cared enough to ignore the slings and arrows. People like Margaret McGaley, a PhD candidate in computer science, who wrote a report called 'Electronic Voting: A Safety Critical System' in March 2003. She founded the Irish Citizens for Trustworthy Evoting shortly after. The group played a crucial role and used the net and the web in a way which hadn't been seen here before.

Others like Joe McCarthy, a system analyst and computer programmer, was also brave and committed.

The Carnsore Point site is now a wind farm run by the ESB. At the opening ceremony last year, junior minister Noel Ahern reminisced: "One of my predecessors referred to the protesters as the 'flat earthers'... . Well, thanks be to God for the protesters."

Amen to that.