Fergus Cassidy

Reaction

WHAT lingers longest in the memory of the 1978 anti-nuclear protest is the rain. With a toe stretching out into the Irish Sea, Carnsore Point on the Wexford coast offered little protection to 10,000 sodden souls.

Whether it was the cause, the music, the escape from the parents or the glorious Hari Krishna soup and manna from heaven, we ignored our shrivelling skins and stayed.

In hindsight, it would be vain-glorious and just plain wrong to claim that the 'No Nukes' movement and the two festivals at Carnsore were responsible for derailing the government's determined plans for a nuclear reactor.

Without doubt, the protest movement acted as a magnet for opposition and provided a much needed platform for education and debate. In the end, though, the main reason given for needing a reactor became its downfall. Economics.

The world oil crisis of the mid-1970s was reaching its tipping point and recession loomed large. Ireland lay unprotected, facing financial meltdown. Most of the 10,000 Carnsore protesters would soon be heading for London, Munich or Boston.

Those who stayed got a hatch number and butter vouchers. The nuclear reactor was surplus to requirements and was also made redundant.

Almost 30 years on, the possibility of Ireland joining the global 'nuclear family' is a distinct possibility once again. We're not alone, as many countries are questioning how to meet the energy needs of growing economies.

If the Irish government has been listening to the diplomatic drums, it's only a matter of time before the idea of a nuclear reactor is seeded in the political landscape. And off we go again.

This time round, that landscape will be unrecognisably different. Back then, the issue was a purely emotive one. The government railed against opponents, labelling them Flat Earthers. A nuclear reactor would create thousands of badly-needed jobs.

It would also be an important symbol of Ireland's modernity, its forward-facing, progressive positioning toward the world at large. Great economic powers were nuclear and why should Ireland be left out?

There was limited technical information available to the public on nuclear power generation. The bits which were accessible were shrouded in mists of scientific techno-babble. We were to trust in experts, who knew more than we ever could. The science wasn't that important compared to Ireland taking its place on the podium of economic winners.

Today, with that objective already achieved, the arguments for a reactor are solely economic - for the future health of the Celtic Tiger. The graphs will emerge revealing how our energy consumption could outstretch our ability to generate it. The alarm bells will surely follow.

Those who support the nuclear option won't need any encouragement to fuel emotions, as they did so well in the past. Jobs, prosperity, security. Some opponents will also be tempted to sing from the same hymn sheet. Safety, technophobia, waste.

These tactics will not have the same effect as they did in the 1970s. Ireland's isolation has ended and the social and cultural dikes have been breached. Those wedded to a nuclear solution had better have a lot more to offer than 'why not?' That won't wash this time around.

Ireland's youthful, highly-educated and well-travelled population will not readily accept mantras from the high priests of science or economics. Any campaign of opposition will focus on 'why'.

The sorry trail of governmental incompetence on major technology projects should also provide wind to campaign sails. A glance back at the fiasco on electronic voting reveals a vulnerable and penetrable underbelly of failure. Trust us is untenable.

Debate in the 1970s took place on the letters pages of the few available newspapers. In small halls and pub backrooms. There was one radio and television station.

With the internet comes new media and new, alternative ways of communicating and exchanging information. Most importantly is the ability to be informed. To educate ourselves, to make up our own minds.

The campaign run by the Irish Citizens for Trustworthy E-Voting is a model for what can be achieved today. This dedicated group of people played a big role in bringing a dangerous and ill-thought out proposal to a humiliating halt. Most of their work was carried out online.

Protest is no longer the option of last resort. It is not anti but pro. For knowledge, for more information and for closer scrutiny of issues which affect our lives. For freedom to decide.

Two years ago, a government minister opened a wind farm on the site originally earmarked for the nuclear reactor. Aware of the site's history, he remarked that one of his predecessors "referred to the protesters as the 'flat earthers'. Well thanks be to God for the protesters".

Amen to that.

(c) Fergus Cassidy