Fuelling the North East
December 30, 2009With winter upon us, this is a particularly busy time of the year for Bord na Mona Fuels and their area manager Hugh Sheelan. As the leading branded marketer of solid fuel products within the Irish residential heating market, Bord na Mona is responsible for keeping hundreds of thousands of home across the country warm and cosy on these cold, long and dark nights.
"This is the peak time of the year for us. A lot of people associate Bord na Mona with briquettes and peat production, but there is a lot more to the company than that," the staunch Cooley Kickhams clubman explains.
Bord na Mona Fuels successfully diversified into coal when it acquired the business of Consolidated Holdings Ltd in 1995. It also acquired the Dundalk-based CCO (Connor, Cooper & O'Rourke) Quality Fuels in the same year. In 1998, Suttons Ltd of Cork was also acquired, which effectively doubled the size of Bord na Mona's coal business.
The company now imports and packages coal at five locations around the country - Foynes, Cork, Sligo, Galway and Dundalk. In addition, pre-packaged coal is distributed from six other locations - Drogheda (Moneymore), Dublin, Arklow, Tralee, Limerick and Kilmallock.
A full range of bituminous and smokeless coal, eco logs and wood pellets is offered. Bord na Móna Fuels holds the Q-Mark (based on Business Excellence from Excellence Ireland) for its coal business.
Hugh, who has worked in the industry since 1986 and joined Bord na Mona in 1998, is not only responsible for covering the North East region (Louth, North Meath and South Armagh). He also manages the Dundalk depot, which has become one of the company's main import and packaging hubs in recent years.
"A lot of the coal and smokeless fuels that used to come into the country through Dublin Port is now coming in through out depot on The Quays instead. We're basically catering for the east of the country at this stage.
"The new M1 motorway has been vital in Bord na Mona relocating a lot of its business to Dundalk. It has created many new jobs both directly and indirectly and has been good for the local economy overall," he says.
Coal is imported via Dundalk, where Bord na Mona also stocks eco logs and wood pellets. Most of the coal comes from Poland. "Polish coal is not quick-burning and therefore provides better value for money. And it gives out the same amount of heat, if not more, than the other types of coal that are out there," Hugh explains.
Bord na Mona Fuels is part of the Bord na Mona Group which was founded over 50 years ago. Established to develop Ireland's peat resources in the immediate post-War years, it is now active across a range of peat-based and other industries.
It has strong skills in resource management and development, manufacturing, distribution, science, engineering and human resource development. It owns 80,000 hectares of peatland, employs approximately 1,800 people and operates out of 30 locations, mainly in Ireland, but also in the United Kingdom and eastern United States. It has a turnover of nearly EUR400 million.
Bord na Mona supplies peat as a fuel for the generation of electricity; a range of peat-based fuels, coal and oil for residential and industrial heating; horticultural products for commercial horticulturists and home gardeners; and pollution abatement products, environmental consultancy and commercial laboratory services to industry and public authorities. It is a leading international supplier of products and services based on peat.
Bord na Mona's Strategic Vision is to profitably meet its customers' needs for high-quality products and services in the energy, horticultural and environmental markets. It will continuously anticipate and adapt to changing needs in these and related markets.
Each subsidiary is expected to demonstrate sustained profitability through enterprise and creativity; to exercise responsibility to customers; to show continuous improvement through the development and involvement of its people; to operate with care for the environment and society and to carry on its business with integrity and fairness.
Outside of work, Hugh's main passion is the GAA. A former Cooley Kickhams player, his brother Adrian is currently the club's chairman, while the Paddy Sheelan Cup (also known as the ACC Cup) is named after his father. The Paddy Sheelan Cup is the third most important competition on the Louth club football scene after the senior championship (Joe Ward Cup) and the senior league (Cardinal O'Donnell Cup).
"The Cooley peninsula is a real GAA hotbed. As well as Cooley Kickhams, you've got St. Patrick's and now Cuchulainn Gaels. It's like a religion up there," he says.
Like all Kickhams supporters, Hugh has been frustrated at the club's failure to claim the Joe Ward Cup since 1990. Their latest county final defeat came on October 4 last when they crashed to a 0-11 to 3-12 defeat to Mattock Rangers at Clan na Gael Park.
Last year's beaten finalists made a dream start when Adrian Reid found the net after just four minutes. The Collon men dominated the remainder of the half with a second goal from Ryan Lenaghan helping them to a 2-6 to 0-3 lead after 20 minutes.
Holding their north county opponents scoreless from play, Mattock went on to lead by 2-9 to 0-4 at the break.
Cooley, who came into the final with high hopes, eventually got their first score from play in the 35th minute through county player Brian White. The peninsula side scored four unanswered points after the restart, but it didn't take long for Mattock to reassert their authority with points from Leneghan and David Reid.
The Collon celebrations were already in full swing when Reid applied the coup de grace with a third goal at the second attempt in the closing stages.
"It was disappointing, especially as we had beaten the Mattocks earlier in the championship. The lads are a lot better than they showed on the day - they just seemed to freeze. On the plus side they qualified for the last four of the league, meeting St. Pat's in a derby semi-final.
"It's frustrating to think that we haven't won a senior championship in 19 years. But you have to keep the faith. Even though they were beaten, the players got a great reception when they returned to the clubhouse after the final and they vowed to learn from the experience and come back stronger next year," Hugh adds.
Hugh also keeps a close eye on the affairs of Sean O'Mahony's, who Bord na Mona Fuels are the main sponsors to. "They are a small club who are doing great work at underage level. They also have John O'Brien on the county team. They've retained their Division 1 league status and will be competing strongly in the league next year."
Also an avid Louth supporter - indeed sport is important to those in the company as chairman Fergus McArdle is a big sports fan - Hugh was disappointed with this year's performances when, after winning the O'Byrne Cup in January, the team appeared to lose its way and was eventually knocked out of the championship by Tipperary. If he has one word of advice for new manager Peter Fitzpatrick, it's to adapt a more direct brand of football than was seen from Louth in recent years.
"I wasn't a big fan of the short hand-passing game that was played under Eamonn McEneaney. It seems to suit the Ulster counties, but not Louth. I'd like to see the new manager go back to traditional style of catch and kick football Louth were known for back in the successful times," he concludes. Tweet
