£300 prize for Camlough Man

Ciaran O’Callaghan from Camlough recently received a £300 feed mill cheque from William Hamilton of BGE (Northern Ireland), after his family’s entry was drawn as the first prize winner in a free prize draw for BGE (Northern Ireland) landowners at the Balmoral Show.

BGE (Northern Ireland) invited around 1000 landowners, whose land the natural gas transmission pipelines cross, to the Balmoral Show to visit their stand as a reminder of the safety initiative, Dial Before You Dig (DBYD).

Ian Rose, Transmission Operations Engineer for BGE (Northern Ireland) said:  “The Balmoral Show gives us an ideal opportunity to talk to our landowners and remind them of the safety precautions to be taken into consideration when any building work is planned near our natural gas transmission pipelines.  

“This year, after the popularity of a similar initiative in 2013, we offered our landowners the chance to win cheques for £300, £150 or £50, payable to a feed supplier of the winners’ choice.  The O’Callaghan’s entry was drawn by an independent third party and the family has chosen to spend his £300 prize with Creggan Farm Supplies.”

Within the last decade, BGE (Northern Ireland) has built two transmission pipelines and associated spurlines from Carrickfergus to Coolkeeragh Power Station in the North-West and from County Meath through Counties Armagh and Down before linking into the North-West pipeline outside Ballyclare.  More than 200km of high pressure pipes cross the land of approximately 1000 landowners in Northern Ireland.  

Ian continued:  “White aerial markers with the yellow and black ‘Dial before you Dig’ logo and helpline number are in place to show contractors and farmers the route of the pipelines.  These also act as reminders for landowners to contact us before they undertake any work.   

“If any works are planned, we can help to identify the exact location of pipes and, if helpful, can supervise the works free of charge to ensure they are carried out safely.”

BGE (Northern Ireland) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bord Gáis; one of the island’s leading energy providers.  It was established to build, develop and operate Bord Gáis’ natural gas transmission network in Northern Ireland.