While the debates about the ban on traditional lightbulbs continue it’s probably about time that the many people living in Ireland who will be physically and emotionally affected by the move to low energy (CFL) bulbs put their two cents in.

For those of you who are not light sensitive or allergic to UVA rays may not know that CFL bulbs and other forms on non-incandescent lighting cause extreme difficulties for those with lupus, forms of eczema, sjorgens disease, dermatitis, epilepsy etc.

Personally I have no low energy bulbs in my home, I have also avoided a lot of other forms of lighting because I can’t cope in brightly lit or luminous conditions. I have had problems with this since my teens and the lights in the classroom used to cause me huge difficulties. Teaching also brought it’s problems with me sitting in the dark if I wanted to retain my concentration – the students probably thought I was a vampire.

As it is with incandescent bulbs I sit in the dark in my office a lot and only use lamps or candles at home. Low energy bulbs and the banning of the ‘old sort’ is going to cause me a lot of discomfort in terms of my sight and concentration but it’s minor in comparison to the skin rashes and other painful blistering and outbreaks that other will contend with from the UV rays emitted. I fear that lightbulbs are going to be added onto the prescription list along with the pills and potions.

I wonder how much consultation John ‘lights out’ Gormley will being doing with all the groups effected? More here on the British campaign to raise awareness of how environmental concerns harms those with long term medical conditions. I see Joanna Tuffy from Labour has thought about those with various medical conditions who will be affected. Today she called the Minister ‘Google Gormley‘ (I prefer ‘Lights Out’ myself) – but when he tells people to look up the internet for advice on how to dispose of the dam things he sounds so like the junior minister who talked about the emergency plans and the iodine tablets on Marian Finucane show and didn’t have a breeze about what he was talking about.

For the moment I cannot but agree with Philip Scott in his thoughts on the Great Green Gaff…(his wife has migraines, another condition affected by these so called green saviours)

stock up on as many incandescent bulbs as you can before these dimwits cast yet further gloom across the world.

And, at least incandescent light bulbs have the unusual property of actually illuminating a room.