Opinion: For the first Christmas in decades this iconic Irish product wasn't available

Every Christmas since moving into my own house, bales of briquettes were almost as important as the turkey and ham on the list of things that needed to be bought for Christmas. 

For convenience of being able to throw a few bales in the back of the car and store them in a shed, the iconic Bord na Móna product was hard to beat. 

With a strap which made it convenient to carry, the bale of briquettes was really unrivalled. 

The ubiquitous briquette stand outside almost every shop in the country, meant that humble bales of briquettes were very much part of the rural and urban landscape. 

The ease in which bales could be stacked in a shed and then lit without fuss in a stove or open fire, also made it almost unrivalled.

While we know that we must move away from carbon-based fuel products, the lack of bales of briquettes this year was not ideal for many, particularly the elderly. 

In its place, there has been some welcome carbon neutral heating alternatives including Willow Warm briquettes, marketed as Ireland's carbon neutral briquette. There are also a number of products including E-briquettes. 

Amongst others, Arigina Fuels are also producing carbon neutral biofuel, Harvest Flame. 

However, it may take some time for them to be embraced to the same level as the iconic peat briquette, captured so evocatively in the advert featuring the Marino Waltz.

And the end of the availability of peat briquettes in almost all shops highlights the issue of Just Transition and the job losses experienced, particularly in the midlands, from the end of peat harvesting and fuel production. This is an even bigger issue as Ireland aims to reach its climate change targets while also having a secure and reliable fuel source. 

In the meantime, we can feel a pang of nostalgia for a warm briquette fire, even if it was not in the environment's best interest!