MET ÉIREANN OBJECTED to swapping out Irish name Diarmuid for the English name Dave in polls on what to call this season’s storms.
The meteorology service teamed up with colleagues in the UK and the Netherlands to pick out names for inclement weather in the autumn, and the winter to come.
Internal records detail how there was healthy debate over what names to include to ensure each country was well represented.
In one email, a member of the cross-border selection team said they wanted to include more common names in the polls, because so few remained in the running.
An email said: “I know it is always a bit challenging to get the final list agreed … [and] sorry to be a pain but I would like to suggest we make a couple of changes to simplify some of the names as there are now very few simple names on the list.”
As a suggestion, they said: “In the voting swap Diarmuid or Dafydd for Dave (this came out very high in our public vote anyway).”
In response, Met Éireann head of forecasting Evelyn Cusack wrote to plead the case for keeping Diarmuid in the running
She wrote: “Dave is another English name and for diversity Diarmuid and Dafydd tick the Irish and Welsh boxes. That’s why we decided to put these to the public vote for some interest and fun and to get greater engagement. Therefore, I vote not to replace with Dave.”
The inclusion of Diarmuid had already been the subject of discussion after one mooted list had included it as Dermot instead.
Met Éireann communications meteorologist Bonnie Diamond wrote: “Suggestion to change ‘Dermot’ to Diarmuid – this is a traditional Irish name; Dermot is actually the anglicised version. It is pronounced ‘Deer – mud’.”
There was also discussion over the inclusion of the name Arwen, which had originally been intended as a Welsh candidate.
However, it later emerged it might not “be a true Welsh name anyway”, according to emails.
The met services wondered as well whether there might be block-voting from the various countries to choose their own names.
An email said: “Is that a good or a bad thing? If we thought a little friendly rival was good, then we could always very explicitly have one of each Irish, Dutch, Scottish, Welsh and English [names] within the list from which to choose.”
Earlier emails detail how Met Éireann were keen to have a uniquely Irish name added to the voting.
Another email from Bonnie Diamond said: “We’d love to have a distinctive Irish name in the list, so can we please include ‘Méabh’ in the public vote in August? This is an Irish female name roughly meaning Celtic Queen.”
Met Éireann also queried the inclusion of the name Charlie on the list, which they felt might cause confusion for Irish people.
“Hurricane Charley was a big weather event in Ireland in the 1980′s with flooding and fatalities, so we can’t have a Storm Charlie,” said an email.
They also asked for the fadas to be included on Pól and Seán, according to the records that were released under FOI.
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