Construction phase of interconnector ‘in the coming months’

Electricity grid operator EirGrid is planning to proceed to the construction phase of the north-south interconnector project in the Republic of Ireland “in the coming months”, the members of Monaghan County Council learned at their February meeting.

This was stated by EirGrid Chief Infrastructure Officer Siobhan O’Shea in correspondence circulated at the meeting in which she requested a briefing opportunity with the Council’s Chief Executive Robert Burns and members of his senior executive team.

“The north-south interconnector is an essential infrastructure project that will link the electricity transmission networks of Ireland and Northern Ireland,” Ms O’Shea stated in her letter, “leading to a more secure, affordable and sustainable supply of electricity across the island.”

Cllr Noel Keelan requested the Chief Executive to bring forward at the meeting the ongoing concerns of the elected members about the methodology being applied in this project. He said the indication that EirGrid intended to commence work in the coming months “is something which should concern all of us”.

Fianna Fáil’s Seamus Coyle won unanimous support at the meeting for a motion requesting that the County Council, all local authorities and the Government “make it very clear to EirGrid that compliance enforcement of the conditions as set by An Bord Pleanála in the granting of planning permission for the north-south 400kV interconnector must be respected and fully enforced”.

Cllr Coyle said he wanted to ensure that the interconnector project didn’t go ahead “because I believe it will be the destruction of many parts of our county”.

He asked what sort of shape local roads will be in when machinery and materials are being brought in and out of fields during the planned construction process.

Referring to a statement by Ms O’Shea in her correspondence about “ten tower structures successfully completed from the foundation and progressed to half-tower framing in Northern Ireland”, Cllr Coyle said it was his understanding that work has been brought to a standstill in Northern Ireland because of a court challenge.

Cllr Coyle’s motion was seconded by his party colleague Cllr Raymond Aughey. Cllr Coyle requested that the motion be circulated to Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD; Minister for Transport, Climate, Environment and Energy Darragh O’Brien TD and all Cavan/Monaghan Oireachtas representatives.

Cllr Keelan said that all the councillors wanted the interconnector delivered but using undergrounded technology.