Dispute erupts over council decision not to release information on access points for pylon construction

Anti-pylon protesters have reacted angrily to a decision by Meath County Council refusing to release information on the North South Interconnector.

The council has refused a Freedom of Information request for correspondence regarding the planning permission granted to Eirgrid for the project, which would see would 400 pylons erected in a line through Meath, Cavan, Monaghan, Armagh and Tyrone.

Describing the council's move as a “provocative approach” the North East Pylon Pressure Campaign (NEPPC) condemned the denial of critical information to the public “whose livelihoods could be affected for years to come.”

They have warned that “every inch of every access route will be scrutinised by NEPPC and landowners when the information is eventually made available” and point out that in some cases, the proposed access would go right in front of some farmers' front doors.

While Monaghan County Council has agreed to furnish all correspondence it received, NEPPC say Meath County Council has refused to furnish the information in advance of a decision being made on Eirgrid/ESB's compliance with planning permission.

NEPPC spokesperson, Padraig O'Reilly said the council's decision means the affected landowners have no sight “of decisions being made behind closed doors on how ESB plan to force access onto landowners private property. No finalised official access routes have ever been sent to landowners.”

“It was a condition of planning permission for the North South Interconnector that access routes for the pylons must be agreed by each local authority.

“The access routes were not submitted as part of the planning permission so the councils have a big responsibility to ensure compliance with normal planning conditions,” said Mr O'Reilly.

“It is our view that access in a lot of cases will require planning permission which is why we need to see the routes.”

Mr O'Reilly said they had found it necessary for the last 15 years to carry out routine Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to all local authorities to ascertain latest activities related to the North-South Interconnector project because “the project developer Eirgrid and its contractor ESB have adopted a strategy from the outset of dismissing the affected landowners and associated communities as nothing but a third party in the whole planning process.”

“The three local authorities – Monaghan, Cavan and Meath- have by and large been supportive in responding to the numerous FOI requests over the years related to the status of compliance with the nine conditions attached to the planning approval in 2016.

“In the last number of months some key documentation has been submitted by mainly ESB that is of extremely high relevance to all affected landowners and their neighbouring farmers, including such information as planned access routes onto each landowner’s private property.

None of this is information is available on the local authorities’ website or ever sent to the landowners, nor to NEPPC who represents the vast majority of these farmers.

“The latest FOI request from NEPPC to the three local authorities has been met with a positive decision from Monaghan to release all recent submissions. We await clarification on a response from Cavan local authority, but Meath has refused a request to release all documents pertaining to the request, totalling 420 pages.”

He explained the information requested includes the finalised access routes submitted by ESB on the 26th June for the 171 pylons planned for erection in Meath.

Meath County Council said that the routes and all related documents will only be released when the relevant condition is approved, stating that a decision is due in by 20th August.

“NEPPC wants to highlight that this is an outrageous stance to take and is in complete contrast to the other two local authorities. It means that the public entitlement and rights to this information is being denied.

“The routes presented in the planning application were emphasised as ‘indicative only’ and no access routes were submitted for approval in 2016.

This makes the current information submitted to Meath County Council of critical importance to be placed on the public file immediately, which is being denied.

“The affected landowners have no rights in terms of making representations about unpermitted entry onto their own property. Bear in mind some of the ‘indicative routes’ are planned to go past the front door of some farmers’ homes.

Mr O'Reilly called on all councillors and elected representatives to now step up and ensure that due process is respected and delivered.

A spokesperson for Meath County Council said it processes all Freedom of Information requests in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Where a requester is dissatisfied with a decision, they may seek an internal review. If they remain dissatisfied following that internal review, they may appeal the decision to the Office of the Information Commissioner.

In this instance, the requester has been advised that the information requested will be published on 20 August 2026, in line with the Council’s procedures for such matters.