Sinn Féin reps call on An Bord Pleanála to reject EirGrid application

In an impressive sign of party unity Sinn Féin elected representatives, from across the region impacted by the EirGrid proposals to erect massive 400kv power lines and pylons, submitted a joint submission to An Bord Pleanála last week.

In a submission that states clearly the party’s opposition to the EirGrid plans the Sinn Féin representatives also articulate their view that the project can and should proceed, but only via the alternative underground method favoured by local communities.

Prior to the submission being delivered to An Bord Pleanála Sinn Féin representatives from Counties Monaghan, Cavan and Meath came together and again reaffirmed the party’s determination to stand in full support of the community opposition to the current proposal. A similar submission has been made by the party to the planning authorities in the six counties. Among those at the meeting last week were Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD and Monaghan County Councillors Matt Carthy, Noel Keelan and Jackie Crowe.

In their submission the Sinn Féin representatives record their outright opposition “to the stated intent of Eirgrid to introduce an overhead pylon-supported 400kv interconnector through our countryside, across the lands of our neighbours and friends and dangerously close to homes, schools and other facilities frequently used by people and fields and facilities constantly in use by farm animals and those who tend to them”.

The submission contends that Eirgrid have continuously refused to consider the underground alternative stating that this “was best exemplified in their stated options, all three being overground pylon-supported routes. Their rigid dismissal of the validly-held concerns of citizens, and the wholly sustainable arguments against an overground approach, places their so-called consultation process outside the acceptable parameters of such an exercise”.

The Sinn Féin submission strongly objects to the proposals contained in Eirgrid’s application, now due for consideration by An Bord Pleanála, and it provides 6 key reasons for its refusal. They are:

1) There are real causes of concern for human and animal health arising from the nearby presence of overground cables.
• This is a view supported by several expert reports.
• Electromagnetic fields now have a reported danger level greater than has heretofore been realised.
• A significant body of research points to young children being most at risk.

2) The overwhelming number of affected landowners, most of whom are actively involved in farming, are opposed to what will prove to be a major intrusion, not just for those currently working the land but generationally into the future. Land will be closed to many activities and values will drop accordingly. The very presence of the pylons, and their load carriage, will be a turn-off for potential clients/investors in these farms in the future.

a. There will be significant curtailments of current farming practices by the presence of these pylons.
b. Livestock, and those who tend to them, will be placed at risk from emissions.

3) Residences, be they those of farmers or standalone rural dwellings of those not involved in agriculture, will face a downturn in value.

a. Sites, and possible sites, for domestic purposes will no longer attract the same interest.
b. Other attractions, business, social, leisure and cultural will be negatively affected.

4) The threat to schoolchildren and teachers and to those in nearby employments has already sparked serious anxiety, threatening the very fabric and future of our communities.

a. Our potential for development, for new and innovative business and community initiatives will be seriously curtailed.

5) The visual impact is certainly off-putting and arguably prohibitive and dramatically alters the environment and the natural presentation of our, to date, unspoiled countryside.

a. A recent report highlighted Cavan and Monaghan as a tourist destination because these counties can boast an unspoilt landscape.
b. Our drumlin topography is rich in sites of interest with known and as yet unresearched archaeologically important sites atop many of our countless hills.

6) The cost to each of us, the consumer, will be greater over the lifetime of the interconnector if the overground approach is to proceed.

a. While the ‘on paper’ initial outlay would appear to favour the overground method on economic grounds, the length of time involved in its physical construction as against the acceptable underground approach, the anticipated difficulties that will present from landowners and threatened families and communities, the greater maintenance cost of overground systems and the known greater outage rates of same, all place the underground cabling approach well ahead in cost terms over an anticipated forty year lifecycle.


Ó Caoláin remarks:

Speaking following the presentation of the Sinn Féin submission to An Bord Pleanála Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin stated that he hoped that their would be united political opposition to this project. Outlining the reasons why his party presented a united and joint submission to the bord Deputy Ó Caoláin stated: “As an all-Ireland party with elected representatives in all five counties affected by both the EirGrid and NIE plans we wanted to state clearly our view that this project can only proceed on the basis of the underground alternative. We also wished the record to show that we are not only voices in opposition to Eirgrid’s plans. We are voices that support absolutely the objective of putting in place an interconnector north-south and the creation of an all-Ireland electricity market. And we are wholly convinced that that goal will be best achieved by the underground cable method and for the reasons we clearly articulated.

“We have appealed, in the strongest possible terms, to An Bord Pleanála to reject the Eirgrid application and to find in favour of the undergrounding alternative that is steadily proving to be not only the popular choice of communities but the first choice of better-informed, more community-aware and far-sighted companies and systems installers globally.

“Faoi thalamh an bealach is fearr” he concluded.