Protest groups pull out of pylon’s inquiry in North
The reconvened public inquiry into proposals for the Northern Ireland section of the North-South Interconnector scheme concluded in Armagh on Monday. The public inquiry into the scheme opened five years ago but was adjourned when it came to light that the planning application and environmental statement had not been properly advertised in the press.
North East Pylon Pressure Campaign (NEPPC) said that they were left with “no option” but to withdraw from proceedings and consider if further participation is of any value.
It follows a decision by Safe Electricity for Armagh and Tyrone (SEAT) and its legal team to withdraw from Interconnector Public Inquiry following admissions from the NI Department of Infrastructure and System Operator Northern Ireland (SONI Ltd) that there are issues in the Environmental Statement, which accompanies the application.
Jim Lennon, chairman of SEAT, said that there were issues in SONI's Environmental Statement concerning a section of the EU Regulation governing the application that relate to overriding public interest and the allocation of status of highest national priority.
At the hearing SEAT asked the presiding Commissioner, J deCoursey, to halt proceedings, but she refused the application.
Padraig O'Reilly of the NEPPC said that there is no excuse for the application to misleading the public on a critical component of the relevant regulation for the interconnector.
Mr O'Reilly said: “The campaign group in Northern Ireland, which NEPPC works with in close cooperation, SEAT, has spent significant time and monies preparing to challenge the application, which now turns out to be significantly compromised. SEAT is of the view that the errors admitted by SONI render the further participation in the agenda topics relatively futile, as the integrity of the whole process is seriously undermined.'
He said that NEPPC and SEAT have been left with no option but to withdraw from the Inquiry and seek further direction from all of its members.