Supreme Court upholds pylon plan

The Supreme Court has upheld planning approval for the southern section of the North South Interconnector, but objectors have vowed to fight on.
An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission in December 2016 but a judicial review was sought in the High Court.

That case was dismissed by the High Court in August 2017 but the judgement was then appealed, culminating in the Supreme Court's decision yesterday (Tuesday), February 19.
The decision was welcomed by Eirgrid, with director of grid development Liam Ryan. “We are pleased that the project has now cleared all of the planning and legal hurdles in Ireland and we are hopeful that the same can be achieved in Northern Ireland in the coming months,” he said.
However, local groups have stated that “nothing has changed” as far as they are concerned.
The critical issue of access to landowners’ property, they say, “could not be assessed” by the court because routes were never submitted for approval to An Bord Pleanála.
“Nothing changes on the ground,” a spokesperson for the North East Pylon Pressure Committee (NEPPC) told the Celt. “Not one single official access route has been sent to any landowner. No agreement for access exists at landowner level. Any attempts by ESB and EirGrid to request the local authorities to vary of the conditions imposed will be challenged by landowners, one by one, at the appropriate time.”