Councillors want to hear from Oireachtas members on interconnector project

Monaghan County Council wants to meet with Oireachtas representatives from Cavan/Monaghan next month to discuss issues relating to the proposed north-south electricity interconnector development.

The proposal was put to Monday’s monthly meeting of the Council by Noel Keelan and unanimously agreed.

The Sinn Fein man said the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien, had already written to the local authority stating he would not meet them to discuss the project. Cllr Keelan thought it was important the council take the next step by raising their concerns with the constituency’s TDs and Senators.

Thanking the planning section for a very comprehensive report issued in December, which detailed the planners’ engagement with ESB Networks personnel on aspects of the proposed development, Cllr Keelan referred to issues raised in a media release by the County Monaghan Anti Pylon Committee, the lobby group seeking to have the interconnector delivered underground.

Concerns

He said the group had expressed concern that EirGrid would see to amend, alter or change the nine conditions attached to the planning permission granted for the interconnector by An Bord Pleanála. He asked the planning section if it was possible that this could happen.

Senior Planner Adrian Hughes said the conditions attached to the planning permission were clear and binding. He therefore did not believe there was any mechanism to change them.

Cllr Keelan said he assumed any such attempt would have to go through a statutory process.

Mr Hughes said he was not aware of any suggestion by any party that there was an intention to attempt to change the conditions. He believed the concerns of the campaign group were in relation to the interpretation of the conditions.

“We interpret these conditions in a robust manner, and we will continue to do so,” the Senior Planner added.