Millions ‘buried’ in project that ‘will not be happening’ - councillor

“I told him it was time he and those alongside of him got the message.”

So stated Cllr Seamus Coyle (FF) when he related to Monday’s meeting of Monaghan County Council an encounter he had with Minister for Energy, Darragh O’Brien, at the recent FF Ard Fheis on the subject of the controversial north-south electricity interconnector project.

Cllr Coyle said that, when he met Minister O’Brien at the Ard Fheis, he told him that the interconnector “will not be happening”.

“It didn’t go down too well with him,” recalled the councillor, who is to the fore of the local political element of the campaign to have the major electricity infrastructure project undergrounded.

“He was ten yards from me and was still replying to me in a raised voice,” Cllr Coyle added, going on to complain about the “millions buried in the whole thing” by project developers EirGrid.

Responding to questions from Cllr Noel Keelan (SF), Council Chief Executive Robert Burns said there have been no recent requests by either the Minister or EirGrid for meetings with the Council in relation to the project.

Mr Burns had reported to the June Council meeting on a briefing he had given to the Minister on the progress of planning aspects of the interconnector along with Chief Executives from Cavan and Meath County Councils.

Cllr Keelan remarked that things seem very quiet on this issue at the moment. “The calm before the storm,” he pondered.

He added: “I fear a storm if EirGrid enters onto lands and holdings in the county where they are not wanted.”