TDs don't let 'sleeping dogs' lie

Sinn Féin TDs and government party Oireachtas members clashed repeatedly at Monday’s meeting of Monaghan County Council over their parties’ track records on the contentious north-south electricity interconnector project.

Deputies Cathy Bennett and Matt Carthy (SF) and David Maxwell (FG) and Senator Robbie Gallagher (FF) were admonished by the Council Cathaoirleach, Cllr Aidan Campbell of Fine Gael for their verbal crossfire.

“The Council had a good meeting among ourselves earlier today with none of this going on,” the Cathaoirleach told them.

Aontú Senator Sarah O’Reilly was also in attendance in response to the invitation to Cavan/Monaghan Oireachtas members to the meeting to hear councillors’ concerns in relation to the project after repeated requests for a meeting with Minister for Energy Darragh O’Brien had been refused.

Deputy Maxwell conveyed apologies on behalf of Deputy Brendan Smith (FF) and Senators Joe O’Reilly (FG) and Diarmuid Wilson (FF), who he said were unable to attend as they were meeting British Ambassador to Ireland Kara Owen.

The TDs and Senators were presented with a proposal, moved by Cllr Noel Keelan (SF) and seconded by party colleague Sinéad Flynn, requesting them to raise the interconnector issue in the Dáil and Seanad and highlight the lack of community acceptance of the proposal in its current form and the evolving technology and construction methods, which appear to make undergrounding the lines more viable.

Cllr Keelan called for the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to investigate the expenditure on the interconnector project since its inception in 2007 and urged movement in the government position on undergrounding “to avoid conflict and confrontation in our affected communities”.

Cllr P.J. O’Hanlon (FF) called on the Oireachtas members to “keep fighting for the cause as we will continue to do in the Council chamber”.

Cllr Sean Gilliland (FG) also urged investigation of the level of public funds spent on the project, stating that the important N2 upgrade from Clontibret to the Border in County Monaghan had been stalled due to the denial of €600,000 in funding to move it to the next stage, leaving them on the cusp of having to start the project again.

“We could have this road built ten times over and other roads too with the amount of taxpayers’ money already spent on the interconnector,” he argued, referring to the number of lives that have been lost on the N2 stretch in question.

Cllr Gilliland maintained that undergrounding the interconnector is now “a credible alternative”.

Deputy Bennett said she is a member of the PAC and has raised the “waste of taxpayers’ money” on the interconnector on numerous occasions.

“Someone has to take control of the finances,” she stated. “Sinn Féinn is not in government and can’t do it.”

She added that Minister O’Brien has to be accessible to the Council members: “The government is not listening to the people of Monaghan – they are wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

Senator O’Reilly said she had looked for a Commencement Debate in the Seanad with Minister O’Brien on this issue and instead had been furnished with a statement from the Minister by his Junior Minister Neale Richmond, which said that community concerns have been heard.

The statement claimed that construction of the overhead line has already commenced in Northern Ireland and it is the Irish government’s hope that construction in the south will commence “imminently”.

The Minister’s statement, circulated by Senator O’Reilly at the meeting, ended: “The issue of undergrounding the project has been debated, assessed and determined not to be possible. Now we must continue to move ahead with delivering the project.”

Deputy Carthy described EirGrid’s handling of the interconnector issue as “a masterclass in how not to engage with people on a major infrastructure project”. He rejected Minister O’Brien’s claim that the project has commenced in the North, stating that it is still subject to judicial review.

“If both sides maintain their current position,” Deputy Carthy continued, “what we are going to see is societal upheaval within our county”.

Deputy Maxwell said he fully supports undergrounding the project but the opinion held by EirGrid and the Government is that this approach is too costly.

Deputy Carthy asked Deputy Maxwell how many times he has raised the interconnector issue in the Dáil.

Deputy Maxwell said that he had spoken to Minister O’Brien in person about it. “Sinn Féin can say they have no control but they had John O’Dowd in charge in the North and now they have Liz Kimmins in the same portfolio.”

When Deputies Carthy and Bennett continued to press him about his Dáil record on the matter, Deputy Maxwell retorted: “That is Sinn Féin, shouting you down. I will fight to get it undergrounded but I don’t think it is going to happen. We are not being listened to by the Ministers here or in the North.”

Senator Gallagher was of the view that the campaign against the overgrounding of the interconnector has been successful in the sense that not a single pylon has been erected in the 20 years since the project was first mooted.

“The temptation is there to try to score political points and it’s disappointing to see that here today,” he continued.

He accused Sinn Féin reps of “speaking out of both sides of its mouth".

"If the politicians here have failed, the SF people in the North have failed too,” said Sen Gallagher.

Cllr Gilliland called on the Sinn Féin Deputies to request that Minister Kimmins meet with the County Council on the issue; this was seconded by Cllr P.J. O'Hanlon.

“As long as we can get Darragh O’Brien in here too,” said Deputy Bennett. “You are asking for the Minister in the North and you can’t get the Minister from down here.”

Deputy Carthy said it is “absolutely crazy” that government party representatives are looking to other jurisdictions to solve problems of their party’s making.

Further heated exchanges continued between the reps before Cllr Bronagh McAree (SF) suggested that Cllr Gilliland’s proposal be amended to request that Minister O’Brien meet the Council at the same time as Minister Kimmins.

Cllr Gilliland said he has already lent support to a request to meet Minister O’Brien.

Concluding the debate, Cllr Keelan described the interconnector issue as “a sleeping dog”.

“As soon as EirGrid or their agents seek access to lands, there will be community breakdown,” he stated, also predicting a further legal challenge to the project in this jurisdiction.