Interconnector plans quashed in the North

The decision to quash planning permission in Northern Ireland for the £200 million (€228 million) cross-border electricity interconnector has “no bearing on the status of the planning consent” in the Republic, the company overseeing the southern side of the project has said.
EirGrid spokesperson, David Martin, acknowledged that a hard Brexit casts a long shadow over the project, but contended that the political will exists to progress with the plans. “The regulators at a political level in Belfast, Dublin and London are very supportive of an All-Ireland market. We are operating on the basis that it will continue. On her visit to Belfast last week, Theresa May said, even if there is a hard Brexit, the single electricity market would be protected,” he told The Anglo-Celt.
Opponents to the planned infrastructural undertaking have responded angrily to the statement. “The arrogance of EirGrid knows no bounds. The waste of taxpayers’ monies knows no bounds. The planning application was first submitted over 10 years ago. It was littered with errors and mistakes,” Padraig O’Reilly of the North East Pylon Pressure Campaign (NEPPC) said. A final judgement on a legal challenges lodged by objectors under consideration by the Irish Supreme Court is expected in the coming weeks.
Last Friday [February 8] the Department for Infrastructure in the North submitted an application to the High Court in Belfast to have the planning permission for the interconnector quashed.
The case was conceded at the High Court in Northern Ireland on the basis that the North-South Interconnector wrongly received the go-ahead in the absence of a minister. The decision overrules an announcement made in January of last year in which the department granted approval for the Northern Ireland section of the overhead scheme between Tyrone and Meath. However, a group formed under the name Safe Electricity for Armagh and Tyrone (SEAT) issued proceedings to claim the move was unlawful.
The group's action was based on the contention that a development of regional significance needed to be signed off by a minister. The challenge centred on the legal power of civil servants to take decisions without a functioning executive at Stormont. EirGrid said their northern Irish partners are making a revised submission based on emergency legislation overriding the SEAT objection, which will be in place until August.
Mr O'Reilly is heartened by the decision of the Northern Irish courts: “The outcome represents a victory for the SEAT campaign group. They represent up to 6,000 people who own land or live along the proposed route of the pylons and lines.”
He criticised some of the claims by EirGrid: “The ‘lights will go out in Northern Ireland’? Not true. EirGrid's latest 10-year forecast report states that there will be a surplus for the next 10 years at least, even in a highest demand scenario and even with the predicted closure of some generating stations.”
Conversely EirGrid spokesperson, Mr Martin, said the determination on the Northern element of the project was not an impediment: “This decision applies to the section of the project falling within Northern Ireland, and has no bearing on the status of the planning consent achieved in Ireland. That consent remains valid and we are expecting a final decision from the Irish Supreme Court in the coming weeks, which if positive, will allow the project to proceed to construction.”
“The Interconnector remains the most important infrastructure project on the island of Ireland. When in place it will result in significant savings for consumers, and will help to achieve long-term security of supply. It will also allow for increased levels of renewable energy on the system,” Mr Martin added.
On the opposite side of the fence Mr O'Reilly called on elected representatives to take a strong line on the matter. “NEPPC requests this Government take accountability for doing its job. Demand a stop to all activities and further wasting of monies by EirGrid until there is clarity on NI. Stop stating that this is ‘critical infrastructure’ and then refuse to admit that it can only succeed as an underground project.”
For EirGrid the Interconnector is still going ahead. “We will continue to work with the community, landowners and all of our stakeholders, to ensure the North South Interconnector is delivered as soon as possible,” Mr Martin concluded.