Interconnector will be pushed out years if CPOs are pursued

Eirgrid and ESB networks are being urged to go back to the drawing board and underground the lines for the North-South Interconnector project.

It is understood Compulsory Purchase Orders may be pursued to gain access to land along the route with the project now unlikely to be operational before October 2031.

Campaigners have been pointing out that if Eirgrid had listened to the people along the route and put the power lines underground, the interconnector would have been completed long ago.

Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy, Darragh O’Brien, is due to meet with representatives of EirGrid and ESB Networks to discuss the project.

In a statement, the North East Pylon Pressure Campaign (NEPPC) urged the new Minister to seek the inputs and views of all affected parties and "not be misled by the EirGrid propaganda that former Minister Ryan fell foul of for so many years."

"Otherwise, there will be no progress. Eirgrid and ESB continue to dismiss landowners as having no weighting or relevance in the project, they are merely ‘third parties’ in their definition. NEPPC is willing to meet the Minister at his convenience with a view to reaching a practical solution."

Spokesperson Padraig O'Reilly said they would be watching closely to see that all conditions of planning permission are complied with.

He pointed to a legal challenge north of the Border by a group called SEAT (Safe electricity Armagh and Tyrone) concerning the government’s handling of the project.

“Given that this is an all-island project NEPPC is calling on the Government to halt any further activities on the NSI in ROI, pending the outcome of these proceedings.”

Senior planners at Meath, Cavan and Monaghan authorities met recently to discuss conditions and to assess their collective role, if any, in facilitating the NSI, which proposes to run from Tyrone to an existing substation in Meath, passing through Armagh and parts of Monaghan and Cavan on the way.

The North East Pylon Pressure Group has also accused Eirgrid and ESB Networks of trying to access lands not originally included in plans for the North South Interconnector.

"Eirgrid has recently taken to writing to some landowners not previously involved in the project, informing them of the need to access their lands, eight years after the planning application was approved. Some of these proposed access routes are at variance with what was presented during the planning application and oral hearing process," said O'Reilly.

He pointed out the planning permission granted for the pylon project in 2016 requires compliance with nine strict planning conditions, the majority of which demand agreement with the local authority planners in Meath, Cavan and Monaghan ‘prior to the commencement of development’.

He said NEPPC has informed each of the local authority executive planners in Meath, Cavan and Monaghan the need for adherence to the planning conditions and the requirement of Eirgrid as the undertaker of the project to be the sole representative on this matter.

He said the interconnector will be 140Km in length, traversing the counties of Meath, Cavan, Monaghan, Armagh and Tyrone.

"The proposed NSI is the largest electricity infrastructure project planned in the last 40 years, representing a 25 per cent increase in existing extra high voltage lines nationally, but concentrated in only five counties.