‘Promises made, promises broken; but we will fight on’

Pylon protestors disappointed at turnout of election candidates at rally

It’s election week, and while most candidates are blazing the campaign trail to win votes, it came as somewhat a slap in the face to pylon protestors that few candidates from County Cavan appeared to show at a pre-election rally on Monday night.

Padraig O’Reilly, North East Pylon Pressure Committee (NEPPC) spoke to a packed room of about 250 people at a public meeting in the Headford Arms Hotel in Kells on Monday night. A number of apologies were received from public reps however.

Following the rally, organisers expressed their disappointment at what they viewed as "a very poor turnout of Government representatives" compared to their last pre-election meeting. This, they felt, was "probably because of all the big promises made and none kept".

Sinn Féin and Aontú were thanked at the meeting for their “continued support” of NEPPC and the campaign to put the lines underground.

In terms of election candidates on the Cavan side of the constituency, Cllr Shane P. O'Reilly, Independent Ireland, attended.

The purpose of Monday night’s rally was held to highlight that the group will not accept Eirgrid’s plan to overground pylons across Cavan, Monaghan and Meath.

Mr O’Reilly told those gathered that promises were made and broken over the last 17 years but the group will continue in its fight to have the project undergrounded.

As it stands, Eirgrid has cleared all planning hurdles, north and south of the border, to construct 409 pylons - each carrying 400,000 volts - across Cavan, Monaghan, Meath, Armagh, Tyrone. Some 2,550 homes are within 1km of the line; 1,070 homes are within 0.5km; and the line will traverse through 400 landholdings.

NEPP claims the project poses risks to health because of pylons’ proximity to homes; the environment, landscape; it will devalue property; and negatively impact local heritage because the line crosses 41 rivers in Co Meath alone.

“Undergrounding would eliminate all the risks,” contended Mr O’Reilly, before pointing to the Kildare-Meath line, which was undergrounded, as were nine other projects across the EU that are now all operating successfully.

The campaigners are querying the need for the line, which was deemed ‘critical infrastructure’.

“Since this project was initiated, numerous data centers across the country have emerged and they are using vast amounts of energy,” highlighted Mr O’Reilly.

“The lights haven’t gone out, as you can see, so the argument that the North South Interconnector is needed for electricity is no longer there.

“The North South Interconnector is the only project left that is going overground. Eirgrid has given no weight to farmers, landowners and communities. Whether it’s Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour or the Greens that’s in Government, the support is for Eirgrid, not the community. The Cabinet signed off last year on overgrounding the project. People power works, we must continue the fight.”

The meeting also heard that Eirgrid offered affected landowners €50,000 in compensation last year per pylon going on their land. Mr O’Reilly pointed out that NEPP had 90% support from farmers and landowners at that time, now it’s at 85%. “This indicates clearly there was no uptake on that offer, and there won’t be,” he added.

“It also shows that the majority are against this project. Either this project goes underground or it’s bust for Eirgrid. The Government has washed its hands of this. Promises have been made, none of them have been kept; and communities have been let down.”

Eirgrid had previously indicated its intention to use statutory powers to access lands if necessary. Although protestors dispute this.

“Any farmer or landowner has the power to close his gate and say no, this is no longer an access route,” advised Mr O’Reilly.

The meeting heard that planning was granted initially with nine ‘strict’ conditions attached. NEPP is asking the three local authorities involved - Cavan County Council, Monaghan County Council and Meath County Council - to ensure that those conditions are “strictly adhered to”.

“Eirgrid wants those conditions modified, while the Government PR machine is busy drumming up support for the project,” claimed Mr O’Reilly.

“Eirgrid wants to hand this to ESB Networks; they also want to break up the solidarity that is there between farmers and landowners.”

In conclusion the advice to farmers and landowners was this: “Sit tight, do not sign voluntary offers, and do not allow access to your land. We are looking for an independent analysis of undergrounding compared to Eirgrid’s over grounding plan.”