Minister Eamon Ryan has indicated to Northern Sound that he is in favour of going ahead with the controversial north south interconnector. As the Minister for the Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport, Eamon Ryan TD was in Monaghan Town today to meet with a selection of local councillors.
Among the issues raised by the local councillors at the private meeting with Deputy Ryan, was park and ride facilities on the N3, fatalities on the N2 and the need for an upgrade on this busy road and the north-south interconnector. The cross-border project aims to run a new overhead 400 kilo-Volt power line to connect the electricity grids here with that in Northern Ireland.
Many local landowners, farmers and people who live in the path of the proposed power line are strenuously opposed to the project preferring the cable to be laid underground instead. Eamon Ryan said the issue was raised with him by Monaghan councillors today but, his response was to say that as minister for energy he knows the future is electrification.
"It is my sense, as energy minister is that if we don't build the interconnection we need, it will cause a fundamental rift and damage to our country on both sides of the border because this is the future economy, this is the way forward in terms of providing the power our people need to run our cars, heat our homes, create the new jobs we need," Deputy Ryan said.
