If the upgrade to the national electricity grid is not carried out, the country will face blackouts, Gridlink project manager John Lowry said yesterday.

The cancelling of an agreement with the UK to export wind energy and the shelving of the 40 wind farms in the midlands show that our renewable energy policy is over-ambitious.

Concerns at the health impact of pylons and power lines are to be addressed next week with the release of an EU report on the effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF).

Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte has played down a suggestion that concerns about power lines for the North-South interconnector may form part of a review of Eirgrid projects.

Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte’s decision to review the planned construction of hundreds of pylons and high-voltage power lines across the country is a shrewd political move. It will give coalition TDs space to answer angry voters on the doorsteps, as opposition grows over Eirgrid’s plans to extend the national grid.

A Government decision to examine the feasibility of putting two controversial powerlines underground has been described as an “election stunt” to appease backbenchers under pressure in their constituencies.

Eirgrid received 35,000 submissions from the public on the planned €500m pylon corridor from Cork to Kildare.

Residents living in an East Cork village have reacted with anger to revelations that Eirgrid want to develop another substation in their locality as part of the €500m Grid Link project which will see a 500km chain of pylons built from the south to the east of the country.

The Government has paid €150,000 plus VAT on outside consultants in relation to plans to erect a €500m electric pylon corridor from Kildare to Cork, via Wexford.

“THE Government wants to be able to give a strong and consistent message to Irish business and multinationals, and to our citizens, that Ireland’s electricity networks are robust, modern and safe,” stated Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte last week.