I was delighted to read the letter by Dr Elizabeth Cullen, Irish Doctors’ Environmental Association in the Irish Medical News on January 27, 2014, outlining "The precautionary principle", with regard to the pylons.

Ireland’s Philip Deignan has been named in Team Sky’s line-up for the Giro d’Italia, which starts in Belfast on May 9 and has three stages in Ireland.

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 gradual conversion of the country’s largest power station from coal to biomass would allow Ireland to meet its renewable energy targets “in one single stroke”, according to a British energy expert who completed a report for one of the country’s anti-pylon groups.

If the vital upgrade to the national grid is not carried out the whole country will face blackouts, according to Gridlink project manager John Lowry.

Though I am not a historian, I do believe that we should learn from the mistakes of our past. George Bush in his own eloquent way, once attempted to say, ‘Fool me once — shame on you. Fool me twice — shame on me’.

Fianna Fáil is hoping to sweep up anti-pylon and anti-wind turbine rural votes in Cork, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford by putting forward an outspoken anti-pylon campaigner in the European elections.

There was once a country called Ireland, known as the Emerald Isle.

Fresh questions are set to be raised about the financial reasoning behind Eirgrid’s proposed powerline routes, with a warning that the case for exporting wind power to Britain is “non-existent”.

A leading Irish expert on human disease has said there is “reasonable evidence” that high-voltage overhead powerlines increase cancer risk in children — but also warned that car accidents pose a far greater risk.

The constancy and speed of change, its relentless advance and undeniable force, have become a motif of our times.

Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte has said that the public will have to become more accustomed to power cuts if EirGrid is not allowed to further develop the national grid.

Last month’s establishment of a commission to consider if the grim prospect of super-sized pylons strung across our attractive countryside might be averted by burying 440kV power lines seemed as good a kick to touch as anything contrived by the splendid Johnny Sexton at the Aviva stadium on Saturday.

Burying Eirgrid’s controversial high-voltage powerlines would cost around €4 a year per person, according to an expert who insists this would be the best course of action.

Claims that the latest research shows there is no link between high voltage overhead powerlines and childhood leukaemia have been blasted as dishonest by a leading expert in the field.

Has anyone spelled out the alternatives to pylons and renewables, such as building a nuclear power station at Moneypoint and confining economic development to Dublin? Or just turning off all the lights and using candles?

A review of studies into how high-voltage cables, and pylons, affect people’s health released by the European Commission was lambasted by an expert in the field who said it omitted important new studies.

Electromagnetic fields from pylons pose no major health threat to humans, according to a review by the European Commission.

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.

It has been confirmed that the North-South electricity inter-connector will not be investigated by a new independent commission.

The chair of an independent panel charged with examining the feasibility of putting two controversial powerlines underground has said the review will be "cool and unbiased".

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.

Ten-year-old Connor O’Neill is utterly terrified of loud noise.

THE villages and townlands of Dungourney, Clonmult, Lisgoold and Leamlara lie about 13km north of Midleton in East Cork.

Fears that a €500m-pylon network will cause health problems have been dismissed by Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

As the pylon controversy intensifies the Irish Examiner asked coalition TDs living in the constituencies affected if they would live near a pylon.

Almost all Coalition TDs living in constituencies along Eirgrid’s proposed GridLink in the South and East of the country want a cost-benefit analysis done on running parts or all of the extension underground.

One of the country’s top engineers has warned anti-pylon campaigners that they are putting the country’s recovery at risk by objecting to the Gridlink project.

Up to 10,000 landowners and householders, who have formed a national alliance to fight EirGrid’s €500m pylon corridor, have said their national campaign is not short of financial backing.

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has said that the Government "isn't going to railroad anything through" when it comes to pylons.

Members of the public made 35,000 submissions during the first public consultations on the €500m Gridlink electricity project.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has questioned the reasoning behind anti-pylon candidates running in the local elections.

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

Eirgrid’s plans to carry out an 18-month survey of the ocean floor between Ireland and France with a view to having a €1bn powerline between both countries is being described as further evidence that the controversial pylon project is really about exporting energy.

EirGrid is insisting that its controversial new GridLink project cannot be located underground.

Minister for Energy and Communications has moved to reassure people that there are no health risks associated with living beside pylons.

Today is the deadline for public submissions on Eirgrid's plans to erect hundreds of pylons across the country.

The Chairman designate of Eirgrid said today that he may reconsider taking the post.

The Minister for Energy is reconsidering allowing pylons to be built in scenic rural areas.

Residents in a north-east Cork village have expressed concern that the proposed €500m overhead powerline from Cork to Wexford will damage their community.

WHEN you’re reared in an area, you take it for granted. It’s something that’s a given.

“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.