Protesters: Powerlines a blot on landscape

Beautiful countryside across two unspoilt valleys will be scarred by a controversial electricity transmission line snaking its way through West Cork, it has been claimed.

Two identical 100kV lines already service the area but Eirgrid insists a third line, costing up to €20m, is needed to secure a supply to the rural and primarily coastal region.

Day two of a Bord Pleanála oral hearing in Macroom, Co Cork, yesterday heard claims from objectors that the proposed 40km line was “meaningless” and an unnecessary burden on already-pressed electricity consumers.