Reilly letter raises health fears over pylons

As opposition to Eirgrid’s pylon project grows it has emerged the Minister for Health sent a letter to two ministers expressing concern about health risks posed by electromagnetic fields.

At the time, the east-west interconnector was being built through James Reilly’s Rush-based constituency in North County Dublin and was fiercely opposed by Rush Community Council who raised concerns about an association between electromagnetic fields generated by high-voltage power cables and childhood leukaemia.

Similar concerns are being voiced by communities from Cork to Wexford and Kildare as a public consultation process continues into Eirgrid’s planned €500m corridor of pylons, Gridlink. Locals want the 400kV powerlines put underground but Eirgrid say it would add €2bn to the cost.