Rabbitte's shrewd moves takes heat off TDs for the moment

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.

Simply put, nothing will happen until after the local and European elections. Mr Rabbitte had to pull something out of the hat to settle the nerves of TDs who for months now have faced growing opposition to Grid Link, the Cork to Kildare route, and Grid West, the route from Mayo to Roscommon.

An indication of how sensitive an issue pylons and power lines are for coalition politicians became even clearer yesterday when it emerged the Taoiseach had asked for a third project, the North-South connector between Meath and Tyrone, to be included in these reviews. This followed an impromptu late meeting with worried Fine Gael TDs the night before, including one rattled TD Sean Conlon, who told the country on the airwaves by the morning about this newfound commitment from Enda Kenny. Evidently, all politics is local.