Board overrules official to grant wind farm permission

An Bord Pleanála has overruled its own planning inspector to give the green light to contentious plans for a giant €80m wind farm in North Tipperary, with turbines 25m taller than Dublin’s Spire.

The appeals board granted permission to ESB Wind Development and Coillte for a 16-turbine farm on Keeper Hill in the Silvermines mountains.

The site, south of the M7 Limerick-Dublin motorway, is the highest peak in North Tipperary.