Shannon gas terminal's prioritisation cannot be referred to European court, High Court rules

In his judgment, Mr Justice Simons refused to make a reference, saying there was no basis on which the High Court could do so. File picture.

A High Court judge has refused to ask the Court of Justice of the EU to decide whether the European Commission's inclusion of the proposed €500m Shannon LNG project in a list of EU Projects of Common Interest (PCI) was valid.

Additional issues in an action by Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE), particularly issues under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, will be fixed for hearing on a later date. Those include whether the State conducted any, or any adequate, sustainability assessment before approving the Shannon terminal and pipeline project for the PCI list.