Bid to end Ireland's 1999 ban reignites nuclear power debate

Opposition is already building as Cork East TD James O’Connor plans to bring Electricity Regulation (Amendment) bill to a Fianna Fáil meeting following support from the Taoiseach

James O’Connor TD says Ireland can no longer avoid 'difficult conversations' about its ban on nuclear power but he has already met opposition as reported in Monday's 'Irish Examiner'. Picture: iStock 

A bill which would see Ireland overturn a two-and a-half decade ban on nuclear energy will be discussed this week by Fianna Fáil politicians.

Cork East TD James O’Connor will bring his Electricity Regulation (Amendment) bill to the party’s internal meeting following support from the Taoiseach last week.

Monday's in-depth feature in the Irish Examiner (in print and online) includes opinion from James O’Connor and Adi Roche, and analysis by Paul Hosford, Colin Sheridan, and Neil Michael

Writing in the Irish Examiner tomorrow, Monday, Mr O’Connor says that lowering electricity prices “requires decades of investment in generation capacity, grid infrastructure, and energy security” but that Ireland has “spent far too long relying on short-term sticking plaster solutions”.

He writes: “The countries that will enjoy affordable and secure energy in the 2040s and 2050s are making their decisions now.

Ireland cannot afford another decade of avoiding difficult conversations simply because the solutions are politically challenging. 

Speaking in the Dáil last week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that he believes that nuclear power — which has been banned since 1999 in Ireland — should be examined.

"I believe we should have a serious examination of nuclear because we need to work out costs and timelines. There have been advances in technology in the smaller reactors and so on, and I am all for that," Mr Martin said. 

“We should examine the issue of the potential of nuclear power given the changing technologies and how technology has advanced,” he said.

Mr O’Connor said his bill is not for the short term but is intended to meet future demand and that a “mature energy policy should not be ideological, it should be pragmatic”.

However, the opposition has criticised the bill as “a distraction”.

Sinn Féin’s energy spokesman Pa Daly said that the infrastructure would take “until at least 2040 to build” and would cost the State significant amounts of money.

• Paul Hosford, Deputy Political Editor