Nuclear power - Weighing up our options

Ireland will have a nuclear power plant within 25 years, according to Pádraig McManus, chief executive of the Electricity Supply Board.

The ESB was advocating nuclear power more than a quarter of a century ago, but the idea was scrapped after it met with a storm of opposition.

Within the next quarter of a century Mr McManus predicts that oil and gas will no longer be available. As a result the country would become totally dependent on coal as the alternative energy source. This would run counter to the country’s commitments to bring down carbon emissions.