Electricity pylon troubles are piling up

ELECTRICITY pylons are set to stretch out across the landscape in 2014. The issue is embedded in the political culture of this country.

Throughout large swathes of Munster and Leinster, opposition has been mobilised against the proposal by Eirgrid to erect 1,300 pylons on a corridor running from Little Island, in Cork, through Wexford to Kildare. The exact route for the ‘Gridlink’ project has yet to be decided, but nobody within an ass’s roar of it is taking any chances.

The local and European elections, in June, are shaping up to be its battleground. Heads may roll, and long-fomented ambitions for elected office may end in tatters.