Irish Examiner view: Ardnacrusha infrastructure may provide inspiration

The proposal to establish a dedicated Department for Infrastructure to oversee the development of several massive projects in the coming years is potentially as radical as the Shannon Hydroelectric Scheme was back in the 1920s

Ardnacrusha Hydro Electric Power Station. File Picture

Back in 1925, when our nascent State was grappling with massive economic struggles and desperately trying to negotiate a path to a prosperous and peaceful future, a visionary decision was made to build what was then the biggest hydro-electric scheme the world had yet seen.

The building of the Ardnacrusha facility took four years and was done at a cost which was equivalent then of one fifth of the State’s annual budget, but it signified an intent on behalf of the government of the day to develop Irish infrastructure in a coherent and businesslike fashion.