Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary said that people in Mayo are feeling “harassed” by the Gridwest project team. The Ballina based Dáil deputy was speaking in the Dáil on Wednesday where he outlined a number of concerns about the proposed Eirgrid project nationally and at home. In his speech, he said: “In my own area, Eirgrid and their agents have been calling to landowners in relation to the Gridwest project. This seems innocuous enough however they are doing this in spite of being asked not to, in spite of signage on properties telling them not to enter, and they are making multiple phone calls to land and property owners. A number of people have spoken to me of feeling ‘harassed’ by the Gridwest project team. This is not what one expects during a consultation process, and this is why we feel the Government need to proceed without delay to establish the independent review.”
Calleary also said of the consultation process that is under way that: “The difficulty we have with this ‘consultation’ process is that it is showing all the sings of having been set up-in the public mind - to lead to one outcome In other words, the aim is to progress the project overground regardless of the wishes of the people across the country.”
He added: “The decisions in how the consultation process is framed need to be clarified as they have resulted in the public having little influence in the final planning decision of the project.”
Dep Calleary also questioned how the cost benefit analysis was carried out and whether it factored in the potential loss to tourism in the area. He said: “It excludes the impact on other industries of the overgrounding of lines. Our tourism industry comes specifically to mind. In a response to the Parliamentary Question, Fáilte Ireland have expressed their concerns about the impact on the landscape of the Grid 25 plans. Gridwest involves 400 pylons, 40 metres high across Mayo. Do we honestly think Europeans will leave one valley of pylons to come to another? Have Eirgrid factored this into their cost benefit analysis?”
Dep Calleary concluded his speech by saying: “The so called consultation process is failing people all around the country and frankly there is no confidence in the communities that are directly affected by Eirgrid plans in their ability to respect communities.”
