MEETING SECURED BY TD WITH MINISTER WHITE – COUNCILLORS SHOULDN’T BE PLAYING POLITICS WITH EMOTIVE ISSUE – DEPUTY CONLAN

Fine Gael Dáil Deputy Sean Conlan yesterday expressed disappointment with the reaction by some Fianna Fáil members of Monaghan Co Council to his letter to the local authority on the EirGrid interconnector issue.

“I don’t think the communities affected by the project will be too pleased with some Council members deciding to play politics with what is a very emotive subject,” the Cavan/Monaghan TD stated when asked by The Northern Standard for a reaction to Monday’s Council debate.

Deputy Conlan emphasised that the intention of his letter was to respond to a previous Co Council request seeking information on what actions he had taken in relation to the north-south electricity development. He would have expected criticism if he had not contacted the Council to outline the steps he had pursued in response to their representations, he added.

He also pointed out that at the recent meeting with affected landowners in Aughnamullen local Dáil representatives were asked to raise this issue at parliamentary party level and seek to have a motion brought forward calling on the Government to instruct EirGrid to refrain from submitting a renewed application to An Bord Pleanála and to examine the alternative of undergrounding the interconnector project.

“I have been doing what the community affected by the pylons ….