The news came this Monday after EirGrid chief executive Fintan Slye defected to the UK national grid, effective at the end of this year.

“The EirGrid board will now initiate a process to find a successor, including advertising the position and inviting applications from suitably qualified persons,” the electricity grid utility body announced in a statement.

The Dealer could recommend a number of beef barons and former agriculture ministers well used to dealing with farmers’ protests. The job description should include high-flying legal qualifications, as EirGrid’s flagship North-South Interconnector project is facing a legal challenge by numerous landowners along its route.

A direct line to Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty would be an advantage, after RTÉ News famously quoted the Meath east TD as saying in relation to the pylons: “We are about to enter into a phase of civil disobedience to hamper the decision made by An Bord Pleanála and I fully support the farmers and landowners in that action.”

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‘The day EirGrid arrives to get access to someone’s field they won’t get access’ – Doherty