On Monday evening last, a large crowd of approximately 400 people attended a meeting to unify land owners affected by the proposed Eirgrid Grid West project. Organisers of the meeting said that 97% of property owners under the north east line unified in a similar manner. As a result, they successfully frustrated efforts with planning permission for a period of five to six years
On Monday evening last, a large crowd of approximately 400 people attended a meeting to unify land owners affected by the proposed Eirgrid Grid West project. Organisers of the meeting said that 97% of property owners under the north east line unified in a similar manner.
As a result, they successfully frustrated efforts with planning permission for a period of five to six years
Speaking about the health concerns, MEP Marian Harkin said: “In 2007, a group of experts looked at all the evidence worldwide on the health concerns of these high voltage lines.
“The report said that ‘extremely low frequency (ELF) fields are possibly carcinogenic’.”
She said that this was chiefly based on the occurrence of childhood leukaemia in the areas of these lines.
She added: “They are not saying that the high voltage power lines cause leukaemia, but that there is a link between the two.”
She said that the group checked out breast cancer and cardiovascular disease and they said the link there was unlikely. They checked brain tumours and they said the link there was uncertain.
She told the crowd that in 2009 they went back again and came up with one extra conclusion. They concluded that new epidemiological studies suggest a possible increase in Alzheimer’s disease arising from exposure to the ELF fields. The report said that further investigations of this are needed.
On the issue of the high cost of putting the cables underground, she said that it is true that it is approximately three times more expensive.
However, she said: “Sixty percent of this cost is literally in digging the trenches, which is public works.
“It tells you that there will be jobs for people doing that work; it tells you that a significant amount of that money will go back into local communities and the rest of it will be paid back in taxes.”
Local TD Dara Calleary wrote to the project manager of Eirgrid asking them to extend the consultation period for the Grid West project to allow for local residents and landowners to voice their concerns.
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