Protest outside High Court as Armagh and Tyrone power pylons challenge commences
Campaigners against the construction of over 100 towering pylons along a stretch of the Armagh and Tyrone countryside to facilitate a North-South electricity connector demonstrated outside Belfast High Court on Wednesday (April 9).
The protest took place in advance of proceedings challenging several decisions made by the Department for Infrastructure regarding the substation development and planned structures.
The judicial review was brought by Safe Electricity Armagh and Tyrone (SEAT), which represents the concerns of approximately 6,500 residents living in close proximity to the proposed overhead North-South Interconnector route.
An estimated 150 Northern Ireland landowners, primarily small farmers, could be affected by the proposed pylons, which would extend from Turleenan in Co Tyrone through Armagh for 34 km before crossing the border into Meath, Cavan, and Monaghan for an additional 103 km.
Farmers and landowners insist that any connector infrastructure should be placed underground to avoid unsightly pylons that would transform the rural environment into an industrial zone.
Commenting on the opposition to the plans and the belief that underground cabling is the only viable solution, John Woods, from SEAT said: “When the Meath-Kildare interconnector, spanning 70 km, was being planned, local opinions were considered, and the decision to run the cables underground proved to be the right option, and gained public support.
“The arguments justifying 34 km of unsightly pylons through Armagh and Tyrone do not stand up to scrutiny. To claim that undergrounding these cables would be too expensive ignores any objective evaluation of the impact overhead structures will have.
“The Government must acknowledge the irreversible damage these pylons would cause to the countryside, farming, and tourism businesses. Preserving and protecting our rural environment is a price worth paying.”