TDs and councillors urge Minister to reopen Midlands plants

Impassioned calls for the reopening of the peat-fired power stations which closed in Lanesboro and Shannonbridge nearly two years ago were heard both in the Dáil and the Roscommon County Council chamber recently.

A Dáil debate on energy security saw three Independent TDs, Offaly's Carol Nolan, Kerry's Danny Healy-Rae, and Cork's Michael Collins, specifically call on Environment Minister Eamon Ryan to reopen the Lough Ree Power Station in Lanesboro and the West Offaly Power Station in Shannonbridge.

Deputy Nolan noted that ESB's profits had reached €390 million in the first six months of this year, at a time when people were "really on their knees" due to high energy bills.

"I have one such bill here with me that shows an increase from €400, every two months, to €1,590. That is some increase for a farmer in west Offaly," said Deputy Nolan.

She noted that, along with her Rural Independent Group colleagues, she was "one of the few" TDs who opposed the closure of the power plants in Shannonbridge and Lanesboro.

"I call on the Minister and the Government to get real, wake up and smell the coffee and open up those power plants immediately," said Deputy Nolan.

Deputy Collins called for a number of measures to be taken in response to the energy crisis, one of which was to "urgently re-open to full capacity all peat-fired power stations," including the two in the Midlands, which he said he had been "senselessly" shut down.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae also called for the reopening of the two plants, saying the price of electricity had "gone up every day since the Lanesboro and Shannonbridge plants were closed, and the Government provided no alternative at that time".

In his response, Minister Ryan outlined a list of measures being taken by the Government in relation to the energy crisis, but he made no specific reference to the Lanesboro or Shannonbridge plants.

The Green Party leader noted that the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) had "statutory responsibility to ensure security of electricity supply," and it was planning to take action to secure the supply of electricity "over the coming winters".

The Minister said the CRU's actions would include "procuring additional temporary generation, extending the availability of existing power stations, and improved demand-side measures."

Minister Ryan will shortly be receiving a letter on behalf of the members of Roscommon County Council, who recently passed a motion at their monthly meeting calling on him to "urgently reopen" the two power stations.

Cllr Anthony Waldron proposed the motion, which was passed unanimously, and several South Roscommon councillors spoke in support of it.

"I found it strange that you'd remove what you had, which was working and doing the job for a long number of years, before you had it replaced," said Cllr Tony Ward.

The Curraghboy councillor said "the most damning thing" was that (peat-moving) tracks at the Lanesboro station, which straddles counties Roscommon and Longford, "have been lifted by Bord na Mona, and they're sold off, they're not there anymore".

He added that he had been "inundated" with people contacting him and talking about generators.

"I know for a fact, with my own background, that a lot of the houses aren't wired to suit the generators that those people are talking about buying," he stated.

Following on from Cllr Ward's comments, Cllr John Keogh said it "beggars belief" that the tracks had been lifted at one of the closed plants. "Rushed decisions like that don't serve the community and don't serve anybody," he said.

Cllr Laurence Fallon, Cllr John Naughten and Cllr Donal Kilduff also voiced strong support for the motion.

"I think it's madness that those two power stations were closed down (before) the alternatives were put in place," said Cllr Kilduff. "I don't think they should ever have been closed down but transitioned into biomass generators."

It was agreed that the council would write to the Minister and also seek support for the motion from the Offaly, Westmeath and Longford county councils.