Search Results for 'Minister for Communications'

On Monday, Claremorris will announce its step into the future when it sets out its plans to become Ireland’s first fibre town. The project will be launched by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny in the McWilliam Park Hotel in the town.

Former Supreme Court Justice Catherine McGuinness, chair of the expert panel which will report on underground route options for Grid West, says she will be convening a meeting of the panel as early as possible.

The ongoing row over the Gridwest project continued to make waves this week. Early in the week Eirgrid announced it was opening two new information centres on the Gridwest project, one on Bury Street in Ballina and another at the Square in Ballaghaderreen. The Ballina information centre will be open to members of the public from 10am to 6pm every Monday and Tuesday, and the Ballaghaderreen information centre from 10am to 6pm every Wednesday and Thursday. The existing Grid West information centre at Linenhall Street in Castlebar will remain open to members of the public team by appointment only.

The suggestion by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation Richard Bruton, that the cost of undergrounding cables in the planned EirGrid development would prevent more balanced regional development, was the type of argument which raised questions about the honesty of those favouring overgrounding of the various projects.

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Jobs and Enterprise Dara Calleary has accused the Government of engaging in an arrogant and highly misleading campaign on pylons. The Ballina based Dáil deputy said this week: “The comments from the Taoiseach and the Minister Pat Rabbitte this week show just out of touch this Government has become. It clearly demonstrates that the Government has absolutely no intention of taking on board the genuine concerns of communities and intends to just press ahead with the large scale construction of overhead lines regardless of any objections.”

A pair of science and technology students from Castlebar have turned their passion for Lego and robots into a unique start-up company and won themselves a grant to develop their business.

The hot-button issue of the proposed Grid West 400kV power line development has continued to evolve this week. At Monday’s Mayo County Council meeting, the elected members took the unusual step of adjourning the standing orders of the meeting to let one of the affected members of the community address the meeting in the middle of a debate.

Fine Gael TD Michelle Mulherin this week welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Communications, Pat Rabbitte on the commencement of the first phase of public consultation on the proposed Renewable Energy Export Policy and Development Framework.

The Minister for Communications, Pat Rabbitte has this week won agreement from the cabinet for the rollout of a new national postcode system that will provide a unique seven character code to every letter-box in the State by 2015.

Fine Gael TD for Mayo, Michelle Mulherin, this week called for a mandatory contribution by wind farms to the economic, environmental, or social impact on local communities where power lines and wind turbines are being erected. This contribution or benefit in kind, would be in addition to the rent paid by wind farms to landowners and the rates paid to local authorities.