Decommissioning Derrybrien Wind Farm would be reckless, warns Donohue

L-R Senator Ronan Mullen, Senator Sharon Keogan, Senator Gerard Craughwell, Cllr Geraldine Donohue, Senator Michael McDowell & Senator Victor Boyhan.

L-R Senator Ronan Mullen, Senator Sharon Keogan, Senator Gerard Craughwell, Cllr Geraldine Donohue, Senator Michael McDowell & Senator Victor Boyhan.

Independent Councillor Geraldine Donohue has called for common sense to prevail to allow “the wind to blow and power to flow” from the turbines at Derrybrien on the hills on Slieve Aughty, Co Galway.

The Galway County Councillor was speaking to Oireachtas Independent Colleagues who visited the Derrybrien Wind Farm and called on them to use their powers and contacts to explore all alternatives for the Wind Farm, at a time of rising energy costs and challenges around fossil fuels.

Cllr Donohue said it would be reckless to abandon the ESB Wind Farm Project at a time of a national energy crisis and the substantial infrastructure and investment on site. Cllr Donohue thanked Independent Senators Michael McDowell, Victor Boyhan, Gerard Craughwell, Sharon Keogan and Rónán Mullen for travelling to Galway and visiting Derrybrien Wind Farm last Friday to see the Wind Farm and talk to those on the ground.

During the visit Senator McDowell said the Irish state is not required to decommission the wind farm.

Independent Senator, Victor Boyhan said, it was sheer madness to dismantle 70 wind turbines capable of powering over 40,000 homes, and said to do so now would require planning permission and appropriate assessment in line with planning and environment laws . “The challenge now is to find a solution to the long running saga of Derrybrien,” he added.

Cllr Donohue highlighted Ireland’s energy concerns saying, “Nearly a third of the country is living in energy poverty it does not make sense to decommission a vital wind farm with capacity to feed power into the national grid,” Donohue said, “The Green Party and Minister Ryan’s inaction on this issue is concerning, Galway will lose this vital alternative energy source, if they get their way.”

 

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