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The stand off over the Grid West project looks set to intensify with members of the Moy Valley Protection Group now vowing they will fight it all the way, regardless of whether or not the proposed high capacity power lines are sunk underground.

The Sinn Féin candidate for the Midlands Northwest European constituency, Matt Carthy, has called for the independent expert panel on pylons to listen to the voice of local residents. Speaking following the publication of the Terms of Reference of the review of the Grid West and Grid Link projects, Carthy said, “It is essential that the concerns of communities affected by pylons are addressed by the independent expert panel. Under the terms of reference, the independent expert panel will examine the potential environmental impacts, technical efficacy and cost factors in regards to placing electric transmission lines overhead or underground. However, it is disappointing to learn that the potential impacts of Electro Magnetic Fields will not be taken into consideration by the independent expert panel.”

There were clear dividing lines drawn in the Mayo County Council on Monday afternoon when a controversial draft policy on ‘Community Benefit Contributions for Certain Major Developments’ was passed, by a vote of 26-6. Excepting Fine Gael where all councillors support the motion, the two other political parties in the council split on the vote, with Sinn Féin’s Rose Conway-Walsh, Fianna Fáil trio of Al McDonnell, Blackie Gavin, and Damien Ryan, and Independent councillors Michael Kilcoyne, Richard Finn, and Michael Holmes all voting for it. Voting against the motion were Fianna Fáil’s Margaret Adams, Jimmy Maloney, and Annie May Reape alongside Sinn Féin’s Gerry Murray and independents Gerry Ginty and Seamus Weir. Cllr Frank Durcan was absent from the meeting. Both Cllr Murray and Cllr Weir led the charge against the proposals at the meeting and both councillors ended up in heated side-debates with other councillors while the topic was being discussed.

Councillor Seamus Weir will not be reversing his decision not to run for Fine Gael in this May’s Local Elections, even with the announcement this week by the Minister for Environment, Pat Rabbitte, of a commission headed up by retired judge Catherine McGuinness to investigate the potential of undergrounding the Grid West Project.

MEP Jim Higgins has rowed in on the pylon debate, warning that the people of rural Ireland are feeling “ignored, isolated and unrepresented”.

An anti-pylon protest is taking place at Eirgrid's newly opened Ballina office today.

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.

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny is expected to clarify next week his position on controversial plans to erect giant pylons and overground 400 kV lines across the landscape of north and east Mayo.

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 Castlebar area representative Lisa Chambers has hit out at the decision to delay the route selection for the Eirgrid project until after the local and European elections as a political decision, rather than a practical one. The local elections hopeful said this week: "It’s clear that Fine Gael and Labour realise how politically sensitive the pylon issue is for people all over the country, and candidates for next May's elections are obviously worried about the impact the Eirgrid project will have on their campaigns."