Plans for a Galway power plant causes concern amongst locals in North Tipperary

At a public meeting in Portumna, County Galway last week, locals met to discuss plans for a planned power station set to be built just outside of the town at the Galway-Tipperary border.

The power station will include three 45 metre high chimney stacks (which will each have the equivalent height of five two-storey houses); three diesel storage tanks (which will have a capacity of 7,333 cubic metres per tank); and 224 modular single storey lithium-ion battery enclosures (each battery enclosure will be the equivalent size to a shipping container).

Local Tipperary Councillors, Cllr Joe Hannigan and Cllr Michael O’Meara, attended the meeting last Wednesday and expressed their concerns at a Nenagh MD meeting.

Speaking on the matter, Cllr Joe Hannigan said, “At pre-submission stage, I discovered that Tipperary County Council were not on An Bord Pleanála’s list to be informed.

“I believe that given the fact that this proposed plant lies within the River Shannon catchment area, in close proximity to Lough Derg, together with the dangers associated with air pollution from such a plant, that we should have been on a list of entities to be informed of such a proposal.

“The paradox of the situation is that just a short distance away from the proposed site, a renewable energy windmill farm of some size has been instructed, following what can only be described as a minor planning breach, to close down and be decommissioned.

“Where is the climate action plan for Ireland in all of this scenario one would ask?”

A local to Portumna, Minister Ann Rabbitte was also in attendance at the meeting. Speaking about the new plant, she said, “It was abundantly clear at a public meeting last Thursday that there is a high level of concern for what’s planned for the site, and, importantly, there is understandable opposition to the plans.

“As the local TD and Minister, I will be doing all I can to support the community and ensure the voice of residents is clearly heard at all possible junctures.

“Following the meeting, a committee was formed, which among other purposes, will develop a submission for the planning authorities on behalf of the community.

“In addition to this, I firmly believe each household needs to make a short submission raising any observations they may have."