The health concerns in relation to high voltage power lines were raised in Armagh. One local woman urged the Assembly representatives to act according to local community issues and put a proposed interconnector underground.

William Irwin voiced his agreement with local people and their concerns: “I support the undergrounding of the cable. This is one of the highest powered overhead cables ever proposed in Ireland, North or South. We have no conclusive evidence of what health problems it can cause but if it was coming near me I certainly wouldn’t want it.”

Dominic Bradley, SDLP, was in agreement and went on to say that it would ‘make economic sense to ground the cables and that is advantageous for health and the environment’.

Alliance’s Stephen Farry, however, disagreed. He spoke of the increasing need to use renewable energy and that the west coast of Ireland has all the wind and the greater population is on the east coast and these connecters would be a necessary evil.

Do you agree with Stephen Farry’s view that these connectors are a necessary evil? Or do you think that any health risks should be given priority no matter what the financial cost is?