Punch slams the Government’s lack of urgency on capitalising on the floating wind energy opportunity off the Atlantic coast.
Independent Ireland candidate for Clare, Eddie Punch, has condemned the Government’s lack of urgency on capitalising on the floating wind energy opportunity off the Atlantic coast. He said that it exposes a “Dublin or nothing” mentality, which must be challenged at every turn by political representatives. “We need ambition for Clare, for the west coast and we need it now,” said Mr Punch.
Mr Punch added that news that sites for off-shore wind will be zoned next year is simply not good enough. “We have spent the last ten years being lectured by Eamon Ryan about the need to de-carbonise and the potential for renewable energy yet, under his watch, there has been no urgency about driving on the floating wind potential off the Atlantic coast.”
“The Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce has identified the transformative potential of Atlantic wind energy for economic development in Clare and all along the west coast. It has the potential for 10,000 jobs by 2035 and 50,000 jobs by 2050. Even better, it would lead to energy security for Ireland and provide a basis for major foreign investment by big tech companies in Clare and surrounding counties. This all comes at a time when a data centre for Ennis has been blocked and mainly, the opposition is on the basis that the national electricity supply cannot cope. Unfortunately, in a world where cloud computing and AI (artificial intelligence) are growing at pace, we cannot shrug our shoulders and say let other countries build the data centres.”
Mr Punch said he agreed with the recent comments by the President of Shannon Chamber of Commerce, Eoin Gavin who insisted we need solutions not obstacles to renewable energy. “I believe that people are sick and tired of climate policy that is driven by carbon taxation on people and businesses that have no alternative, or worse still, involve the decimation of key sectors like agriculture.”
“We need win/win solutions and there is no bigger opportunity than capitalising on the wind potential off the Atlantic coast. This is not just about energy security – the potential is there for 70,000 MW of energy where 5,000 would cover Irish demand – it has massive export earnings potential.”
“Unfortunately, the prevarication is not without consequences. Already we see that the lack of urgency is impacting investment in Foynes port re-development and according the Taskforce report, the universal feedback from wind developers is that Ireland is now several years behind other countries in Europe and some major European players have already exited their partnerships in Ireland.”
“Aside from the fact that the DMAP (zoning) process should already be up and running, we need to move quickly to improve infrastructure in the west of the county. A key need is to substantially upgrade the N68 and N67 roads to Kilrush and Moneypoint. It also goes without saying that the development of Atlantic wind energy could provide the impetus to dramatically increase Shannon airport connectivity to major European cities.”
Eddie Punch concluded by saying that Independent Ireland has taken a keen interest in the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce report and that it would be central to its demands in any discussions on the formation of a government after the election. “It is no longer good enough to elect people in this county who simply tow the party line and put up with everything being Dublin focused. It is time for Clare to demand its fair share.”
