Sir, – It is ironic that at a time when our Minister for Tourism has just announced plans to promote the Wild Atlantic Way as one of Ireland's major tourist attractions, Aidan Forde of the National Offshore Wind Association of Ireland lobby group should be promoting plans to construct hundreds of huge turbines all down our beautiful east coast to export wind energy to the UK (Opinion, December 12th).
We are not talking here about a few turbines no more visible on the horizon than “half a thumbnail” as Mr Forde puts it. Wind developers are proposing about 600 massive turbines up to 160 metres tall, constructed six-to-12km offshore which will inevitably dominate the coastlines of Louth, Dublin and Wicklow.
The developers’ environmental impact statements predict major adverse visual impact on of some of Ireland’s most beautiful coastal scenery including Howth Head, Killiney Bay, and Bray Head. Up to 400 turbines will fence in virtually the entire Wicklow coastline from Bray, Greystones, and Wicklow to north Wexford. Significantly in June this year, among the hundreds of objections to the proposed Dublin Array wind farm, 12km off Dublin and Wicklow, was one from Fáilte Ireland opposing this 145-turbine development on grounds of “negative impact on recreational and visual amenity” which would “adversely affect the tourism resource of the area”.
Would any other country in the world blessed with the priceless amenity of such a beautiful coastline so close to its capital city contemplate such massive industrial development on sandbanks rich with wildlife, so close to shore? The answer is a resounding No. It is widely recognised that the future of offshore wind lies in largescale developments far from shore. Offshore technology has now reached the stage where such construction is possible. Belgium, Netherlands and Germany have adopted 22km buffer zones around their coasts to protect wildlife and scenic amenity of sensitive coastal areas. In the United Kingdom, there is growing opposition to wind farms close to shore with huge controversy about wildlife and landscape impact of recent proposed developments such as the Atlantic Array, 16km off the coast of Devon.
Minister for Energy Pat Rabbitte has stated that Ireland will meet its targets for renewable energy from wind farms on land without resorting to offshore wind which he described as more than twice as expensive. Developers are now lobbying for the huge offshore windfarms, permitted and proposed close to the East coast, to be considered as an export opportunity. Before this scenario is advanced an independent cost benefit analysis must be carried out. Should Ireland allow its uniquely beautiful east coast to be degraded to supply the energy needs of the United Kingdom? Should the coastlines of Dublin and Wicklow be sacrificed to preserve the coastlines of Devon and Cornwall? – Yours, etc,
HELEN GELLETLIE,
Hunter’s Hotel,
Rathnew, Co Wicklow.