Government criticised for approving “regressive” Shannon LNG terminal

THE Shannon LNG has been a flashpoint in Irish environmentalism in recent years, but the government seems intent on pushing forward with the controversial terminal.

This week, it was reported that Minister For The Environment Darragh O’Brien has given An Commisiún Pleanála the go-ahead to construct the terminal.

Planning permission was denied in 2023, and Ireland placed a moratorium on the construction of new LNG infrastructure at the time.

The U-turn is understood to have been made on economic grounds, with Ireland looking to shore up its supply of gas amid the unstable global economic climate.

However, Labour TD Ciáran Ahern has said that the decision will only result in Ireland becoming more dependent on gas at the same time when Ireland should be making the move to more renewable forms of energy.

The Labour climate spokesperson said, “it is unbelievable that at a time when all of the available evidence says that Ireland will be miles off our climate targets and that we face up to €26 billion in fines, Minister O’Brien has decided to give the go-ahead to Shannon LNG.”

The Dublin South-West TD said, “this is a deeply troubling development; the government is no longer even pretending it is committed to achieving our legally-binding carbon reduction targets.”

“If the construction of the Shannon LNG terminal is allowed to proceed, what’s stopping more commercial operators who see our energy needs as an opportunity to enrich themselves at the expense of our climate from setting up shop here?”

Ahern commented, “the decision to overturn the ban on fracked gas to enable the establishment of a State-led emergency gas reserve to secure our energy supply rather than significantly ramp up investment in renewables was concerning enough, but Shannon LNG represents a different beast entirely. It will be ten times more polluting than the State’s emergency reserve.”

Ahern said that the government pushed through the Planning and Development Bill through the Dáil and Seanad last year, in the run-up to the election, and claimed that there were “no plans” to import fracked gas, a promise that has now seemingly been broken.

“Within a matter of months and under the influence of climate-denying independents who are propping up this government, we’re seeing them break that promise,” Ahern said.

“By overturning the ban to allow a State-led emergency reserve which would only be used in exceptional circumstances, the Minister is opening the door for any number of private, commercial operators to set up ongoing LNG import operations and lock us into more fossil fuel use for decades.

Calling the move “massively regressive,” Ahern said that the government should be more focused on renewable forms of energy, such as wind farms, instead of non-renewable, pollutant sources of energy such as gas.

“If this is a matter of energy security, then the direction of travel must be towards exploiting our abundant clean, renewable energy sources like offshore wind, coupled with increased battery storage and more inter-connectors with Europe,” he said.

“The government must ramp up State investment in offshore wind farms via the ESB so that the enormous potential that is there can be realised, and we will have a secure, non-polluting source of energy, and households will feel the benefits in their pockets through lower bills.”