Sinn Fein is calling on the Energy Minister to pull the Eirgrid application from the An Bord Pleanála oral hearings immediately.

Mr Peadar Tóibín TD has criticised Minister Alex White for proceeding with the over grounding of the North South Interconnector.

The party made the call after a majority of TDs in the new Dáil opposed the over grounding of the cables.

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He said: "The old FG/Labour government sought to over ground the North South Interconnector. This is despite the feared damage that 400,000v lines would do to health and the material damage that the lines will do to property value, tourism, the economy and our heritage.

"The previous government's plan has been superseded by the technology developments and in recent times experts and Eirgrid have admitted that undergrounding the lines is both feasible and possible.

"Minister Alex White needs to pull the Eirgrid application from the An Bord Pleanála oral hearings immediately, especially given that fact that the Eirgrid application has been shown to be flawed and devoid of the necessary public consultation."

(CD)