Ireland’s €350 million North-South electricity interconnector is to be delayed by another three years until October 2031, with the State now plotting compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) of land to ensure the project can be completed, reports the Business Post.
The latest delay will threaten the state’s climate targets, exposing the taxpayer to billions of euro in EU fines. It will also mean businesses and consumers will continue to face significantly higher electricity bills than they would if the interconnector was in place.
The Government has previously estimated that by the end of the decade, up to €100 million extra would be added to customers’ bills if the interconnector is not built.
Darragh O’Brien, the minister for energy, told the newspaper that he was aware of the delay to the project and said he planned to hold meetings with EirGrid and ESB Networks on the issue in the coming days.
CHQ to develop food hall
Work will begin in the autumn on creating a food hall at the CHQ building in Dublin’s docklands, reports the Sunday Independent.
Final design of the project is under way and it will go to tender in the second quarter of this year, the title was told by Mervyn Greene, who is CHQ managing director, and brother of CHQ owner and former Coca-Cola chief executive Neville Isdell.
“We expect to begin work on the project after the busy summer season in the third quarter,” said Greene. The project is “a significant investment in the millions of euro, that is being internally financed by Neville”.
Up to 20 different food and beverage providers could be part of a first phase for the project, which has taken inspiration from the Time Out-sponsored market in Lisbon, which attracts between three and four million visitors a year.
Construction tax breaks
Developers and builders are in line to receive refined boom-time Section 23 tax breaks under plans being considered by the Government to dramatically boost house and apartment building, the Business Post reports.
The Government will also establish a State-backed guarantee scheme to buy, from developers, apartments that don’t sell in the private market.
At a special meeting on housing on Monday, Coalition leaders are also expected to discuss a new special office of strategic housing and infrastructure to unlock water and energy connections.
Local councils will be ordered to reopen their county development plans in the coming months to integrate new housing targets and zoning requirements under the revised national planning framework (NPF), the title reported.
Erisbeg’s CHM Group stake
Dublin private equity firm Erisbeg has acquired a majority stake in CHM Group, Ireland’s biggest traffic management services provider, reports the Sunday Times.
CHM’s services include traffic management, white lining and motorway maintenance. It has worked on the M50 and Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport.
The value of the investment is unknown, but it is understood by the newspaper that the deal will be referred to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
CHM was founded in 2001 by Barry Ennis and Niall Hughes, and is now run by managing director Bryan Hosier, who will remain in place after the deal. Erisbeg was set up in 2017 by Alan Kerry, a former Blackstone executive, and Thomas Davy, a former DCC executive.
Distillery investment
The Dingle Distillery plans to invest about €2 million in upgrading its Co Kerry distillery after An Bord Pleanála knocked back a previous effort, according to the Sunday Independent.
Last week, the company behind Dingle Distillery submitted a planning application seeking “modifications” to the existing distillery, including linked visitor use.
The new project at its current distillery in Dingle would include an upgrade to some external cladding, an additional upper level for visitor use and a new retail area.
Elliot Hughes, a director of the Dingle Distillery, told the newspaper that the new planning application was “far more reduced in scale” than the company’s previous application.
