A standoff in the Cork Harbour area between Irish and other environmentalists and the ESB is under way. The environmentalists oppose an ESB plan to ring the harbour area with 80 pylons.
The ESB says that unless it introduces new power lines to the region, Cork will suffer power shortages within two years.
The eco-warriors, as they have been termed, insist that there is an alternative and that the ESB could introduce another option by putting its power cables under water. The ESB says a Swedish consultancy company, Vattenfall, analysed the options available and concluded that to put cables underground would cost the semi-State company more than £30 million extra.
The cost of the existing ESB proposal would be £9 million and would take two years to complete, a spokesman said.
According to the ESB, the demand for power supplies in Cork has increased by more than 50 per cent in the past three years, a figure well above the average in the State. The extra demand, a spokesman said, reflected Cork's vibrant economy and the development was essential to meet the growing needs of electricity-users.
Overland cables were already tried and tested in other parts of the State and there was no reason to believe that health and safety would be affected by the provision of the new power line or the power masts.
But according to the Anti-Pylon Group based in Cobh, Co Cork, there are studies showing that people living near high-density power cables, and particularly children, are more prone to cancers than people who do not.
This argument has been countered by the ESB, which says the National Cancer Institute, as well as the National Academy of Sciences in the US, has said there is no conclusive evidence that magnetic fields can cause health damage.
Yesterday the eco-warriors, who have joined the anti-pylon group, began tunnelling near the sites where the pylons are to be raised. Up to 20 people are now underground and are posing a major problem for the ESB as it continues to implement its pylon programme.
Yesterday morning protesters, describing themselves as ordinary citizens, parents and wage-earners from the Cobh area, blocked access to the ESB's headquarters in Cork at Wilton and obstructed trucks for more than one hour. The expectation is that the protest on the ground will continue in the harbour area for the rest of this week and that there may be skirmishes between the protesters and ESB staff.
It is understood the Garda in the area is on standby and may also become involved.