North-south electricity project could be ready to go by 2024
A YOUNG woman with Down’s syndrome has thanked politicians for “voting for equality” for unborn babies with disabilities.
Heidi Crowter (24), a wellknown advocate for people with Down’s, was speaking after the Stormont Assembly rejected new abortion regulations that includes terminations up to birth in cases of serious non-fatal disabilities on Tuesday.
Ms Crowter said: “Firstly I would like to say thank you for voting for equality for disabled babies in the womb.
“It makes me feel overjoyed and very proud of myself that my campaigning helped and inpeers
A pro-life banner which was erected outside William Humphrey’s office
spired the MLAS. I listened to the debate and was delighted with the vote.
“I would now call on the Government not to ask MPS and
to vote for regulations that contain discriminatory provisions that tell people like me that we should not exist.”
MPS are due to vote on the abortion regulations, which were introduced in March, at Westminster later this month. The vote’s outcome, however, does not change the recently introduced law in Northern Ireland.
Nicola Woods from Belfast, whosesondaniel(7)hasdown’s syndrome, was delighted that politicians “have spoken up” over the rights of an unborn child with disabilities.
“It is great news that our elected representatives here in Northern Ireland have spoken up for the rights of the unborn with disabilities,” she said.
“There should be no difference in the treatment of pregnancies depending on the chromosomes of the baby. People with Down’s syndrome aren’t stupid.
“They understand that the screening and discriminatory abortion law around Down’s syndrome, and other disabilities, implies their lives are not worth living and the absolute opposite is the case.”
Meanwhile, banners supporting abortion were placed outside the Belfast offices of two parties.
DUP MLA William Humphrey has said he will not be “intimidated or deflected” after one was placed outside his constituency office in north Belfast.
Socialist republican activist group Lasair Dhearg also put a banner outside Connolly House, Sinn Fein’s west Belfast headquarters, calling for the party to “stop exporting Irish woman to England”.
THE North-south Interconnector for electricity supply on the island of Ireland could be built by 2024, it’s been claimed.
Jo Aston, managing director of the System Operator for NI (Soni), which runs the electricity grid, said it hoped to win planning permission from Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon by the end of the summer.
Procurement would then need to take place before consent was sought from landowners between Co Armagh and Co Meath, where the power lines will begin and end.
The project has run into opposition from some landowners, and while planning permission was granted by civil servants in 2018, that decision was then overturned.
The electricity network is owned by NIE Networks, but is operated by Soni, which matches supply from generators to demand from consumers.
Updating Stormont’s economy committee, Ms Aston explained that both jurisdictions on the island were part of a shared market for electricity, which will continue in the event of a nodeal Brexit. She said the interconnector was needed for future stability of supply.
Alan Campbell, Soni’s head of grid infrastructure, said getting the go-ahead would kick-start the process of procurement and securing landowner agreement for access to the land before construction would start. And he was “hopeful of a positive planning decision this summer”.
“We would look at construction starting 12 months after planning permission, so then we’d look at a period of three summers, so that would feed into 2024/25, where we’d be hopeful of energisation of the project.”
But Ms Aston said she could not say whether Ms Mallon was in favour of the project.
“We can’t speak to ministerial support as the minister has to make a decision on information put in front of her by her department officials and colleagues,” she said, and could even be put to a vote in the Assembly.