Mr. Fintan Slye:

It is because they are very different projects with very different requirements. Between Ireland and Northern Ireland we have a single energy market. The single electricity market was established in 2007 and that is a single energy market for the island of Ireland. Underpinning that, however, are two distinct and different transmission grids. They have developed separately and differently and they have a single link today between them. We need to put a second link beside them so that those two grids can operate seamlessly together as part of the single electricity market we have on this island.

Interconnection to either France or the United Kingdom is a different proposition. It is not about having a single market that operates seamlessly between the two jurisdictions. It is about the trade of power between the two jurisdictions. It is a different proposition.

I was asked about the ability to mix overhead and underground for the North-South project.