Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----and that we do not agree with a national grid. Nothing could be further from the truth. I received correspondence today from a business group. I say to that business group that Fianna Fáil is as interested in upgrading the national grid as any other interested party on this island. As a party that is firmly attached to the workings of the Good Friday Agreement, many of us in this House have outlined clearly on many occasions the need to maximise its potential. We are not against progress, but by God we are not in favour of trampling on the people of rural Ireland either.

See this speech in context