Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

They were decent people who were consistent on this issue. They were over the moon, but I told one of them to wait and see, and how right I was. One only had to read the newspapers at the weekend to see that one of the companies was fully going ahead with this, and I believe Bord na Móna has since come out and stated that it is fully behind it as well. I understand the Taoiseach was in Downing Street yesterday trying to push the memorandum of understanding and the export deal on the turbines. That was on the agenda yesterday in Downing Street. When Fine Gael councillors, TDs and Senators are going around the country saying that this is terrible, that we will have to have meetings with the Minister and say something to the Taoiseach, the reality is that this is policy, for better or worse, that has been driven by the Government at the highest levels. It is about time the Government, in all its forms, spoke with one voice on it.

The anti-pylon campaign was led by the Fine Gael Party when it was in opposition, and it was still prominently involved in the early stages of the lifetime of this Government.