Power To The People

In February 2006, construction began on a 110kV transmission powerline from Cushaling to Thornsbury, in county Offaly. The line, planned by Eirgrid, the company which manages the country’s power-grid, and being built by the ESB, was routed to pass through a property belonging to Teresa Treacy and her sister Mary.

To clear the route for the line would require the destruction of significant areas of woodland on the Treacy property. Teresa Treacy was convinced that this was unnecessary and wrong – and she opposed the plan tooth and nail.
She had several objections: for a start, there were health and safety concerns regarding the proximity of the pylons to her dwelling; she also objected to the fact that the lines would not be laid underground when she believed that this was the better option, and she was deeply distressed at the prospect of the destruction of the natural habitat on her land.
Originally, Teresa had been joined in her objections by other Offaly landowners. When compensation was agreed between the ESB and the Irish Farmers’ Association, her partners in protest backed down. Teresa herself refused a potential €150,000 payout, deciding to stand alone in her continuing opposition. The construction was given the go ahead and, inexorably, the wheels began to turn which would lead the diggers to her door.
During the summer, workmen from the ESB arrived at her gates. When she refused access to them, an application was made to the High Court to open the locks to her land – and this was granted. When she again refused access, contempt-of-court proceedings were initiated against her for refusing to obey a court order. On September 12, after Teresa had wilfully obstructed entrance to the land at the centre of the dispute, she was held in contempt of a High Court order, arrested and imprisoned.
In the wake of the decision to incarcerate a 65-year-old woman, there was an understandable public outcry and a surge of media coverage. RTÉ One’s flagship current affairs programme Prime Time picked up on the dispute. A camp was set up on Teresa’s land by other protestors, to offer resistance in her absence. A further protest, involving a one hundred-strong crowd, was held outside ESB offices in Dublin on October 4.

It was Cormac Lally, a qualified electrician, who originally drew public attention to Teresa’s campaign.
“There’s not going to be any compromise from this woman,” Cormac told Hot Press, while Teresa languished in jail. “She’s just not made like that. Organisations like the ESB aren’t used to dealing people with principles, who can’t be bought off. They reckoned they could either buy her off or threaten her legally. If that didn’t work, the attitude of the authorities was to throw her in jail. That would be the consultation process employed by the ESB, in a nutshell.”
For their part, the ESB say that they are simply carrying out the instructions of Eirgrid. Notwithstanding this, the longer Ms. Treacy spent in prison, and the greater the extent of public disquiet, the more willing the ESB and Eirgrid were to find some sort of compromise.
A 50% reduction in the culling of trees was proposed. Those in Camp Treacy were unimpressed by the offer, protesting about the tyranny of the ESB.
Following a barrage of negative coverage, the ESB expressed their regret at the imprisonment of the 65-year-old farmer. They requested that Teresa be freed from jail, and the High Court acquiesced to allow for a period of reflection. After 23 nights in prison, she could return to her land. It was a victory for the spiky protestor – though the extent of that victory may not be as significant as it at first seemed.

In truth, no one ever wanted it to come to this. After Teresa Treacy’s release, Brian Montayne, corporate communications manager for the ESB was anxious to demonstrate an empathy with Teresa Treacy – and expressed the hope to Hot Press that the whole mess can be put right.
“We’ve never not been open to talking to Teresa,” he insisted. “We’re not rushing in. We know she’s been through quite an ordeal. I can understand and appreciate why people would see this as an issue – a lady like Ms. Treacy being found in prison, for what people would see as standing up for her rights. As opposed to others who, without going into the details, should be behind bars for what they’ve done – and aren’t.”
Montayne pointed out that the work of renewing the electricity supply infrastructure, in which the ESB is engaged, is vital to Offaly, and indeed to the economy as a whole.
“It’s important infrastructurally for the region,” he said. “There were some suggestions that we could have picked a shorter route but I can assure you, if we could have gone shorter, we would have gone shorter. We don’t go around looking for problems. The reality is that infrastructural development is important to ensure the economy continues to grow. We have to provide customers with a quality supply. Trying to do that in a context where any one individual person could prevent a project from progressing would be a very difficult place for us to be in.
“There’s only one line going into Tullamore,” he added. “If that line was lost, it would have a significant impact on the network and businesses in the area.”
He also took issue with the way in which the ‘anti’ case has been presented.
“While I’m not dismissing the fact that Teresa is genuinely concerned, the plantation has been presented as a very mature forest with plenty of trees,” he stated. “There are some mature oaks but there are other trees there that don’t have that type of heritage. We’ve offered to replant and do whatever it takes to mitigate the impact we’ve had.”
Montayne also had some sobering words in October for those who believe the fight can continue.
“We’re 95% through the overall project and about 85% of the cutting on Ms. Treacy’s land has been done,” he said. “The trees aren’t going to grow back. We could delay this with further court hearings and challenges – but if that’s the way it has to go, that’s the way it has to go.”
Cormac Lally is unrepentant in his oppositon.
“We’ve entered into legal consultation with a top barrister who’s dealt with these kind of cases before,” he explained. “We’re also in the process of forming a nationwide action group because this isn’t an isolated incident. The ESB has been bullying people for far too long, using draconian 1920s statutory instruments to do so.”

The debate over the tactics employed by the ESB and Eirgrid will undoubtedly rage on. Are they simply acting in the common good? Or are they using outmoded statutory instruments to ride roughshod over the rights of ordinary citizens?
When all is said and done in court and the diggers have moved on, we are left with the story of one woman, her land and an act of dignified defiance, the likes of which Ireland could have done with more of in recent years. The respect for her is clear on both sides.
In the immediate aftermath of her release, Teresa Treacy struggled to re-adjust to life on the outside. The process was made a little bit easier, when she realised just how many people were rooting for her.
“I’m overwhelmed with the support,” she told Hot Press. “I really am. Everyone has been amazing to me. It’s been like a dream. And really I’m very glad to be out and be home. No one likes to be in prison! The ladies in Mountjoy were all very nice to me I must say. They just kept telling me: ‘You hang in there Teresa, don’t stop fighting’.
“Will I be holding firm with my position?” It is a rhetorical question but Teresa answers it for emphasis.
“Most certainly!”