EirGrid and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications have announced a new date of Tuesday 26 September for an information event in Kilmore Quay postponed as a mark of respect for local couple Mary and Paul O’Reilly.

The joint information event on future offshore renewable energy developments for the region had initially been scheduled for Monday 18 September, but was postponed by the organisers in light of the tragic recent events impacting the community.

EirGrid’s Head of Public Engagement Sinéad Dooley said: “We would all like to extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mary and Paul O’Reilly, and indeed everyone in the community impacted by their sad loss.

“We respect that Kilmore Quay is a tight-knit community who are at this time focused on rallying to support one another through what is an incredibly difficult period, and both event organisers felt it was right to give them the time and space to do this by rescheduling our event to a later date.”

The in-person event will now take place at the Stella Maris Community Centre between 12pm – 8pm on 26 September.

EirGrid is initiating an offshore infrastructure programme of work in response to the Government’s Policy Statement on the Framework for Phase Two Offshore Wind, published earlier this year.

Under the policy, EirGrid will develop offshore grid transmission infrastructure, which will connect offshore projects to onshore nodes on the south coast of Ireland.

This will include offshore substations and submarine cables connecting them to the onshore grid. Offshore wind developers will compete for supports via an auction process to develop windfarms that connect to the offshore substations developed by EirGrid.

In conjunction with EirGird’s Shaping Our Offshore Energy Future - South Coast Offshore programme, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications will inform South East coastal communities on potential locations for future offshore wind energy developments - discussing where future windfarms may be constructed.

The Department recently launched a public information and engagement period seeking the views of local South Coast communities to help determine where future offshore wind energy developments may take place. This follows the publication of the South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP) Proposal last July by Minister Eamon Ryan, which puts forward an initial ‘proposed’ geographical area within which future offshore renewable energy developments could be advanced. The initial proposed geographical area is approximately 8,600 square kilometres in size.

The Department is seeking all views from interested citizens and impacted stakeholders, including: local communities and community organisations, individual local participants or representative bodies from the fishing and seafood sector, environmental organisations, as well as business groups within counties Waterford, Wexford and Cork. The eight-week public information period on the South coast DMAP Proposal will run until 26 September and includes face-to-face public information events in a number of venues within counties Waterford, Wexford and Cork.

Welcoming the public information event, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan, said:

"Future offshore wind energy development has the potential to offer enormous economic opportunities for Ireland’s coastal communities, in terms of jobs growth and local community development. This rigorous plan-led approach adopted by Government will also offer the best way to protect local marine environments while also boosting local community development.

"I strongly encourage all interested citizens, local communities, and various groups involved in existing maritime activities, including fishing and seafood production, throughout the Wexford region to engage in public participation opportunities that will contribute to establishment of the South Coast DMAP over the coming months.”

Further information on additional upcoming  public events is available on the department’s website at gov.ie/SouthCoastDMAP.