Sir, – Anthony Leddin correctly highlights the risks of extracting water from the Shannon during drier summer spells (“Shannon water abstraction raises summer flow concerns,“ Letters, March 16th). But far from being grounds to cancel the scheme, it provides an excellent opportunity to expand it. What the proposed scheme really lacks is a big reservoir constructed in a flooded valley at the top of the Slieve Bloom mountains. Similar processes already take place at the Turlough Hill facility in Co Wicklow. As we are going to endure local opposition anyway, then let it be for far more imaginative projects like those we once embarked upon in Ardnacrusha and Turlough Hill.

Source: The Irish Times March 20, 2026 18:04 UTC