A liquefied natural gas terminal, such as the one in Zeebrugge, above, is a tricky issue politically here. We depend on the UK for our gas and it doesn’t hold a significant reserve either. The first bit of legislation – the Strategic Gas Emergency Reserve Bill 2025 – has started its journey through the Oireachtas. We need a reserve and we need access to diverse energy sources, including fracked gas if necessary. A far more productive question might be if the Government can bypass planning to fast-track an LNG terminal then why can’t it do the same for offshore wind farms?

Source: The Irish Times April 01, 2026 15:31 UTC