Construction of a €1 billion subsea power line between Ireland and France is crucial to protecting the State’s energy supply in the event of a hard Brexit, according to EirGrid chief executive Fintan Slye. EirGrid plans to seek permission to build the Celtic Interconnector by 2019. Half the cost may be met by the EU.

Danish billionaire and estates owner Anders Poylsen has mounted a legal challenge over the Scottish government’s approval for the 72.6MW Creag Riabhach wind farm, saying the Sutherland scheme breaches the administration’s wild land policy.