A Government- appointed taskforce says the Shannon Estuary Region – which includes North Kerry – has the potential to become an international powerhouse for renewable energy.
The Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce has published its interim report and says the region could become the main location in Ireland for offshore renewable energy.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar says the taskforce has set out its ambitions that the Shannon Estuary would begin supplying Atlantic offshore wind energy by 2030.
Members of the taskforce who authored the report don’t outline their position on the controversial proposed Shannon liquefied natural gas terminal for the Tarbert Ballylongford landbank.
However, the taskforce notes support for the LNG terminal from bodies such as the Irish Academy of Engineers and observes that EU policy since July, considers natural gas as a transitional, sustainable fuel and that new LNG facilities are being accelerated across the EU.
The taskforce says it is widely believed that the proposed project would greatly enhance the prospect of further investment in North Kerry.
On tourism and leisure, the interim report of the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce says the region, including North Kerry, has the potential to attract more visitors.
It says the objective of the taskforce’s tourism subgroup is to help harness a 100% growth in tourist numbers to the region by 2030.
The report notes that the Ryder Cup which will be played in Adare Manor in County Limerick in 2027 will showcase the region to hundreds of millions of viewers and therefore it’s an opportune time to set out to develop a tourism plan.
The report also recommends that the estuary would become a hub for sustainable transport technologies and act as a digital gateway to Europe.
It also proposes significant investment in the ports at Foynes and Moneypoint.
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