Ireland should be developing a supercable which can be integrated with offshore renewables, future energy hubs and European grids, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett has said.
In a letter to The Irish Times this week, Mellett refers to a recent article by former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan on a potential transatlantic supercable from Canada.
“His invocation of Ardnacrusha and Valentia Island reminds us that Ireland has, at critical moments, had the confidence to back visionary maritime and energy infrastructure that reshaped our future,” Mellett writes.
“Those projects succeeded because Ireland chose to act on its Atlantic position rather than merely receive what others proposed. That is the deeper lesson worth revisiting now,”he says.
“If a subsea interconnector is to be a true game changer, the more compelling question is not only whether Ireland should host such a cable, but why we are not shaping the ambition ourselves,”he continues.
“ A supercable originating from Ireland, integrated with offshore renewables, future energy hubs, hydrogen and e-fuels, data infrastructure and European grids, aligns naturally with our geography, climate obligations and strategic interests,” he says.
“We already have the foundations. The Shannon Estuary is a national asset, as are the deep-water ports and marine capabilities along the western seaboard, from Cork Harbour and Bantry Bay to Galway and beyond,”he points out.
“These locations sit close to some of Europe’s strongest offshore wind and wave resources and possess the engineering and port infrastructure required for Atlantic-scale projects,”he says.
“This is not solely an energy discussion. Subsea cables are critical national infrastructure. They underpin economic resilience, data flows and security. They require protection, monitoring and coherent governance,”he says.
“Yet Irish policy too often remains seablind, treating the ocean as a backdrop rather than a strategic domain.”
“Technologies such as SuperNode, championed by the late Eddie O’Connor, may mature over the coming decade. That is precisely why Ireland should be positioning now, through public private collaboration, so that energy ambition and maritime security are designed together,”he says.
“The lesson of Ardnacrusha and Valentia is not simply that great projects can succeed, but that leadership matters. Ireland should lead where its future advantage most clearly lies, the ocean,”Mellett concludes.
Read The Irish Times here
