Ireland is a recognised global leader in its advocacy for fossil fuel phase-out. A founding member of the global Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance and the first country to divest from fossil fuels, Ireland is among the nations pushing for a clear road map to phase out fuels.
But at the same time, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said publicly on the world stage at Cop30 in Brazil last month that Ireland’s fossil fuel investment in a new facility to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US can’t happen fast enough.
The Taoiseach was referring to plans for a State-led LNG strategic reserve that the Government claims would only be used in “emergencies”. But its enthusiasm for the fossil fuel project also signals support for the commercial Shannon LNG’s planning application for a private facility – due to be decided in January.
The Government’s narrative as to why Ireland needs to start importing US fossil fuels is that it is necessary for energy security. The argument goes that Ireland is vulnerable to disruptions in gas supply flowing through two pipelines from the UK, so to ensure reliability it needs another source of gas supply.
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But this narrow and simplistic argument is dangerous, misleading and fundamentally flawed. The irony is that at a time when Ireland is failing to meet its legally binding climate targets establishing a new strategic dependence on US fossil fuels will decrease – rather than increase – reliability, affordability and sustainability of Ireland’s future energy systems.
To protect both ecological health and human wellbeing now and in the future, the State should be urgently and aggressively investing in phasing out fossil fuels, instead of building new dirty and dangerous fossil fuel infrastructure.
As a climate justice researcher, I study the false narratives that the US fossil fuel industry has been pushing to delay climate action and perpetuate fossil fuel reliance. For decades the industry has been strategically investing to sabotage climate action to promote fossil fuels and profit from unnecessary fossil fuel expansion in countries that could make alternative energy investments.
The industry communicates compelling stories to encourage new fossil fuel infrastructure that lock in long-term contracts to buy their harmful product.
The “energy security” narrative being promoted here in Ireland and across the EU is among the oldest tricks in the industry’s playbook. Throughout the 20th century, the US fossil fuel industry invested heavily in advertising and lobbying efforts making claims that their products keep communities safe and secure. And since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the industry has taken advantage of fear and instability to ramp up pressure making claims that American gas will make Ireland safer and more secure.
One of the reasons this argument has been so effective is because, like all good propaganda, there is an element of truth to it. Ireland’s energy system is too reliant on gas, and electricity supply is not keeping up with the rapid increase in demand from the proliferation of data centres.
But the energy security narrative only makes sense if you downplay the dangers of importing LNG and ignore the fact that there are multiple other ways to make energy safer, more reliable and affordable for Irish households and communities (including investing in fossil fuel phaseout and distributed community-owned renewables).
Unfortunately, the fossil fuel industry’s campaigns to hide the ecological devastation and cover-up the human health impacts of fossil fuel extraction and use have been very effective. Despite extensive research revealing the many ways that fossil fuels harm people and communities, industry efforts to deny this science and project fossil fuels as benign and beneficial has been shockingly successful.
And with their exorbitant profits, the US fossil fuel industry has gained enormous power expanding industry-friendly goverment policies in countries all around the world.
But Ireland does not have to fall for this kind of corporate manipulation. Instead of accepting these industry narratives, the Government should turn its attention to the voices of the growing coalitions of tens of thousands of Irish people - including young people - from communities up and down the country who have been actively opposing new fossil fuel infrastructure for decades and promoting climate justice principles.
Especially now that the unreliable US is increasingly pushing an America first energy dominance agenda, Ireland should be distancing itself from the US fossil fuel industry, rather than establishing new strategic relationships with it.
There is still time for the Government to change course. Energy security for Ireland requires urgent investments to strengthen community-based infrastructure and rapidly accelerate the just transition to a regenerative, indigenous renewable-based economy.
Jennie C Stephens is professor of climate justice at Icarus Climate Research Centre at Maynooth University and co-convenor of the Climate Justice Universities Union
