Madam, - Your Dáil Report of December 20th quotes Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan justifying his decision not to grant prospecting licences for uranium exploration as "Ireland is opposed to the use of electricity generated by nuclear power in Ireland".
There is absolutely no logic in either the statement or its rationale in this era of peak oil usage and global warming. As the Minister knows, or should know, the granting of a licence for the exploration of any mineral clearly states that any resulting discovery carries no guarantee that a mining licence will ensue.
What seems a more likely reason for Mr Ryan's refusal is a form of Green Party censorship. In the proposed, and long overdue, debate on where Ireland's future energy supplies will come from, all potential indigenous sources will be up for discussion and evaluation, including nuclear energy.
The possibility of having an Irish source of uranium would be critical to the debate and that is what the Green Party seems to be afraid of.
I am not an advocate of any particular form of energy creation. Near my native home in East Galway, the wind farm on the Slieve Aughty Mountains is a beautiful and inspiring sight. If windmills or tidal barriers could provide all of our national energy requirements I would be more than happy.
But have a real fear that as a nation we are sleepwalking to potential disaster, with Mr Ryan singing lullabys to make sure we don't wake up until some time in the future when Mr Putin or some other leader in lands far to the east of our little island, decide to turn off a few valves on a few pipelines.
Mr Ryan should put his personal and party prejudices aside and stop attempting to stifle one critical aspect of that national debate before it has even started. - Yours, etc,
NICK COY,
Lakeside Park,
Naas,
Co Kildare.