Paper short abstract:

A rural community is dealing with the impending construction of a new transmission line.The project is called the North-South Interconnection Development. The prospect of the increased industrialization of the rural landscape has mobilized the community to defend the environment that defines them..

Paper long abstract:

A new electricity transmission line is being developed between Ireland and Northern Ireland. This paper critically evaluates how the Nationally Significant Electricity Infrastructure impacts on the individual's connection to place and on their sense of identity. It explores how the physical environment and the relationship with it are socially constructed, and underpinned by a cultural, political and colonial context. The development of the transmission line shines a light on the disputed values between those of a broader society, represented by the state-owned developer; and those of the local receiving community. The European classification of the project as a "Project of Common Interest" compels its prioritisation at national and European levels due to its importance for the country and for European integration. The prioritisation has also impacted on the local communities who contest the validity of the resulting consultation process and the roles of the authorities. The contested values and the administrative actions of the developer have fuelled the distrust of the local community and the disconnection between both parties involved. According to Leonard (2006), rural Ireland's dramatic transformation precipitated by multinationals and local government into a more industrialised and modern economy has resulted in a concept of 'rural discourse'. This discourse, Leonard describes is a "representation of a primordial or visceral rural sentiment, etched within the subconsciousness of rural dwellers, that becomes a discourse of fundamentalism when faced with external threats". The paper analyses the dimensions of this impasse while taking the greater context into account.