Carnsore Point ( or ''Ceann an Chairn'') is a headland in the very South East corner of

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinn ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. This headland is Ireland's southern limit point of the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the C ...

, on the western side of

St George's Channel St George's Channel ( cy, Sianel San Siôr, ga, Muir Bhreatan) is a sea channel connecting the Irish Sea to the north and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. Historically, the name "St George's Channel" was used interchangeably with "Irish Sea" ...

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

's ''

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

'' (2nd century AD) described a point called Ιερον (''Hieron'', "sacred promontory") which probably referred to Carnsore Point.

Energy

Cancelled nuclear project

Carnsore was proposed to be the location of a

Nuclear Energy Board The Nuclear Energy BoardThe Nuclear Energy Board was officially titled "''An Bord Fuinnimh Núicléigh''", in the Irish language, however the English language title — though unofficial — was used in practice. (NEB) was an Irish agency charg ...

power plant. If built as proposed in the 1970s, the plant would have produced electricity for the

Electricity Supply Board The Electricity Supply Board (ESB; ga, Bord Soláthair an Leictreachais) is a state owned (95%; the rest are owned by employees) electricity company operating in the Republic of Ireland. While historically a monopoly, the ESB now operates as ...

. First proposed in 1968, the then

Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The gover ...

gave renewed effort to the plans after the

1973 energy crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...

. The plan envisaged one, and eventually four,

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...

stations. However, the plan was dropped in the late 1970s after opposition by environmental groups, including the Wexford group the Nuclear Safety Association. The campaign against the proposed plant also gained some international support, including from

Petra Kelly Petra Karin Kelly (29 November 1947 – 1 October 1992) was a German Green politician and ecofeminist activist. She was a founding member of the German Green Party, the first Green party to rise to prominence both nationally in Germany and wor ...

, who gave a speech at Carnsore. One activist against the plant who later became notable was

Adi Roche Adi Patricia Roche (born 11 July 1955) is an Irish activist, anti-nuclear advocate, and campaigner for peace, humanitarian aid and education. She founded and is CEO of Chernobyl Children's Project International. She has focused on the relief ...

, who went on to found Chernobyl Children International. Anti-nuclear groups organised a series of rallies and concerts at Carnsore Point from August 1978 to August 1981. Titled "Get to the Point" and "Back to the Point" respectively, and featuring

Christy Moore Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore (born 7 May 1945) is an Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his significant success as an individual, he is one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts. His first album, ...

as lead act, the concerts were served to bring to public notice the question of nuclear power in Ireland. The

British and Irish Communist Organisation The British and Irish Communist Organisation (B&ICO) was a small group based in London, Belfast, Cork, and Dublin. Its leader was Brendan Clifford. The group produced a number of pamphlets and regular publications, including ''The Irish Comm ...

, who believed nuclear power was necessary to achieve socialism in Ireland, picketed the first concert.

Wind farm

As of 2002, the

ESB Group The Electricity Supply Board (ESB; ga, Bord Soláthair an Leictreachais) is a state owned (95%; the rest are owned by employees) electricity company operating in the Republic of Ireland. While historically a monopoly, the ESB now operates as ...

proposed to build a

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...

in the area. The 12 megawatt wind farm began operations in 2003.

Notes

External links

Nuclear Energy (An Bord Fuinnimh Núicléigh) Act, 1971

(archived 2004) {{coord, 52, 10, 14, N, 6, 21, 20, W, source:kolossus-ukwiki, display=title Headlands of County Wexford Power stations in the Republic of Ireland Wind farms in the Republic of Ireland Cancelled nuclear power stations