Toomes ( ga, Na Toim) is a

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

in County Louth,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Toomes is closely located to

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

which is home to the St Mochtas House, circa 500AD, and to St Mary's Abbey, Louth. Toomes is also at the heart of the so-called Patrick Kavanagh Country which covers the area around

Inniskeen Inniskeen, officially Inishkeen (), is a small village, townland and parish in County Monaghan, Ireland, close to the County Louth and County Armagh borders. The village is located about from Dundalk, from Carrickmacross, and from Crossmaglen ...

where

Patrick Kavanagh Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 – 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet and novelist. His best-known works include the novel ''Tarry Flynn'', and the poems "On Raglan Road" and "The Great Hunger". He is known for his accounts of Irish life th ...

was born. Many of his poems are set there. As a townland Toomes is hardly remarkable would it not be for the fact that the

Quinn Group Mannok, formerly the QUINN group, is a business group headquartered in Derrylin, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The group has ventured into cement and concrete products, container glass, general insurance, radiators, plastics, hotels, and r ...

applied in 2007 to build a

Natural Gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

fired

combined cycle gas turbine A combined cycle power plant is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy. On land, when used to make electricity the most common type is called a combined cycle gas turb ...

(CCGT) power station with an electrical output capacity of 450 megawatts, which would be one of the biggest power plants ever built in

. There is controversy with regards to permitting such a plant in a cultural important area that is zoned for farming and residential purposes and also with regard to the lack of public information given in the context of the Strategic Infrastructure Act 2006 (Fast Track) under which the application was filed. In June 2008 the Quinn Group received permission for their development.

External links

Planning Documents by the Quinn Group

* ttp://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=4946 Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Bill 2006
Patrick Kavanagh Country
Townlands of County Louth {{Louth-geo-stub