Gas pipeline connects Rossbeigh in Scotland with Gormanston in County Meath.
A huge engineering project in underway in the Irish Sea as Bord Gáis constructs a 195 kilometre pipeline linking Ireland and Scotland.
After five years of planning and preparation, the undersea portion of the Ireland's second natural gas interconnector from Rossbeigh in Scotland to Gormanston in County Meath will take just six weeks to lay. The project is set to cost €300 million.
At present 350,000 Irish homes use natural gas and over 80 per cent of this gas is imported. When the new pipeline is in place in October, Bord Gáis believe they will have the capacity to double their customer base by the year 2010.
CEO of Bord Gáis Gerry Walsh says that the new pipeline provides long term security of supply to the Irish market for the next 20 to 25 years.
This second interconnector essentially links the West of Ireland to the gas fields of Siberia via the European Gas Network.
Minister for the Marine, Dermot Ahern, visited a pipelaying ship to see the work at first hand. He said that the new pipeline would guarantee security of supply and the lowest possible prices to the consumer.
There will be plenty of gas available.
The pipe is being laid from the 300 metre Solitaire, the largest pipe laying vessel in the world. The ship has a crew of about 400 people, including just six women. The vessel carries 16,000 tonnes of pipe at any one time and is laying the pipe at a rate of 5km every day. It is anticipated that the pipeline should be off the county Meath coast by the end of July.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 1 July 2002. The reporter is Fergal Ryan.
