Gov't Risks Instability As Varadkar Backs LNG Port Opposed By Greens

The Irish Independent reports that Tanaiste (deputy PM) Leo Varadkar has told his centre-right Fine Gael party colleagues that he is in favour of the controverisal Shannon LNG project in Tarbert, north Kerry, risking a major rift with coalition allies, the centre-left environmentalist Green Party.

• The Irish Independent reports that Varadkar told party members at a meeting last week that he supported the project as it would be “beneficial in terms of security supply” in the event the energy interconnector between Ireland and Great Britain went down for any reason.
• Green Party leader and current Environment and Climate Change Minister Eamon Ryan is on record as a staunch opponent of the Shannon LNG terminal, stating that it should not be approved “under any circumstances”. The Irish Independent reports, "Mr Ryan’s objection pointed to the Programme for Government, which states: “We do not believe that it makes sense to develop LNG gas import terminals importing fracked gas.”
• The three-party coalition gov't of Fine Gael, the Greens, and Taoiseach (PM) Micheal Martin's centrist Fianna Fail currently governs as a minority, with 79 seats in the Dail Eirann (lower chamber) to the opposition's 80. As such, any major disagreement between the constituent parties risks a collapse and potential early elections.
• Current opinion polling shows both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail around their levels of support from the 2020 election, but the Greens well down. The left-wing Irish nationalist Sinn Fein remain the most popular party.