In May, An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission for a wind farm in Co Donegal. The developers say this cost Ireland up to 137MW of green energy capacity – enough to power 80,000 homes and take 127,000 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere each year. The project was developed by the Danish renewable energy giant Ørsted and FuturEnergy, a joint venture between the semi-states Coillte and ESB. It was a textbook example of the collaboration that Ireland needs to see between domestic players and multinationals to move away from fossil fuels. Yet, one of the key reasons for the planning…