TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has told a TV interview in Davos that “wind is Ireland’s oil” and that Europe’s move away from Russian oil could present an opportunity for this country. 

Martin was speaking to Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos, where he was part of a panel earlier today alongside the leaders of Netherlands and Slovakia. 

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar also travelled to the summit and spoke to Bloomberg yesterday. 

An Taoiseach spoke to Bloomberg about the Northern Ireland Protocol, the war in Ukraine and the energy and inflation crises affecting Europe. 

Speaking about the latter, he said it could present long-term opportunities for Ireland. 

“For the next decade, the big investment in Ireland will be in offshore wind,” he said. 

In Ireland we’ve one of the windiests coasts in the world, particularly in the western seaboard. So wind is Ireland’s oil and that’s how we’re going to play it for the long term. Certainly, by the mid 2030s we want to be exporting energy and that’s our ambition.

Martin said the EU’s only path is towards renewables and that Ireland will have to “double down on that” amid the current pressure on fossil fuel prices. 

“I think this is a watershed in the transition from fossil fuels to renewables,” he said. 

Martin added that the inflation crisis will “get worse towards the end of the year” but that this was part Vladimir Putin’s war aims and that democracies must “hold the line”. 

I genuinely believe in what President Biden says, that there is a very significant challenge ahead of us, between those of us of like-minded states, democracies, who cherish these values versus the authoritarian regimes.

Accession to the EU was one of the most transformative events for Ireland.

Not just economically, but for our self confidence - and the creation of an outward-looking nation. #WEF22 pic.twitter.com/SIcQqTseEj

— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) May 25, 2022

Brexit

Speaking about the current impasse over the Northern Ireland Protocol, Martin questioned whether there was “a will” within the UK government to resolve it. 

The UK government has threatened to unilaterally change some elements of the Protocol agreed between the UK and EU, with Martin saying this was “not how democracies and countries of like mind normally behave”. 

Disputes of this kind need a will to resolve them, I’ve questioned myself whether that will exists, particularly within the United Kingdom government, for quite some time. When I met with the European Union vice president last year I asked him to go to Northern Ireland and meet all the parties and listen and come back with new proposals. He did all of that, last October he came forward with a significant set of proposals but he was not reciprocated by the UK government at the time. 

Martin added that he believes the UK government hasn’t given negotiations “a chance” and he suggested there may be “different agendas at play”. 

“We’re concerned as to whether there are different agendas at play, or whether the UK government really wants to settle this because I don’t see the landing zone for the UK government, or they’re not clear what would resolve this.”