Since the foundation of the State, Ireland has faced a number of energy crises including during World War Two, as a result of the Suez crisis of 1956, and twice in the 1970s, firstly, as a result of the Yom Kippur war in 1973 and, later, following the Iranian revolution. In each crisis the State made clear decisions to improve Ireland’s energy security, acting as promptly as it could. These decisions included commitments to major infrastructure investments. More recently, the State’s responses to the Ukrainian and the current Gulf crises have been lacking and the capacity of the LNG import facility proposed in the State-led Strategic Gas Emergency Reserve project is inadequate. Government needs to act immediately on the small number of options available to mitigate the country’s energy security of supply risk exposure which has been highlighted by events in the Strait of Hormuz. These options include returning Moneypoint Power Station to coal-fired generation, providing an LNG facility with far greater storage capacity than is currently proposed, removing barriers to and encouraging offshore exploration, and expediting investigations into the development of the depleted Ballycotton gas field for large scale storage of natural gas and bringing that project forward if it proves to be viable. In addition, Energy Policy needs go beyond its current singular focus on GHG emissions reduction and refocus on energy conservation measures in the industrial, commercial, residential and transport sectors. Press Release 08-05-2026