Irish Unification - Electrically.

On the 22nd of August, a small but significant step occurred on the road to Irish Unification. EirGrid, the Irish Republic's state-owned electricity transmission system operator, bought SONI - the company that runs the electricity transmission system for Northern Ireland.

The operation (but not ownership) of the North's electricity system will now be effectively the responsibility of an arm of the Irish State. EirGrid falls under the jurisdiction of the Irish Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

The move has been widely welcomed across the board and touted as an important step towards the creation of a Single Electricity Market for the whole of the Island. Eirgrid and it's counterpart in the 6 counties, Northern Ireland Electricity, have also been co-operating to create an integrated North-South interconnector from County Tyrone to County Cavan.

While the move should I think be welcomed it also provides a sad contrast to us here in Cymru, where the National Grid grid not only treats North and South Wales as two separate entities, but doesn't even acknowledge a coherent welsh identity at all.

In any case, it may come as no surprise to learn that Sinn Fein have welcomed EirGrid's move. But does Ian Paisley know about it? If he did, he'd probably blow a fuse...