Under pressure

US celebrities have come out against the proposed Shannon LNG project, saying that Ireland’s fracking ban is meaningless if it simply imports fracked gas instead. But the pressure to go ahead is considerable, as American interests hinge on finding - or creating - new markets for their gas oversupply. Ireland is now caught up in a power play about issues much larger than gas itself

The Gallina liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker sits docked after arriving at National Grid Plc’s GrainLNG plant on the Isle of Grain in Rochester in south-east England Pic: Bloomberg

She is best known for believing in fishnets, life after love and wanting to turn back time; so it came as something of a surprise when pop icon Cher weighed in on Irish energy policy last week.

Retweeting a letter sent to Leo Varadkar – signed by Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo and documentary maker Michael Moore – ...