Add in a system of renewable generation capacity to a gas storage facility, and Ireland could be well on the way to meeting climate-change targets. 

We know work on the renewable end is continuing apace, but the gas storage issue has yet to be resolved.

Politicians and civil servants know that a gas storage facility is needed, and Environment Minister Eamon Ryan has already expressed support for a State-owned facility to operate in tandem with renewables to boost energy security.

The worry is that if gas was to stop flowing into the Irish system from pipelines coming from Scotland and that in north Mayo, the country would be left bereft of supplies. 

Were gas supplies to dry up, we would be left with coal, oil, peat, wind, and the other small amounts of renewables we already have here.

This, patently, is not what is wanted, but what is obvious is that we cannot afford any major outages for any sustained period of time. 

While wind energy generation is heavily backed as our future energy source, it does have issues. 

What happens when the wind doesn’t blow? And what happens to unused energy when the wind continues to blow?

There is one private solution being explored, and that is in the salt caverns under Larne Lough near the east Antrim town of Islandmagee. 

It is being proposed by a consortium of Northern Ireland and UK companies who plan to hollow out seven gas storage caverns under Larne Lough.

As ever, the challenge facing the Islandmagee project is the impact on the environment. Proposals at the site are subject to legal challenge by environmental groups whose concerns need to be addressed as their objections, like those concerning energy security, have an impact on us all.