“This is a positive development which advances the delivery of this important piece of infrastructure. It is now incumbent on the Department for Infrastructure to give its go ahead to this project as soon as possible.
“The second North-South interconnector is vital for the future security of supply of energy, keeping prices for domestic and business consumers as low as possible and helping to make our economy competitive, while helping the further diversification around renewables.
“Across the island, our reality is of a single energy market. We are too small and peripheral to go alone. This is why the preservation of the all-island single energy market must be a top priority in working out a special deal for Northern Ireland in the context of Brexit.”