Coming just days after it was announced that Gaelectric is to invest Euro 200 million in constructing a major new wind farm, Galway politician James Hope has called on ministers to offer financial incentives for those firms looking to invest in the burgeoning green sector.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Green Party National Convention, the candidate for Galway City East argued that eco-technology and green energy represents the “one major growth area in the world today” being largely unaffected by the global banking crisis.

“Ireland has everything the green technology and energy sector needs,” Mr Hope stated.

“We have a well-educated and highly trained population. We have universities engaged in top-level research, and more access to wind and the ocean than most other European countries.”

Galway is already home to the Marine Institute as well as the Environmental Change Institute, with researchers at the latter currently working on developing tidal energy.

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