Green party chief Eamon Ryan has accepted that Ireland will be using nuclear power imported from France.
But he insisted that our future still lies in solar and wind power production.
The Greens have historically been vehemently opposed to nuclear energy and have campaigned strongly against it throughout their political history.
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However, the current leader has no qualms about accepting energy supply produced by nuclear power stations which will flow through the new Celtic Interconnector.
The deal to build the energy connection between Ireland and France was signed in Paris on Friday by Mr Ryan and the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin.
Mr Ryan is in Athlone this weekend for the annual Green party conference.
He was asked if he had any concerns about the source of the power that will flow to Ireland from France, where there is a huge reliance on nuclear energy.
Mr Ryan said: “In that very significant new development, a bridge to France we're building - a fibre optic and electric cable bridge to France, there will be nuclear energy coming through. “That's already happening in the UK interconnectors - so you can't differentiate electrons.
“But the future for us won't be nuclear in my mind.
“It will be wind, but also in solar.
“If you look at the latest statistics, half of the new generation in the world is in solar panels - that's this year, across the world.
“And while we're not the sunniest place on the planet, we know that actually that is a real part of the future here.
“We're going to put solar panels on every single school start and you're seeing 44,000 houses already, but that's going to massively multiply and accelerate.
“But at the end of this government we're going to deliver some 5 gw of solar power - which is the equivalent of 3 or 4 nuclear plants in capacity and when we achieve it - it will be cheaper, it will be quicker, it will be cleaner, and it will be safer.
“And in the summer days when that sun is shining, it will power our country and that's changing things for real.
“When we started in government there was none of that.
“By the time we finish this in five years we will have transformed our country, our energy system. our transport system, our childcare system, our forestry and farming system.
“That's what we're focused on - is delivering that real change and we will do it in the next two and a half years.”
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