Harry Potter fans force reroute of Ireland-Wales power cable to protect Dobby memorial

A multimillion-pound electricity interconnector between Ireland and Wales was rerouted after a campaign by Harry Potter fans to protect a memorial to the fictional character Dobby the House Elf. The diversion of the Greenlink project, a 430 million pound high-voltage cable, followed hundreds of calls from fans concerned the original plan would disturb a tribute on a Welsh beach where a key scene from the film series was filmed.

The 190-kilometer cable, designed to import electricity into Ireland from Britain and export surplus renewable energy, was originally slated to make landfall at Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire. This location is where the death scene of Dobby, a beloved house-elf character, was filmed for the 2010 movie "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1." In the years since, fans established a memorial on the beach, leaving painted stones and socks as tributes.

According to Simon Ludlam, the project's chief executive, the cable route had been agreed upon with authorities and landowners. However, after a BBC News interview in which he pointed out the cable's underground path, his office was inundated with calls from concerned fans. Ludlam recounted his...