About 10 miles north-east of Carrick-on-Shannon lies the Corrie Mountain, the southern tip of the Curlew Mountains, which form a barrier across the southern border of Co Sligo. The area is beautiful, desolate and windswept.
It used to be the site of the Arigna mine, an open-cast anthracite mine which closed about 10 years ago. The only trace of it left is a series of signs for a "Miners' Way", which leads walkers up the Corrie Mountain.
However, those who follow the signs today will hear a steady "thrum-thrum" near the top of the mountain and find the 10 massive turbines of the wind farm that replaced the mine.
According to Mr Conor Ronan, managing director of the wind farm, the Leyden family, who owned the mine, saw the writing on the wall for mining and members of the younger generation researched wind farming.
The land was then sold to E.Co, an electricity generating company backed by Treasury Holdings and the largest private developer of wind power in the State. The investment in the farm cost the company £4.5 million, and the Leyden family now operates it.
The electricity generated goes to the ESB as part of a 15-year contract. It is sold at 4p a kilowatt. Domestic customers pay 7.1p a kilowatt for their electricity, so the ESB makes about 3p a kilowatt from distribution. E.Co is also selling electricity directly into the market, aiming initially at small and medium companies.
Only 1 per cent of domestic electricity is provided by wind farms at the moment, but Mr Ronan is enthusiastic about its prospects. It is intended to produce 42 megawatts over the next 12 months, which is enough for 15,000 homes.
The EU supports it and insists that wind-generated electricity is first used. The Government is also promoting wind power to help it meet targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases.
"Denmark expects to have 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030," said Mr Ronan. "Ireland does not have a wind-energy industry as yet, but we can build one, and we will have the benefit of the Danish research."
He said one of the advantages of wind was that farmers could earn income from poor land.
E.Co also has wind farms in the neighbouring Co Roscommon, in Mayo, Cork and Donegal. Mr Ronan said they had no problems with planning permission, despite the intrusive appearance of the turbines.
This was confirmed by the Leitrim assistant county manager, Mr Sean Kielty, who said the council was considering a policy on wind farms and was bringing in consultants to identify the best sites, both from the point of view of wind speed and to ensure the least impact on the environment.
"Unlike mining, there are no downstream health implications from this form of energy," he said. "It is clean energy."