Upcoming Events

National | Environment

no events match your query!

New Events

National

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire

offsite link Ukraine Buys Huge Amounts of Russian Fue... Fri Jan 20, 2023 08:34 | Antonia Kotseva

offsite link Turkey Has Sent Ukraine Cluster Munition... Thu Jan 12, 2023 00:26 | Jack Detsch

offsite link New Israeli Government Promises to Talk ... Tue Jan 10, 2023 21:13 | Al Majadeen

offsite link Russia Training Iranian Pilots Ahead of ... Tue Jan 10, 2023 15:19 | The Times of Israel

offsite link Lukashenko Abolishes Copyright Protectio... Tue Jan 10, 2023 15:05 | Nikki Main

Anti-Empire >>

Human Rights in Ireland
A Blog About Human Rights

offsite link UN human rights chief calls for priority action ahead of climate summit Sat Oct 30, 2021 17:18 | Human Rights

offsite link 5 Year Anniversary Of Kem Ley?s Death Sun Jul 11, 2021 12:34 | Human Rights

offsite link Poor Living Conditions for Migrants in Southern Italy Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:14 | Human Rights

offsite link Right to Water Mon Aug 03, 2020 19:13 | Human Rights

offsite link Human Rights Fri Mar 20, 2020 16:33 | Human Rights

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Are We Being Gaslit Over the Cause of the Princess of Wales?s Cancer? Fri Mar 29, 2024 07:00 | Melissa Kite
First Charles and then Kate ? it's hard to ignore the soaring cancer rate when two members of the Royal Family are diagnosed within weeks. But are we being gaslit about what's behind the surge, asks Melissa Kite.
The post Are We Being Gaslit Over the Cause of the Princess of Wales’s Cancer? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Fri Mar 29, 2024 00:04 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the virus and the vaccines, the ?climate emergency? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Women?s Team with Five Male Players Wins Football Competition After One Male Player ?Broke Opponent?... Thu Mar 28, 2024 19:30 | Will Jones
A women?s football competition has been branded misogynist after it was won by a team featuring five transgender players, amid accusations one had broken an opponent?s leg in two places.
The post Women’s Team with Five Male Players Wins Football Competition After One Male Player “Broke Opponent’s Leg” ? But Teams Who Refuse to Play Against Them Are Branded “Discriminatory” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Further Evidence Gaza Casualty Numbers Are Fake Thu Mar 28, 2024 17:36 | Will Jones
The evidence that the Gaza casualty numbers from the Hamas-run Health Ministry (now over 32,000) are wildly inflated continues to mount. Mark Zlochin looks at what the proportions of male and female UNRWA workers tell us.
The post Further Evidence Gaza Casualty Numbers Are Fake appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Don?t Be Fooled by the ?Britain is Growing? Fairytales Thu Mar 28, 2024 15:22 | David Craig
Don't be fooled by the 'Britain is growing' fairytales, says David Craig. Any 'growth' is accounted for by the hike in the benefits bill and in civil servants' pay and a heap of other unproductive deficit spending.
The post Don’t Be Fooled by the ‘Britain is Growing’ Fairytales appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Moscow attack reminds us of the links between Islamists and Kiev's fundamentalis... Tue Mar 26, 2024 06:57 | en

offsite link Failure to assist a people in danger of genocide, by Hassan Hamadé Tue Mar 26, 2024 06:32 | en

offsite link Yugoslavia March 24, 1999 The Founding War of the New Nato, by Manlio Dinucci Sun Mar 24, 2024 05:15 | en

offsite link France opposes Russian Korean-style peace project in Ukraine Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:11 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N°79 Fri Mar 22, 2024 11:40 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Search words: Tara

The Corrib Gas Controversy: State Collaboration with Shell Exposed

category national | environment | press release author Thursday August 10, 2006 01:54author by Andrew McGrath - Tara Foundationauthor email tarafoundation at eircom dot net Report this post to the editors

Response to the Cassells Report and Shell's apparent intention to move the Corrib gas pipeline

The Corrib Gas Controversy: State Collaboration with Shell Exposed

On 28th July 2006, Mr. Peter Cassels, the “independent mediator” appointed by Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources Noel Dempsey with the stated aim of negotiating a settlement between Royal Dutch Shell and the Rossport Five, published a report. The principal recommendation was that the contested pipeline should be moved to address the safety concerns of local residents. Other recommendations were that Bord Gáis, the Irish state gas agency, should become involved in the project, and that an “investment fund” be set up to increase the economic benefit of the project for the Erris area.

On one level, these recommendations confirm the contentions of opponents of the project. First, that the pipeline was dangerous: if, as Shell and Minister Dempsey keep claiming, the proposed pipeline is totally safe, why agree to the extra labour, materials and expense involved in moving it?. Second, that the gas will be effectively owned by Shell and its partner Statoil, and sold at the full market price. Third, that Ireland’s current energy regime is so generous that all Shell’s expenses related to energy exploration and extraction, back-dated 25 years, can be offset against tax, and that the whole operation will be operated from Scotland.

On another level however, a different picture emerges. The Irish state is backing the appearance of mediation, whereas in fact there is no real interest in addressing the issued raised by the Erris residents on whom this pipeline and refinery are being foisted. The extent of State collaboration with Shell can be seen in Shell’s statement, issued on 3rd August, of its intent to move the pipeline. The key recommendation of Cassels’ report was at once seized on by Shell as the PR solution to the stand-off. That it is a PR solution and nothing more is evident from the statement by a spokesperson for Shell the next day, that the pipeline would remain within Rossport.

Such a swift agreement between Peter Cassels and Shell is not accidental. Mr. Cassels’ report was nothing more than a PR stunt on behalf of Shell, and even included the bizarre and patently untrue claim (repeated numerous times by Mr. Cassels on RTE News) that the majority of the residents are in favour of the project. As proof, one need go no further than the following words from Shell’s spokesperson: “Looking at it from a pragmatic or business point of view, we need to move this forward, and we see the best way to do that will be to modify the route”. All that Shell is concerned with is maximizing the profit and minimizing the expense of this project; as the most lucrative British corporation in history, that is what they do best. There is no reason in the world for them to relocate the pipeline or ensure the pipeline is safe, or ensure that toxic emissions from the refinery are monitored. Indeed, their worldwide record is so appalling in these respects that any assurances made by Shell are not worth listening to.

One would expect the State, in the person of Minister Dempsey, and a State employee, in the person of Mr. Cassels, to do their utmost to guarantee the wellbeing and safety of Irish citizens. All their actions to this point, however, have indicated that their main concern is to accommodate Shell. No faith can be placed in their statements, any more than in Shell’s.

Considering the callous disregard for the safety of Irish citizens and for the environment that is being shown in this matter by the State, the Tara Foundation reiterates its opposition to the Corrib gas project.

The RTE News Reports announcing the pipeline move can be found on:

http://www.corribsos.com/index.php?id=16&type=page

The Centre for Public Enquiry reports into the Corrib project can be found on:

http://www.publicinquiry.ie/reports.php

 #   Title   Author   Date 
   Well said Andrew!!     cool j    Sat Aug 12, 2006 23:57 


 
© 2001-2024 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy