Press Release - Shell to Sea delegation meet Ministers Ryan & Ó Cuiv

by Shell to Sea Mon Sep 29, 2008 20:28

For immediate press release
10pm, Sunday 28th Sept 2008

Tomorrow at 12 noon in Ballina, a Shell to Sea delegation will meet Minister for Natural Resources Eamon Ryan as well as Minister Eamon O'Cuiv.

It is hoped that this is finally an honest attempt at trying to resolve the issues that have dogged this ill-conceived project for over 8 years. Shell to Sea is asking that the government of the day finally stop blindly supporting Shell at the expense of the people of North Mayo.

Prior to going into government Minister Ryan speaking regarding the first An Bord Pleanala hearing into this project stated that

"I have serious concerns that the Government constantly took Shell's side, in effect, throughout this process."

We ask that Minster Ryan finally stop this shameful episode in trying to push this project through with the sheer brute force of all the State institutions.

Indeed back in November 2002, Minister Ryan rhetorically asked

"The real question which must be asked about this gas field project is this - is the Royal Dutch Shell deal a good deal for Mayo and a good deal for the Irish taxpayer?"

The Corrib deal however remains the same to this day with Ireland having no control over the gas, with Shell being able to sell to gas to the highest bidder and the State getting no royalties.

Shell to Sea spokesperson, Maura Harrington stated "With the country going into recession, it is long past the time that the giveaway gas deal is renegotiated so that the people of Ireland get some benefit from what should be their national resources".

Continuing Ms Harrington stated "This project still remains a dangerous experimental project that doesn't have the consent of the receiving community. We ask that Minster Ryan finally implement what he said he'd do before entering government, which is to have a full independent review of the whole project. While this is going on all works would cease and the damage done to the Special Areas of Conservation be repaired".

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Notes: Some previous quotes by Minister Eamon Ryan

* "The real question which must be asked about this gas field project is this - is the Royal Dutch Shell deal a good deal for Mayo and a good deal for the Irish taxpayer?" - Nov 2002

* ''If the Government was really representing the public interest then it would ask Shell to hold back on any further work on the project - offshore as well as onshore - until all the safety issues are properly addressed,'' Mr Ryan said. - August 05

* Green Party marine spokesman Eamon Ryan was promised a copy of the original plan [of development for Corrib] in a reply by the Minister [Dempsey] to a Dáil question on November 17th, 2004. In that reply, the Minister referred to it as an ''organic and evolving document'' instead of a finished programme. Failure to release it was a ''symptom of the obstructionist and secretive attitude'' which had helped to create the impasse in Mayo, Mr Ryan said. (Irish Times 5th August 05)

* Speaking in Dáil Éireann on November 24th, 2005, Eamon Ryan raised the question of the perceived independence of An Bord Pleanála: "When An Bord Pleanála made its decision on the first planning application for a gas terminal building in Bellanaboy, the inspector came to the conclusion that the application was for the wrong site from a strategic planning perspective. The inspector said in his report that the site chosen by the company in question was the wrong one when considered in the context of the Government's policy of fostering balanced regional development, from the perspective of minimising environmental impact and in the interests of sustainable development. More alarmingly, the inspector said he was under the impression that the granting of planning permission in this instance was a fait accompli. He concluded that the proposed site was unequivocally an incorrect choice."
"Anyone who examines from the outside the process that led to a decision being made on the appeal in this instance would agree that it was not conducted in an open and fair manner. ... I have serious concerns that the Government constantly took Shell's side, in effect, throughout this process. ... I contend that he [Taoiseach Bertie Ahern] put remarkable and untold pressure on An Bord Pleanála to accept the Government's will and to do the right thing in this case".

* In late 2006, a meeting of the National Council of the Green Party passed a policy calling for "the 1992 terms governing oil and gas exploration in Ireland's waters to be redrafted to give the State more security of hydrocarbon supply and a revenue/royalty percentage from such finds."

* At their conference in February 2007, the Green Party adopted a resolution that, in government, it would not sign pipeline consent for the Corrib gas project until "a full, independent review" had been conducted into the project.