Rossport 5 Statement After High Court Appearance On The 14th July

mayo | rights, freedoms and repression | feature

Thursday July 14, 2005 18:15

by M. Ní Sheighin

Ráiteas eisithe ag an "Rossport 5" tar éis na hArd-Chúirte inniu, Déardaoin 15 lúil 2005.

The change proposed to the High Court order today is a welcome advance extracted from Shell. Shell has accepted, by implication, that it is in breach even of the rolling consents granted to them by ex-Minister Frank Fahy.

We welcome Shell’s promise to abide by the consent and hope that this indicates a new attitude on their part to what behaviour is tolerable in a democratic society.

It is regrettable that this decision to abide by the law has been extracted from Shell as a result of the action of our legal team, and is not a voluntary conversion. What a commentary this is on accepted business ethics, when such behaviour is practised with impunity.

We are in jail, as a last resort, to protect ourselves and our families, our neighbours and our area, from potential destruction by gas pipeline rupture. That remains our position, our one and only requirement: no-one can do less.

Pipelines rupture: no pipeline engineer intends this to happen but it does, with sickening frequency. The outlandish pipeline here proposed, to be forced in close proximity past our houses, is the stuff of nightmares. What they do to us, they will do to you.

The solution we are proposing, i.e. a shallow offshore platform, is the only positive one. It means yes to gas, yes to jobs, but yes to health and safety.

Posted on behalf of: Philip McGrath, Brendan Philbin, Vincent McGrath, Willie Corduff and Micheál Ó Seighin