Response to Corrib TAG "consultation" process

international | miscellaneous | press release Thursday September 22, 2005 20:51 by MARK GARAVAN - SHELL TO SEA

SHELL TO SEA PRESS RELEASE 22/09/2005 16:35 HRS

The Corrib gas project as it currently
stands is dead; it died the instant Minister Frank Fahey signed without
local "consultation" the compulsory acquisition orders that abandoned the
people of Rossport to the mercy of Shell and STATOIL.

Our position on Minister Dempsey's safety Review was made crystal clear when
the review was announced. The Review is addressing questions that we have
not asked and has a narrow, technical remit. The announcement of an oral
hearing within this context is therefore all about creating the impression
of "consultation" and openness rather than substance. It is a continuation
of the Corrib Gas project's attention to illusion rather than reality.

The truth is that public participation has been denied for the last five
years on the pipeline. With the State already committed to the project no
useful purpose can be served by any pretence at "consultation".

The people of Rossport have been systematically denied any opportunity or
forum for "consultation" for the past five years. The refusal by this
community to submit to the resultant state sponsored abuse has resulted in
five local men being indefinitely detained without trial. This human rights
abuse has created an "Guantanamo Bay" situation in Ireland. This morally and
democratically bankrupt government and their political allies would be
better advised to suspend the Corrib gas project pending a full review and a
reconfigured plan of development. The Corrib gas project as it currently
stands is dead; it died the instant Minister Frank Fahey signed without
local "consultation" the compulsory acquisition orders that abandoned the
people of Rossport to the mercy of Shell and STATOIL.