Pobal Chill Chomain in Norway

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Monday October 27, 2008 14:18

by JM

Report on Pobal Chill Chomain visit to Stavanger, Norway: 15-19th October 2008

Vincent McGrath, Chairman of Erris community group Pobal Chill Chomain, and spokesperson John Monaghan, have recently returned from Stavanger in Norway where they highlighted community issues surrounding the proposed Corrib gas project in North Mayo. Norway has an interest in the Corrib project through it’s state oil company Statoil (now StatoilHydro).

SAFE congress 2008

The visit followed an official invitation to Pobal Chill Chomain to address the annual congress of Norwegian energy workers’ union SAFE, which is supporting efforts to find an alternative Corrib project acceptable to all parties, concentrating on health safety and the environment.

SAFE is an influential organisation in Norwegian energy comprising more than nine-and-a-half thousand members, including almost three thousand from StatoilHydro and several hundred Shell employees. Terje Nustad, leader of SAFE, had previously travelled to Ireland to witness the situation in Mayo.

The first day of the union’s four-day conference – attended by approximately 150 delegates – was given over to international issues, particularly Statoil’s alleged involvement in human rights abuses and worker conditions in Azerbaijan, as well as the company’s role in the stalled Corrib gas project.

Both Shell and Statoil in Ireland declined an invitation to participate.

Other guests included Mirvari Gahramanli and Shabnam Gahramanova from Azerbaijan, Jake Molloy from the National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers in Aberdeen, and General Secretary of the International Energy and Miners’ Organisation (IEMO) Alain Simon.

Pobal Chill Chomain’s address and accompanying slideshow to the SAFE congress outlined the history of the Corrib project, its impact on the local community, environmental and human rights concerns, and positive ways forward for all stakeholders – concentrating on community input and local consent.

Previous visits to Norway by community representatives from Ireland had increased Norwegian awareness of the many problems associated with Corrib, and this visit built on that awareness within the oil and gas industry itself. The presentation produced a very encouraging response from the attending delegates, who had travelled from all over the country to discuss the future of the industry.

As part of an ongoing process seeking an end to conflict surrounding the Corrib gas project, Pobal Chill Chomain extended an invitation to SAFE to come to Ireland to work with the local community to help find a solution.