Project has been victim of ‘tarnished politicians’ - Parish Priest

Project has been victim of ‘tarnished politicians’ - PP


Eight years after the first An Bord PleanΡla hearing into the Corrib gas project, yet another public inquiry into the controversial project closed last Friday, after 22 days of deliberation.

Áine Ryan

A PARISH Priest in north Mayo has told a Bord PleanΡla (ABP) hearing into the controversial Corrib gas project that his remote community has been a victim of ‘tarnished and untrusted holders of political office’.
Speaking last week during closing statements of the resumed hearing into the last section of the pipeline, Father Michael Nallen said that ‘politically this project has been through unsafe hands’.
He cited, in particular, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s involvement after ABP Inspector Kevin Moore turned down the then configured project in 2003.
Father Nallen also said certain ‘media outlets …  connected to the oil industry have blocked access to the means of expression for those who have genuine reasons to be concerned about the impact of the project’.
He argued there had been ‘derogatory dismissals of community concerns and objections by adopted advocates’ of the project.
“People have been engaged to find ways of dividing, dismissing and dismantling human and community values [so as] to impose something that brings fear and alienation,” Father Nallen said.
In his closing remarks, nonagenarian, Desmond Brannigan, said An Bord PleanΡla’s decision not to accept Inspector Kevin Moore’s report had created the continuing ‘impasse’.
In 2003, Mr Moore stated ‘this is the wrong site’ from strategic planning, government policy, environmental impact and sustainable development perspectives. 
Mr Brannigan, a marine consultant, said: “We are of the view that the failure of all political parties to support this community is probably the most serious remission of which any political party can be guilty.”
Niall Harnett of Rossport Solidarity Camp referred to issues about ‘the strategic importance and security of supply’ of Corrib gas. He said that Shell’s senior Counsel, Esmonde Keane, ‘has stressed on a number of occasions that EU law forbids Shell from giving a guarantee to sell the gas to the Irish State only’.
Mr Harnett also asked Inspector Martin Nolan: “Is the decision-making ability and integrity of the board compromised by the imposing existence off an already constructed refinery at Bellanaboy and 80km of laid offshore pipeline? Are you under intolerable pressure to allow the ‘last bit’ to be fitted?”
Speaking on behalf of Mayo County Council, Ward McEllin outlined the history, work and make-up of committees established to monitor the project. He noted that following recommendations by  Independent Mediator, Peter Cassells in 2006, community representation on both the Project Monitoring Committee (PMC) and the Environmental Monitoring Group, had been increased.
Mr McEllin said: “The PMC has worked most effectively as a monitoring committee and has carried out regular visits to the site. In carrying out the function of monitoring the matters specified by An Bord PleanΡla , the PMC has been instrumental in avoiding any of the major environmental issues sometimes encountered in such a major  infrastructure development”.
A number of observers questioned the admissibility of this submission since they claimed there was ‘disquiet’ about the make-up of this committee.

Unprecedented use of State forces used
THE State’s ‘unprecedented’ use of its forces of law and order against ‘its own citizens’ while protecting private commercial interests augurs badly for a remote community in north Mayo and for this country as a whole.
John Monaghan of Pobal Chill ChomΡin was speaking on the penultimate day (Thursday, September 30) of the resumed hearing into the controversial Corrib gas hearing.
“This application by Shell E&P Ireland Ltd … to construct an upstream gas pipeline is only the most recent episode in arguably the most contentious issue to affect this island outside the Troubles. 
“At no other time in the history of this State have private interests so clearly invaded the realm of the common good, and the unprecedented use of the State’s security and armed forces against it’s own citizens should be properly recorded as a dark development that does not bode well for the future of this community, or this country,” John Monaghan said.
Referring to the fallout from an ethos of ‘light regulation’, MicheΡl Ó Seighin said: “In a weak regulatory environment lacking in political will, a commercial entity will bleed every contradiction for its benefit  and to the detriment of the citizen, if that is what it is allowed to do …”
Echoing these concerns, CiarΡn Ó Murchú of Pobail le Chéile said: “In the recent Freefall documentary on the current economic and banking crisis a combination of factors was cited as the main reason for our current precarious economic position.”
He argued these same factors – weak political leadership, the strong lobby influence of commercial developers and a failure of regulatory authorities to act in the best interest of the State and the common people –  have led to the Corrib controversy.
Mr Sean Keane, of Artec Construction Ltd, made a submission on behalf of six local contractors employed by Shell.
“Having worked with Shell for the past number of years on the project, we as a group would like to assure you, Inspector,  that if the standards of health and safety and environmental and work procedures experienced by us on all aspects of the project are a benchmark, we would have no concerns.”
Parish Priest of Kilmore-Erris, Father Kevin Hegarty said his regular attendance at the hearing had further confirmed his faith in the project.
“In my original submission I said that I had come to the conclusion over the last few years that this project is safe and environmentally sensitive. The applicant  has been guided by stringent Irish, European and international standards in its design and development.”
Mr CiarΡn Ó hÓbΡin, from the Petroleum Affairs Division of the DCENR cited the conclusion of safety consultant, Peter Waite of Entec.
“The assessment carried out on the proposed design, as described in the submission leads Entec to conclude that there are no significant reasons on grounds of public safety reasons for refusing to grant a consent to construct the Corrib pipeline on the basis of both absolute separation from dwellings and the extremely low level of risk presented by the pipeline.”

Risk of pipeline exaggerated – Shell
RISK from the proposed Corrib gas pipeline ‘is no greater than that posed by existing transmission pipelines across Ireland’, according to Shell E&P Ireland (Sepil).
Speaking  on the final day of the hearing, Senior Counsel, Esmonde Keane said that Sepil’s latest application had ‘satisfied all relevant criteria’ set down by the planning appeals board in its letter of November 2, 2009.
He said: “It is virtually certain … that no other Irish development proposal has been subject to such an amount of study and surveys over such a period of time.”
Mr Keane argued the pipeline was designed to ‘the highest safety  standards’ and ‘to achieve the least impact possible on the environment’.
Recognising the public’s concerns, Mr Keane observed: “Sepil acknowledge the concerns of the public and have at all times regarded the safety of the community through which the pipeline [will run] as paramount, subject also to complying with the other environmental constraints.”  
He addressed concerns, repeatedly expressed by observers during the hearing, about the impact on Dooncarton mountain of continuous tunneling under nearby Sruwaddacon bay, for the proposed 4.9km sub-sea tunnel. A catastrophic landscape left people homeless and graves floating out to sea after a landslide on the hill in September 2003. 
“The application and the evidence before the hearing has demonstrated that there is no risk of landslides being caused or contributed to by  reasoning of tunnelling, haulage or other construction activities, or the subsequent operation of the pipeline … in the area of Dooncarton mountain or elsewhere along the route,” Esmonde Keane said.
He explained that Sepil had proposed 24-hour tunnelling to expedite the process and thereby ‘reduce so far as possible the community impacts associated with the operation’.
Mr Keane also criticised protestors – citing the Rossport Solidarity Camp, in particular – for blockading witnesses vehicles and preventing personnel from leaving the hearing late one night.
During Mr Keane’s lengthy closing remarks, environmental consultant, Peter Sweetman and local resident, Monica Muller walked out protesting that Mr Keane’s remarks were ‘a legal submission’ and not a closing statement. Retired teacher, Ed Moran also protested at Mr Keane’s use of case law, which he claimed was ‘outside the scope fo the hearing’. 
In an earlier closing statement, Mrs Mary Corduff noted that Thursday last, September 30 was the fifth anniversary of her husband’s – a member of the Rossport Five – release from jail.
“If the board gives permission our commuity will continue to be in conflict with the company, face imprisonment or worse.