Ministers in Mayo for Corrib talks

Ministers in Mayo for Corrib talks


Áine Ryan

DISCUSSIONS with two Government ministers, held in Ballina yesterday, were ‘a long overdue recognition that there are serious issues to be resolved about the Corrib gas project’. Spokesman for community group, Pobal Chill Chomáin, Mr John Monaghan told The Mayo News last night that ‘yesterday’s meeting was only the begining of a process’ and while such key issues as ‘the poor history of the project’, statutory consents, the compromise onshore proposal of Glinsk, were alluded to, the minutiae of the many problems bedeviling the project were still to be addressed.
Minister for Energy, Eamon Ryan and Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív, stressed they were in attendance in ‘a listening role’.
Last night, a spokeswoman for Minister Ryan said that yesterday’s series of meeting had led to ‘a constructive day’, during which all sides were heard.
“The Minister will work in the interest of people of Erris, Mayo and Ireland. In all his work to date he continues to apply the principles of safety and equity to all,” said the spokeswoman.
Minister Ryan and Ó Cuív also met with representatives of Shell to Sea, Pro-Gas Mayo, local politicians and councillors, as well as fishermen, a parish priest and other interested parties.
 The ministers’ initiative is the first direct Government intervention since mediator Peter Cassells was appointed by Minister Noel Dempsey three years ago in October 2005, and comes a fortnight after anti-Corrib protests significantly escalated with the arrival in Broadhaven Bay of pipe-laying vessel, the Solitaire.
Shell to Sea spokeswoman, Maura Harrington said she told the ministers that her group would ensure that neither the landfall site at Glengad or Sruwaddacon Bay would ‘be available to Shell for the development’.
“In terms of a bona fide attempt by Government to finally listen to people, this is an exercise in futility if they cannot accept the wrong that was done eight years ago and no amount of tweaking will make it right,” said Ms Harrington.      
Meanwhile, welcoming the ‘process of engagement’ in a joint statement, Pobal Chill Chomáin and Pobal le Chéile noted the initiative was ‘acceptance by the Government that there are serious problems surrounding the project that require urgent attention’. 
 “The siting of an in-land gas refinery at Bellanaboy represents an unnecessary risk to health and safety, and is the root cause of all the difficulties surrounding Corrib. The proposal by the priests of our parish to relocate the refinery to an uninhabited coastal location [at Glinsk] offers significant advantages to all stakeholders,” the statement continued.   
It concluded that the ‘compromise proposal has the overwhelming support of the local community’ and that the two groups would work with the Corrib Gas Partners ‘to help deliver a safer solution for the people of Erris’.
Secretary of Pro-Gas Mayo, Mr Brendan Cafferty, observed that the ministers seemed to be well-briefed and had stressed it was ‘a listening exercise’.
“We outlined the economic benefits the delivery of the project will bring to Mayo and to Ireland. We also noted it was a catalyst for future industrial development in north Mayo,” said Mr Cafferty last night.
He told The Mayo News he understood the ministers would make a statement within a number of weeks.
Fine Gael’s Deputy Michael Ring also welcomed the ministers’ intervention and the fact they were there ‘to listen to everyone’.
“I hope we’ll have a follow-on immediately to try to resolve the serious issues in north Mayo. The ministers need to have more dialogue and then come forward with proposals to resolve this,” said Deputy Ring.
Fisherman, Pat O’Donnell – who met the ministers with local PP, Father Michael Nallen – asked why he had been arrested while standing-by his fishing gear ahead of the arrival of the Solitaire. He told The Mayo News the ministers acknowledged that the issue over which party  had a primary right was ‘a legal matter’.
Shell also welcomed yesterday’s initiative by the ministers, stating that the company remains ‘open and willing to talk to any individuals or groups who have concerns about our project’.