What is going on in Mayo at the
controversial Shell site affects all of us
· Three multinational companies, Shell, Statoil and Marathon, formed a consortium to exploit the Corrib natural gas field off the Mayo coast
· Shell and the rest of the consortium plan to pipe crude gas from the sea onto the land and refine it onshore at Bellinaboy.
· Local people are opposed to this project because it poses a grave risk to their health and safety.
· A number of recognised experts have predicted that an explosion is very likely in the working life of the pipeline.
· The Shell to Sea campaign are demanding that Shell build the refinery at sea bring the gas onto land in a clean, safe condition.
· Five local men (known as the Rossport Five) were jailed for over three months in 2005 because they refused to allow Shell lay piping on their lands.· The Irish Government has made it easy for Shell from the start.
They granted Shell the power to issue compulsory purchase orders against local people. This is the first time in the history of the state that such power was given to private companies.
· The Government has given away all the gas to this consortium in a deal involving Ray Burke, Bertie Ahern and Frank Fahy. The state will not make a penny from the gas.
· The Corrib gas field is worth billions of euro and there are many more fields of natural gas and oil in our waters which will be exploited by private companies on the same basis.
· The Irish State are spending on millions of euro each week of our money on keeping the local community under siege in Mayo. Some of the most brutal and violent acts ever committed by the Gardai against peaceful protesters have been a regular feature at protests in Bellinaboy.
· The Gardai have continued to lay siege to the area and carry out serious violent acts on local people. And yet no protester has been arrested or charged. Why is this situation allowed to continue?
It is in all our interests that the project of building a refinery on-shore in Mayo is halted immediately. Shell should be compelled to take their refinery to sea.
The heavy Garda presence should be immediately removed from the area and a public inquiry held into the conduct of Gardai since last October.
The deal done with this this consortium to exploit our natural resources without us gaining a single penny, should be scrapped immediately and re-negotiated!
|
