Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)

This is an important matter as a terrible conflict is ongoing in Bellanaboy, County Mayo, involving hundreds of gardaí and protestors, and I fear for people's safety as lorries leave the site at speed. A means to resolve this dispute was proposed by the Shell to Sea group in a statement last Monday, 6 November. The group proposes the establishment of an independent, public commission of inquiry, which should comprise one or more members who are acceptable to all sides in the dispute; that the central purpose of the commission should be an investigation into the optimum development concept for the Corrib gas project; that the optimum development concept be determined according to a comprehensive set of criteria which shall include environment, health and safety, local and regional benefits and community consent; that community consent be the critical criterion employed in determining the optimum development concept; that the work of the commission be done in public through open hearings involving submissions, cross-questioning and other investigations deemed appropriate; and that the commission makes recommendations regarding the optimum development concept.

This proposal offers a reasonable and sensible way through which the Corrib gas conflict can be resolved. All sides in this dispute claim community support and, therefore, none should fear community consent as the key criterion. Previous efforts to resolve the dispute have been characterised by their narrow focuses and limited terms of reference. This proposal outlines an open, transparent and democratic method for determining how the Corrib gas project can be developed. This proposed project is wrong and has its genesis in the decision of the Minister for the marine in October 2000 to locate a gas processing terminal for the Corrib gas field in Bellanaboy on a site surrounded by blanket bog within the catchment of the primary water supply for the entire Erris region and located directly across from an established community.

The production pipeline will carry unprocessed gas and run 9.5 kilometres inland parallel to another established community. There is a great deal wrong with this. The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources agreed to sell the land involved to Enterprise Energy Ireland Limited, Shell's predecessor, without first considering advice about the suitability of the site. He issued consents in breach of EU Directive 98/30/EC because he failed to include a requirement that the pipeline comply with the code of practice. He confined the terms of reference of the Advantica safety review and the mediation process to the pipeline, even though the key issue was the siting of the terminal in Bellanaboy. It is wrong of the Minister to state the project was independently assessed and Advantica said the site was acceptable. The limitations of the Advantica report have often been outlined. Its focus on the effects of the pipeline rather than the cause, the Bellanaboy site, was too narrow.

In respect of itself, the Advantica report states: "It does not include detailed examination of the feasibility of alternative project design options, alternative pipeline designs or routes." Mr. Kevin Moore, a planner with An Bord Pleanála, stated that the terminal was located in the wrong place. He also stated that the developer ignored the board's request to provide information on alternatives and that the Minister's consent for the pipeline "could reasonably be determined as being premature" and had "emphasised a perception to some degree that the granting of planning permission for the ... processing terminal at the Bellanaboy site is a fait accompli". As the connecting downstream pipeline from Bellanaboy to Galway was already decided and announced, this conclusion is unavoidable.

It is obvious that the situation is wrong and the planning process was flawed. Cold venting, a process that threatens the environment, was not included in the planning process. There are significant questions about this matter. A petrochemical industry, a 400-acre footprint, will be located in a pristine area. Without going into detail on the effects on the area, such as 50 full-time jobs, the location is wrong. Such a matter has never been examined in this way.

Fundamental to the issue is that the pipeline and not its location was examined. The situation was flawed from the beginning and premeditated to ensure that Shell got exactly what it wanted. Not even An Bord Pleanála or the Minister could get Shell to examine alternatives. Mr. Peter Cassells's hands were tied behind his back because he was not allowed to examine more than the pipeline. For the sake of the people in the area, the Minister must consider a commission of inquiry, as it is the only way forward.

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