"About 120 protesters outside Mullingar station Ming Flanagan, Maura Harrington, etc. Supporting McCabe. M" - Ex-Garda Commissioner Callinan
"You can judge a man by his friends" Brian Purcell - SG of Dept of Justice
"Some shower Brian" Callinan
News release - Issued by Shell to Sea - Thursday, October 27th, 2011
ANOTHER DEAL BEHIND CLOSED DOORS BETRAYS PEOPLE OF ERRIS
-- Withdrawal of An Taisce case against government sparks anger in community --
The State has admitted it failed to correctly bring into law required EU Environmental Directives. The admission was made today in the Commercial Court, in a case in which An Taisce withdrew its legal challenge to the validity of consents for the Corrib Gas project.
Despite this, the State is still maintaining that the consents given to Shell, including one given by interim Fianna Fáil minister Pat Carey on the day of the last general election, are still valid.
Shell to Sea spokesperson Terence Conway said: “If the state isn't going to carry out its moral duty to protect the people of Erris, then it falls on the ordinary people of Ireland to stand up for themselves. It's all very well being vindicated but we're still left fighting this monument to political corruption. This is just the latest deal in the whole Corrib project done behind closed doors that ends up betraying a local community which has been fighting this unwanted development for over ten years.”
Shell to Sea spokesperson Maura Harrington added: “It isn't rational what happened today, how can the State acknowledge that something is wrong and at the same time claim that consents stemming from that are still valid? It appears to us that An Taisce while acknowledging that Corrib represents a 'travesty of European Environmental Law' is willing to trade that, for their costs and a seat on an environmental law implementation group yet to be established.”
Terence Conway continued: “The State has admitted what it has done is wrong, therefore the right step forward would be to withdraw all the consents until the law is followed. When someone admits wrongdoing, then common sense and justice states that they need to put it right. In the face of a state that will not do its statutory duty, it is the ordinary people who are left with a justified fight on their hands.”
ENDS
NOTES
[1] Challenges to Corrib pipeline settled -
http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Maura Harrington
Terence Conway
http://www.shelltosea.com
http://www.facebook.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/
The Shell to Sea Campaign has three main aims:
1) That any exploitation of the Corrib gas field be done in a safe way that will not expose the local community in Erris to unnecessary health, safety and environmental risks.
2) To renegotiate the terms of the Great Oil and Gas Giveaway, which sees Ireland’s 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent* off the West Coast go directly to the oil companies, with the Irish State retaining a 0% share, no energy security of supply and only 25% tax on profits against which all costs can be deducted.
3) To seek justice for the human rights abuses suffered by Shell to Sea campaigners due to their opposition to Shell’s proposed inland refinery.