SHELL TO SEA PRESS RELEASE 01/04/07 - RPS Public Consultation

Shell To sea wish to draw attention to the recent "workshop" held by Rural Planning Services in Geesala last Saturday 31st March, as part of Shell's "public consultation" process on possible re-routing of the planned on-shore upstream pipeline.As with the Advantica safety review, it is clear the terms of reference were once again extremely narrow, and do not allow the overall design concept to be considered. This has been clearly and repeatedly stated as the minimum requirement for any meaningful dialogue on the Corrib gas project, and must be included in any review that intends to address community concerns.Apart from this fundamental problem, we also note several issues that should be made clear:

• places on the workshop were by appointment only, but the criterion for obtaining a place were not made clear;

• the total number of places were supposedly filled, even though there was a much lower turnout than originally stated on the day;

• those in attendance were predominantly a mixture of business people based many miles from Bellanaboy/Rossport and local people already connected to the project, including former Shell security staff;

• the venue was over twenty miles from the current pipeline route, and those attending were under obvious surveillance by An Garda Sioch na.

We wish to acknowledge the genuine efforts made by RPS to date, but also to make it clear that this latest process does not meet any of the needs outlined previously.Shell To Sea is committed to a meaningful end to the numerous problems surrounding the Corrib development, and welcome all attempts to find a resolution provided they are conducted in an open and inclusive manner.END
For comment or verification call John Monaghan on +353 86 3123439