Pipeline group hoping to make Shell deal an election issue

Opponents of the Corrib gas pipeline in north Co Mayo are staging a protest outside the Dáil in Dublin today.The demonstration has been mounted as part of the Shell to Sea group's campaign to highlight what they say is the Government's ''effective handover of Ireland's natural resources'' to the global oil firm, adding the Government has allowed Shell to exploit the Corrib natural gas field without paying any royalties to the Irish State. Shell to Sea is hoping the matter becomes an election issue.Speaking at today's demonstration, Co Mayo resident Maureen McGrath said Ireland's resources should only be exploited for the benefit of the Irish people.''As it stands under the deal that's done with Shell, all these profits are going abroad and we are gaining nothing,'' she said.