‘Shell to Sea’ are an Irish organisation resisting attempts by the Shell conglomerate to construct a gas pipeline through the Mayo town of Rossport as well as the building of a refinery near Bellanaboy intended to treat gas extracted from the nearby Corrib gas field. The campaign has rarely attracted international media attention, but it has become something of a reoccurring story in the Irish media.
The affair has been deeply divisive and among other societal problems, it highlights the growing economic disparity that exists between the West of Ireland and its more developed Eastern counterpart. The neglect has traditionally resulted in the migration of the young to the capital city of Dublin and some believe that Shell offers something key to those remaining: employment. It seems a simple enough solution, but it’s a far more complicated tale than that.
Complications first arose when residents were dismissed in the consultation process. Process is perhaps misleading since by Irish law Shell was not even required to seek planning permission for the project. That very thought may seem ridiculous to international readers, but it remains the case now. In response local residents appealed culminating in a report by An Bord Pleanála (the planning board) citing numerous problems with the project. The government response was to simply bulldoze over the report and overturn the planning permission denial issued as a result of the report.
Events soon escalated. Land-owners in the area were promptly informed that Shell could appropriate their land for their own purposes and that failure to comply would result in a Compulsory Acquisition Order. That sounds like legal speak for land-grab to me! The government was clearly more concerned with placating the multinational company than serving the interests of its citizenry. In total five men, known as the Rossport Five, were sentenced to jail for refusing to hand over their land to Shell and what had once been a local interest story went national. Dissent began with picketing, and eventually the men were released. The release of the five men ran in tandem with the stepping up of force on the part of the government. The protestors initially managed to halt construction, but the police presence soon became overbearing with police numbers often outnumbering those of the protestors. Protestors have claimed numerous incidents of aggression and intimidation adding a somewhat insidious tint to the whole issue.
Mayo seems to be a prime example of the global environmental problem represented on a small scale. Governments are allowing multinational corporations overrule the concerns of local people who are more in tune with what the local area can handle. Worse is the media campaign which has seen the protestors accused of being infiltrated by the Provisional IRA (!), a cover-group for far-left extremists, and anti-business. It is important to remember that the campaigners do not dismiss the project simply because of its association with Shell. The argument against the Corrib gas pipeline is far more nuanced than it is portrayed in the media. The group simply insists upon consultation and dialogue in relation to how the project is being developed. The campaign has quieted down recently or it has at least been sidelined in media terms so it’s important that we don’t let these issues slip out of consciousness simply because the shock value has subsided.
The whole sorry affair has been made all the more problematic by the threat to biodiversity the pipeline may incur. Just off Broadhaven Bay in North Mayo at least 20 bottlenose dolphins have been spotted. The dolphins have been returning to the bay due to it being a relatively unspoilt area and yet the human response is to turn the area into another construction site. The dolphins will find themselves once again without a habitat due to our drive toward constant industrialization and caseless desire for finite fossil fuels. The beauty of the area is self-evident owing to the conservationist principles it is attempting to foster and so it is particularly sad to await its potential destruction. That the Irish government is still thinking within the framework of finite fossil fuels is also unsettling, but that’s an issue for another article. So be sure to pay a visit to the Shell to Sea website and voice your support.
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