CorribGas.net – News and Analysis

By Michael McCaughan

On Sep 24th Shell E&P Ireland will proudly host a site visit from businesses attending the Annual Health and Safety Conference of the National Irish Safety Organisation (NISO). The assembled guests will marvel at the scale of the Bellanaboy terminal, regarded by NISO as an exemplary, safe industrial project. The NISO’s aim is “Promoting a culture of excellence in workplace health & safety” and Shell, with an alleged one million hours worked injury free in Mayo, have been rewarded with this official visit. While the safety and wellbeing of workers is critical in evaluating the success of a project, the health and safety of the wider community is, in the long term, an even greater priority. Shell has already stated that once the construction phase is over the Corrib gas field will employ just 50 people. Who will look after the safety and health concerns of 10,000 people who live in the area, drink the water, breathe the air and, in particular, the several hundred people who live in the 79 homes located along the 500 metre ‘kill zone’ acknowledged by Shell during the recent oral hearing into the proposed onshore pipeline route?
Shell’s ‘injury free’ record ignores the beating of Willie Corduff (inside the Shell work zone), the stroke suffered by Paddy McGrath after the Pollathomish pier incident and the broken back suffered by Ed Collins when he was tossed into a drain outside the Bellanaboy terminal site. Corduff and McGrath’s injuries occurred when the two men were peacefully requesting the right to see Shell’s legal permissions to work in the area, hardly a subversive demand. All these injuries ultimately occurred because Shell has refused to engage in a meaningful process of dialogue and consultation with the community, proceeding through force instead.
The dominant feeling that the state is facilitating the project, rather than monitoring it, has forced the community to spend months and years researching and exploring issues for themselves. It is this remarkable accumulated knowledge which impressed An Bord Pleanala and forced them to delay a decision on the pipeline route due to “the complex issues involved.” Those complex issues were raised at the first Bord Pleanala hearing in 2002 and they remain just as relevant in 2009, numerous fatal flaws in a project which has been rushed through to impress foreign investors rather than reassure locals that it will be operated in a competent manner.
Erris News presents a small sample of the health and safety breaches committed by Shell, readily acknowledging that the vigilance of individuals cannot substitute state esponsibility in matters involving public health and safety.

-Oct 2007 -Unauthorised drilling on a Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
-Jan/Feb 2007 -Dangerous levels of aluminium in Carrowmore Lake
-Mar 2007-Diesel leak from a generator at Bellanaboy terminal spilled toxic poison into nearby stream.
The three incidents outlined above are bad enough in their own right but insult was heaped on injury when Shell refused to take responsibility. The diesel spill was spotted by members of the community which called a 24-hour helpline which took 72 hours to respond. The first reaction of the company was to deny anything had happened and then quietly hire a tanker to pump the diesel several days later. The unauthorized drilling constitutes an offence punishable by law, which should, at the very least, have triggered an immediate halt to the project. However Shell PR officials dismissed the event as “an oversight” due to “miscommunication.” When Gardai arrived on the scene they threatened to arrest members of the community whose vigilance had resulted in the alarm being raised. If the company is prepared to lie about minor incidents which occur during project construction, is it likely to own up to more dangerous breaches once the gas if flowing? Shell’s track record worldwide leaves little room for optimism. The company’s policy is to deny liability for spillages and disasters, fight the cases through every possible court and then refuse to pay compensation awarded against them.

However one would imagine that well publicized health and safety concerns over the gas project would inspire Shell to do its utmost in implementing safeguards in Erris. A spate of recent incidents suggests precisely the opposite;

-On 22nd April Portaloos overturned in the wind on the day Shell restarted work at Glengad. However “Due to the aggravated situation onsite” (ie local people requesting to see legal permission for the work taking place) “Roadbridge were unable to implement the standard Emergency Response Procedure.” Is the NISO aware of this incapacity? The overturned loos released 15 litres of chemicals into the atmosphere.

-On June 24th, during dredging works on the causeway, Shell reported “a minor oil leak” when a hydraulic hose burst and discharged 8lt of hydraulic oil. But fear not, Shell implemented its ‘Oil Spill Contingency Plan’ and “contamination was primarily confined to the causeway.” That will come as good news to the animal and plant life which swallowed the poison.

-On July 30th an incident report recorded a “hydro-test chemical additive” spill but a report has yet to be presented on the incident. This chemical additive is unlikely to improve your health but Shell announced, without fear of sanction or further inquiry, that there was “no ecological impact” associated with this spillage. The NISO has been remiss in its modest praise of Shell’s safety record, as any company which can spill chemicals into the sea with no ecological impact should be declared Masters of the Universe.

-On August 16th one of Shell’s vessels ran aground, spilling 10lt of fuel into the sea. This is the same company which plans to pump tonnnes of toxic waste back into the sea from the refinery site when it is operating at full blast, claiming zero risk.

In its most recent mea culpa, Shell acknowledged that on August 23rd another spillage occurred, this time “at the boundary of the SAC.” This is the same company which drilled through an SAC in a previous “oversight.” How accurate can we expect their reading of an SAC boundary to be? The Shell person responsible for writing up these reports has evidently invested in a Thesaurus Dictionary and Erris residents will be glad to hear that there was no spillage this time as 13 litres of hydraulic oil was merely “lost.” Shell should place an ad on Mid-West radio and offer a reward for its safe return.
There was a further “loss” the next day during a botched refueling operation at Ballyglass Pier. By the time you read this, there will be more incidents, spillages and losses but the slow, steady drip of health and safety breaches is like Rasputin taking his little doses of poison until, having declared himself in rude health, he suddenly keels over in final agony.

So, the good people of the NISO will visit the Bellanaboy refinery site on Sep 24th at 1pm. It is unlikely that Shell will be handing out incident reports to their admiring visitors, leaving the hard working locals with no other option but to inform the visitors themselves. The NISO has declared its mission to be that of “Playing a leading role in advancing the national health & safety agenda.” The Erris News distribution network, notoriously efficient, will hopefully bring this issue to the attention of the NISO but just in case, concerned citizens can call the NISO themselves and let them know, at 01-4659760.

Ends.

by Michael McCaughan

“Gardai said Mr Corduff had complained of head and chest pains necessitating an ambulance and two paramedics to travel out from Castlebar…no assault is being investigated by gardai” (Jim Cusack, Security Correspondent, Sunday Independent, 26/4/09)

News reports which focus on the community campaign to bring gas safely ashore in Erris, Co Mayo rely heavily on statements and speculation which, once generated by gardai, are accepted unquestioningly by reporters. Willie Corduff’s hospital records offer another version of events, one which relies on forensic detail rather than partisan speculation; “He had been kicked all over the body and had LOC (Loss Of Consciousness). He had headaches, nausea and vomiting.” (Discharge report for Willie Corduff, Castlebar Hospital, 24/4/09) Corduff took up residence underneath a Shell truck at Glengad compound only after gardai refused to reveal the legal basis on which work was restarting at the site. When Mary Corduff visited Belmullet garda station that afternoon, requesting the same, she was met with derision; ‘tell your husband to have a bit of sense’ said Supt McNamara.

For the past nine years the legal, social and environmental issues raised by the community have been dismissed in similar fashion. When Pat O’Donnell’s boat was sunk by persons unknown in June, garda sources insinuated that O’Donnell sank his own vessel; ‘Individual gardai and Shell allege, privately, that both cases (O’Donnell and Corduff) were concocted by “the movement” in a desperate attempt to garner support for the cause”. (Mark Tighe, Sunday Times, 5/07/09) Within 48 hours of the O’Donnell incident gardai announced unequivocally that “they have found no evidence to support claims by a prominent Shell to Sea protester that armed commandos sank his shellfish boat off the coast of Mayo last week.”

How did Gardai investigators arrive at such a speedy conclusion? The headline on that story, “Gardai: sinking story is fishy” is typical of the official attitude toward the concerns of the Erris people. On the night of the boat episode, Garda failed to send officers to secure nearby ports where O’Donnell’s attackers might have fled.

The role of the gardai as primary media source in the Corrib gas controversy has distracted attention from what human rights organizations are beginning to view as a systematic campaign of harassment against peaceful protestors.

Meanwhile public statements by gardai have been accompanied by petty harassment of less well known campaigners. Seanie McDonnell, a local school bus driver in his mid 60s, was arrested in June by plainclothes police in an unmarked car as he finished off his daily run. McDonnell was taken to Ballina, an hour away, and instructed to watch film footage of protests in which detectives accused him of property damage. “I’ve never done anything like that in my life” McDonnell told Village. The gardai have yet to follow up this arrest with any formal charge. McDonnell’s wife, who asked not to be named, out of fear, suffers from a long term illness. “I’m nervous to say anything, I have to be careful” said McDonnell. “It’s not for my own sake, it’s for my wife, it took a lot out of her.. I wouldn’t like any hassle around the house again.” On another occasion, a member of the Solidarity camp was surprised to hear that his parents, back home in Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry, had received a ‘friendly’ call from a local garda who expressed concern that their son’s safety might be at risk in County Mayo.

“Gardai sources say the protest has been infiltrated at times by very hard-line republican elements….the same sources said at least two leading members of the Real IRA in Derry have been seen at the protest.” (“Policing costs mount…” Conor Lally, Irish Times 20/09/08)
Garda spokespeople have also led the way in linking activists to subversion. The Sunday Times, (5/7/09) in its ‘Mayo Landing’ feature, relied on garda sources to portray the campaign as a destructive force; “Well known people are in and out of that solidarity camp stirring things up and inciting theses people, which they are naive enough to allow”, added Larkin. “If we didn’t have some of the outside agitators coming in there wouldn’t be a problem with the handful of locals that oppose this.”
Larkin offers no evidence to back up his ‘handful of locals’ theory and the Sunday Times clearly felt that no proof other than his word was required. Larkin then added that a better measure of local support for the project were ‘the many offers of accommodation’ received from people keen to house the 300 extra gardai drafted in to protect the project. This strange belief by Supt Larkin that cash for beds implies a measure of support for a corporate project goes unchallenged by the reporter. If Mark Tighe had consulted accommodation outlets in villages closer to Glengad, he would have discovered that a number of requests for garda beds were politely rejected by locals.
“We have to deploy huge numbers of gardai” explained Supt Larkin, “They are needed to deal with some of the protesters whose stated aim is to cause criminal damage and wreck property.”

Rossport resident Monica Muller has written an open letter to Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy, claiming that gardai have violated several articles of their own operating code (The Garda Siochana Act (2005) in adopting a partisan role in the Corrib gas project. Muller cites Superintendent Larkin’s “serious allegations against members of the public, accusation of intent to cause criminal damage..he has demeaned members of the public who oppose the Corrib Gas Project, as is their Constitutionally guaranteed right to do….He has made unfounded statements about matters outside the remit of the Garda Siochana and expressed his opinion of a commercial development by a private company.”
Monica Muller signed off her complaint to the Garda Commissioner; “While I am not a ‘protester’ I have most certainly taken up my legal rights to take part in the planning process for this commercial development in opposing it until such time as proper procedures, legislation and the rule of law are followed by Shell E & P Ireland”.
There is growing concern that the gardai have overstepped their duties in Mayo and taken on the role of auxiliary spokespeople/PR for a private developer. In the coming months Shell is expected to begin work on the onshore pipeline, bringing the issue right back to june 2005 when five men were jailed for refusing to allow the company access to their lands. The jailing of the Rossport Five triggered a nationwide campaign which left Shell isolated and unpopular. The company responded with a major PR campaign which shifted attention away from the substantive health and safety concerns and onto issues of alleged subversion and criminal behavior.
In the weeks and months ahead a number of legal challenges to Shell’s planned route will be aired while trained human rights monitors will keep a close eye on garda behaviour. Who will keep an eye on the media?
Ends.

When the rebel ballads are written and recited in future centuries over the graves of the Mayo heroes, names like Pat O’Donnell, Maura Harrington, Willie Corduff and Eoin O’Leithin will undoubtedly enjoy pride of place. It is unlikely however that any bog bound bard will toast the bold deeds of Neil McEleny -a great shame. While campaigns are won and lost on the long term dedication and commitment of many people, sometimes an accidental or reluctant activist can expose the powers above in ways that are both subtle and profound. McEleny is the last person you could imagine blocking a road or climbing on a truck to protest an industrial project. Since the age of sixteen, McEleny has worked on building sites all over Ireland, blessing every new bypass, shopping centre and industrial project as proof of God’s unstoppable will. McEleny is built like a Rugby player and looks like he would be more at ease with Shell’s construction workers inside the Bellanaboy refinery site than around the fire at the Solidarity camp, cooking up another round of Direct Action.

On June 12th, this year, shortly after 9am, McEleny woke up, got out of bed and decided enough was enough. The time for direct action had come. He dressed and got into his car which he then parked on the road right outside his home, blocking a convoy of haulage lorries carrying stone for Shell to the nearby construction site at Glengad. There were no press cameras around, no dreadlocks and no trailers full of tea. The local builder and businessman politely advised Shell’s hauliers to turn around. When the first squad car arrived fifteen minutes later there were no angry comments directed at the gardai, even though they looked like they were gearing up to deliver the usual rough rewards that have become standard fare for activists who challenge the unpopular project. A second Garda car arrived, bearing an older officer, who knew McEleny and hustled the first officer away. It is one thing to assault ‘professional’ activists but quite another to go for a local man, uninvolved in the protest campaign and whose house has literally cracked open from the impact of Shell lorries. The Gardai were also aware that McEleny had already lodged eight complaints with them over Shell’s haulage operation which lacked even the most basic traffic management plan. McEleny went back to his own vehicle and waited to see what would happen next.

A resident of Pollathomas and Irish speaker, McEleny is a man born for the outdoors who looks positively uneasy sitting quietly indoors on a sofa. He is also a man who lives with consistent pain after a car accident which has left him with a morphine drip patched to the back of his neck. McEleny is every inch a builder, his broad 6’1 frame hinting at a secure place in the second row of any rugby scrum. I find myself staring at his neck and skin which has the leathery sunburn that marks the builder for life. McEleny plays down his intellectual abilities yet he articulates his ideas with confidence and measures his words carefully, often pausing to explain why he chooses one particular phrase over another.

When the gas pipeline project arrived into his neighbourhood McEleny was excited, like everyone else, imagining a prosperous future ahead. With his wife Kathleen he purchased their century-old home from Udaras Na Gaeltachta in 1997 and opened it as a diving centre with accommodation attached. The coastal strip in front of their home offers a breathtaking view of turquoise waters stretching lazily toward the horizon, while rocky outcrops dip through headlands and inlets. “This is a fantastic area for diving with beautiful, clear virgin waters”, explained McEleny, gesturing out his window, “half the dive sites are untouched.” The diving terrain sweeps away from Ballyglass to Broadhaven Bay and Portacloy.

The impact of the car accident (hardly an accident, more an act of crass stupidity as a careless driver rammed into his properly parked vehicle) left him unable to dive, so the house was reopened as a B&B but with little success. The problems really began for his family in 2008 when hundreds of lorries began passing in front of his home en route to the Shell compound at Glengad. McEleny has repeated this part of his story many times, to journalists and engineers alike, so his words carry the echo of repetition aimed at officialdom; “The house damage occurred mainly in the month of July 2008 where lorries in their hundreds passed by directly outside our home on a daily basis, some lorries carrying in excess of 32 tonnes and others in excess of 42 tonnes at high speed while in convoys of four, five and six and at times even seven trucks. This bombardment of haulage began at 5.30 a.m. and continued until 9.30 p.m. six days a week for the month of July and into the beginning of August. This was done in conjunction with Mayo County Council who were upgrading the road for Shell at a cost of €4.5m to €6m. As a result of the combined haulage, the front garden wall, which was structurally retaining the road, (as our house and garden are 2m below road level) collapsed and was structurally condemned and was now a health and safety concern to both me and my family and road users alike. As a result of the haulage, widespread cracking appeared internally and externally throughout the house due to the serious vibration from the lorries at the time. There has also been water ingress problems throughout.”

The impact of the heavy traffic can only be understood in the context of local geography as a shifting blanket bog brings the constant risk of landslide when heavy rains occur. In September 2003 there was a serious landslide parallel to the haulage route (L1202) in the Pollathomas/Glengad area. After a major clean up the area was categorised as ‘high risk’ and many local planning applications were turned down on those grounds. Despite the fencing off of some areas along the L1202 which allowed for ‘medium and low risk’ categorization, planning was still refused along the road. “And yet Mayo County Council have given Shell permission to use this highly sensitive area as a haulage route where hundreds of lorries traffic bombard these roads daily”, complains McEleny.

The day that Kathleen McEleny told her husband their house was cracking up, he refused to believe it. Once he saw the evidence, he immediately contacted Mayo County Council. McEleny reacted the same way as Willie and Mary Corduff and many others when they first discovered the risks and dangers attached to the project. They followed due procedure, anticipating swift redress. Over the past year McEleny has lodged eight complaints with the gardai, citing zero traffic management, excessive noise and the plaster peeling off their kitchen roof. This is where the runaround began. “This is a place that was kept in immaculate condition”, says McEleny, pointing at the front of the house, which resembles a bombed out excavation site. Inside the house, it looks like a powerful earthquake has struck as plasterboard peels off, ceilings are cracked and walls look on the verge of collapse. McEleny believed that Shell would take immediate action to rectify the situation; “We honestly thought, well, it’s a straightforward case, let’s sort this out, this damage was caused directly by a project, the developer is set to make lots of money.” McEleny hadn’t studied the track record of Shell which has a reputation for skimping on costs but lavishing endless cash on litigation to prevent any payouts or compensation awarded against the corporation.

The first letter from McEleny was acknowledged In February 2008 but there was no further response. McEleny wrote to engineers at Mayo County Council once more, visited the offices on four occasions, asked to speak to senior engineers, but no one was ever available. Finally an office manager told him there would be an engineer out that same afternoon to survey the situation. “That never happened”, explained McEleny, with growing frustration. “I went in the following day, he told me there’d be an engineer within two hours at my home”. Needless to say, that never happened either. The phone calls continued for four months. “I was trying to get someone’s attention.”

McEleny then turned to Shell. Surely, he thought, if Shell understood the damage done by their trucks, they would act. Sure enough, within 36 hours, a public representative called to his house, one of Shell’s public liaison officers reaching out the hand of friendship. McEleny was promised a speedy reply but nothing further happened. In July 2008 Shell promised to send an engineer to his home, but that he wouldn’t be available for three weeks. When the engineer arrived, he reassured McEleny that whatever survey was carried out, he would pass the report on to him the very next day. There have been seven surveys carried out since then. “We haven’t seen a copy of any one of the seven surveys”, said McEleny

In the light of this remarkable runaround McEleny’s direct action can only be viewed as a polite gesture in the face of overwhelming indifference and arrogance. At the time of writing, the County Council has sent a work team to build a structural retaining wall at McEleny’s home, but the builder remains skeptical; “It is obvious a year later that this is not being done out of health and safety concerns but to facilitate the upgrade of the L1202 Shell haulage route.”

In April 2009 Shell recommenced their haulage operation along L1202, provoking further structural damage in at least two more homes in the area. A number of property owners are planning to take legal action on Shell and Mayo County Council. At a resident’s meeting held on 21 May 2009, attended by Councillor Tim Quinn (Fianna Fail), locals presented a 30 point list that comprised health and safety concerns and other general points which were submitted to Mayo County Council the next day as a matter of urgency. Five weeks later, despite numerous requests, not one point had been acknowledged, let alone addressed.

McEleny’s perspective on the Corrib gas project has shifted dramatically since his brush with the company over a minor health and safety issue. “This is not about me”, he insists, “If they can do what they done to someone like me that’s never really got involved”, he says, his thought trailing away into silence. “I could have ended up being one of the lads over there”, he adds, gesturing toward the Glengad compound. “I’m an ordinary 5/8 man like yourself,” he said, before correcting himself, “no, like myself”. I had a feeling that the ordinary 5/8 man was a hardworking, no nonsense type of guy who would fit easily into a Bruce Springsteen anthem. Why wasn’t I one? I asked McEleny for further clarification on this mythical man; “When someone says that someone is an ordinary 5/8 type of guy” he explained, “it has many meanings ie working class, no airs and graces, no bull shit.”

I see.

The McEleny case is significant in that it offers a microcosm of the manner in which Shell-Government has handled every aspect of this project; “Things that could have been resolved have been aggravated instead,” observed McEleny. “Instead, people like ourselves, a family, that for whatever reason have never really been vocal on the project, have to go to these extremes in order to protect their home, protect the safety and health of road users.” It was early June when McEleny attended the An Bord Pleanala oral hearing into the project, at which local people made detailed submissions outlining the dangers of the project. “I was shocked by exaggeration after exaggeration, lie after lie coming from Shell engineers… I though to myself, enough is enough, I felt like I had to make a statement.” That statement was made on the road. “It showed people that residents can do something about it, that if they pull together collectively, it can work.” The residents have pulled together and are now prepared for further action should the haulage work restart. “It was agreed at the residents meeting that if I was to be arrested, then twenty to thirty residents were willing to take my place and also block the road in a peaceful and orderly manner…if one person can stop seven wagons, and twenty or thirty other residents were going to take his place then we’re talking about real people power.”

One of the difficulties with this community-based campaign, which seeks to bring the gas ashore in a safe manner which benefits the Irish people, rather than simply the developer, has been the piecemeal nature of the opposition. Is there a risk that once the haulage route is settled then McEleny’s concerns will also settle down? I asked McEleny if he was satisfied with the project, apart from the particular issue which disrupted his life; “If you’d asked me that question three years ago I suppose I’d have said Yes. It’s a direct question, I’ll answer it honestly. Yes, I wouldn’t have had a problem with the project. But now since I’ve been at home I can see exactly what it’s doing to the community, I can see what’s going on, how it’s full of inconsistencies, with me black is black, white is white, there’s no in between, I see a lot of in betweens, in their management, in the way they conduct themselves.. I’m more and more beginning to feel myself drawn in, I don’t use the word lightly, maybe that’s not the right word, drawn in, I can feel myself becoming more and more vocal.”

Years ago the Pollathomas/Glengad area was a children’s playground, an adventure zone where kids roamed free and parents could allow them out of sight without anxiety. That has all changed since Shell moved into the neighbourhood. ‘My son Conor comes home from school, itching to get out on his bicycle”, says McEleny. ‘He used to tear off down the road but now he’s not allowed out past the gate as heavy traffic moves at high speed.” At a meeting of the North West Mayo Forum, in which the two Eamons (Ryan and O’Cuiv) gathered project supporters in a pretend discussion on the merits of the development to date. Unsurprisingly the delegates (mostly local councillors, state-aid junkies and businesspeople based outside the project kill zone) declared their unconditional support for Shell, the Gardai and IRMS (the private security firm), in a monologue which would have made the old Soviet bosses smile with pleasure. This pride in project continued at the An Bord Pleanala oral hearing at which Shell praised the ‘improvement’ and widening of local roads as something ‘which will have a longer term positive impact’ for tourists and residents alike. The ‘improved’ road has inspired Boy Racers from Belmullet to take a late night spin down there, to perform tricks and keep residents awake at night. The scorch marks are still visible on the road.

Last November McEleny’s insurance company informed the family that they would no longer get home insurance, unless they agreed to declare their front garden a disaster zone, sealing off the path to the back of the house. This would eliminate all the play area used by the children, including swings and other objects.

McEleny recalled how Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern made a statement advising anyone with a grievance in relation to the Corrib Gas project to use legal means to resolve them. “Here is one person who has endeavoured to do everything, from going to the police, to the law, writing to the powers that be, going directly to the source, Shell, Mayo County Council, yet here I am sitting in my house, it’s cracked front to back, the garden is sealed off, the walls are collapsing.. I’ve done everything within my power to resolve it, I can’t resolve it.”

McEleny has gained a better understanding of the pressures faced by Willie Corduff and Pat O’Donnell and is deeply skeptical of the official version of recent events; “He’s (Willie) been at it many a long a year, I couldn’t begin to compare myself with the stresses and strains, trials and tribulations that man’s had.”

McEleny is conscious of the impact his actions might have upon his family; “If I took Kathleen and the kids out of the equation, I’d give them a good run for their money now for the next while, I feel that strong about it.” Like the other local residents attempting to raise urgent health and safety issues, McEleny admits to his anxiety; “There are plenty of mornings when you think, ah not another day of this.”

On the balance however, it seems certain that while the walls of his home may crack up, Neil McEleny certainly won’t. And maybe, in years to come, he might even get a ballad in his name.

Ends.

By Michael McCaughan

Irish fishermen have suffered one blow after another in recent years and this week was no exception when Bord Snip proposed the elimination of Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), the Fisheries Board responsible for the development of a sector which employs 11,000 people in coastal areas and recorded €731 million sales last year. The Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF) warned the government not to “walk away from the development of the seafood industry or coastal areas” and the “massive socio-economic and political consequences”.
For the fishermen of Erris however, the situation is even more critical as Shell, aided by the Government, appear determined to push through the Corrib Gas project regardless of the grave risk to coastal areas and the people living there. In the past month Shell’s aggressive pipelaying programme has put 15 jobs at risk as boats and crew were forced out of the sea while on land, shellfish factory workers were left without their product. With just 50 jobs on offer when the project is completed and a gas supply entirely in the hands of Shell, the only long term prospect may be irreversible damage to the environment. “Everyone talks about the jobs and the construction phase of the project’ said Eddie Divers of the Erris Inshore Fishermen (EIF) “but we’re worried about the next twenty five years”.
When the gas starts flowing, so do the pollutants which must be dumped somewhere along the Erris peninsula. The first plan was to dump this chemical cocktail into Carrowmore Lake, source of local drinking water. Community pressure forced Shell to amend that plan and send untreated waste back to the wellhead while ‘runoff’ water will be dumped into Broadhaven Bay, less than one nautical mile from Erris Hd. Divers is confident that his organization can take an injunction and halt the flow of gas at the first sign of contaminants;. “We got a legal agreement, drawn up by our solicitors, not by Shell, we have been assured that no gas will flow if we take action.’
If Shell was a company known for its integrity and commitment to safety standards, then this guarantee might be the basis for mutual understanding. The problem however is that Shell’s track record around the world shows that it has consistently ignored safety and health laws wherever it goes and that violence will be used wherever necessary to ensure the smooth flow of oil and gas. A diesel leak at Bellanaboy was denied and then covered up while illegal drilling on an SAC was dismissed as a trivial oversight. The people of Erris have got a taste of Shell’s operating style in recent months as Willie Corduff suffered a beating and Pat O’Donnell’s boat was sunk. Anyone who takes the time to check out Shell’s operating record worldwide will find that Corduff and O’Donnell were treated with relatively good manners compared to the Nigerian people, nine of whom were hanged for resisting Shell’s deadly oil project in their homeland. Shell recently paid out millions of dollars in compensation to the murdered men’s families.
Back in Erris the fishermen’s organization describe their relationship with Shell as one of “an uneasy peace”. Members of the group met with the Environmental Protection Agency, following advice given in talks with three Government Ministers and two junior ministers in Dublin. The Erris fishermen initially sought the meeting after the arrest of Pat O’Donnell and his son Jonathan and the impounding of their two vessels by gardaí despite public acknowledgment that there was no legal basis for the action. Under existing legislation, valid fishing licence-holders cannot be compelled to leave the marine area. Shell is also seeking an amendment to the IPPC license in relation to the pipeline, making the O’Donnell’s challenge even more relevant. “Not only had we a right to be fishing out there but we also had a right to stop the pipeline being laid on the grounds that the EPA license was not going to be fulfilled in the manner it was granted” observed Pat O’Donnell.
The EIF has also taken up the issue of restitution for Tony and Martin O’Donnell for gear removed and damaged by Shell to facilitate the Solitaire’s work. “We are confident that restitution will be made”, said Divers, “this is not about a bribe or a payoff, Shell must take responsibility for ordering replacement and supplies of gear lost’. Pat O’Donnell is pleased that the EIF is taking up the issue; ‘even if we don’t always see eye to eye, they have strongly argued our points.”
The outflow pipe from the refinery will discharge less than one nautical mile from Erris Hd. Divers is satisfied that this will only be ‘runoff water’ from the refinery, although he accepts that such water, ‘from roofs and paved areas’, will also include any leakages or spills that occur on site. The fact that one diesel spill has already occurred and was immediately denied, does not inspire confidence. The reality elsewhere, is that Shell has consistently refused to own up to damage caused by its operations worldwide, always finding someone else to blame for the mess. Once the government grants the licenses and permits for each stage of the project, breaches become technicalities which can always be excused and if all else fails, there is always another grant available to the GAA or local school, gratefully received in these times of economic hardship.

Ends.

By Michael McCaughan

“Gardai said Mr Corduff had complained of head and chest pains necessitating an ambulance and two paramedics to travel out from Castlebar. They examined and found no injuries, according to gardai. There is no CCTV footage of an assault and no assault is being investigated by gardai. Mr Corduff had also made no complaint to gardai by yesterday. He spent much of Wednesday under the trailer and was eventually removed at around 4am.” (Jim Cusack, Security Correspondent, Sunday Independent, 26/4/09)

“He had been kicked all over the body and had LOC (Loss Of Consciousness). He had headaches, nausea and vomiting.” (Discharge report for Willie Corduff, Castlebar Hospital, 24/4/09)

On the morning before he was beaten and left for dead Willie Corduff found a holy medal in his pocket. “I never used to wear them,” he recalled, sounding surprised at the find. In the course of the day Willie changed his clothes and left the medal behind. Corduff was once a regular at mass, even though he doesn’t think of himself as particularly religious. “If a prayer was to be said it was more likely to happen in the fields after a good day’s work”. Weekly mass came to an abrupt end some years ago when the parish priest blessed the rig that heralded the arrival of oil and gas companies into the area. Sitting in his kitchen, watching an orange glow sunset on the horizon, Willie Corduff can still hear the exact words spoken from the altar; “It is the best thing since sliced bread”, the priest said, “Kilcommon will never be in want for anything again”. No one knew anything at all about the gas but they understood that their remote Mayo parish was finally going to have its place in the sun. ‘If that was now’ said Willie, “I’d be up on the altar and I’d catch him by the neck’.

Willie and Mary Corduff have six children, all but one grown, with thirty years of marriage behind them. They live on a small farm in Rossport where they raise cattle and cut turf, grow food and enjoy the company of their grand-children. However they have also been in a permanent state of alert for the past six years, watching and waiting as Shell trample through their land and gardai mount surveillance operations, allegedly threatening their children with harm. It is hard to believe that this remote bogland area is the object of such attentions but for the Irish state and oil giant Shell, the Corrib gas project is a blueprint and test case for the future of foreign investment in this sector. The gas should have been flowing since 2003 but a determined community campaign has pushed that date back to at least 2011.
Willie is a powerfully built man in his mid fifties with a gentle but firm manner who does not take easily to being pushed around. Once Willie understood the dangers of the gas project and experienced first hand the arrogance of the developer, he began turning up for everything, a solid, reassuring presence. He offered few words but no one doubted his commitment to the cause. He has often said that he expects to die protecting his land from the high pressure gas pipeline scheduled to traverse Rossport. In June 2005 Willie and four other farmers were jailed for 94 days for refusing to allow Shell access to their lands. The term Compulsory Acquisition Order (CAO) has no place in the Corduff vocabulary and he had no hesitation in telling the Judge at that time that he would continue to resist the project, regardless of how long he was kept in jail. The ensuing national outcry halted the project and forced Shell to beg the courts to release the men, who had become national heroes. Since then Willie has won the prestigious Goldman award, (2007) a US-based environmental prize regarded as an alternative Nobel. The prizes, the spotlight, the media, none of that seems to have changed Willie who remains one more member of the community, a reluctant spokesman and protagonist. It is notable that whether he is talking to the Norwegian Ambassador in Dublin (last month) or a packed cinema audience in Galway (last weekend) he makes the same points in the same language. “Shell wouldn’t have enough money to buy me” says Corduff, “and anyway, I’m not for sale.” It is this consistency which has left Shell negotiators with empty hands and irritated his own lawyers, who, in their heart of hearts, initially suspected that Corduff’s objection to the project was a matter of fixing the right price.
On 22 April 2009 Shell announced the restarting of work at the compound above Glengad beach, a pristine landscape carved open by diggers to connect the offshore and proposed onshore sections of the pipeline. (Shell’s preferred pipeline route has yet to secure planning permission) That morning Willie and Mary left home at 7am and drove to Glengad, where they joined a group of local people who refused to allow work to proceed until they saw written proof that Shell had the permission it needed to start work. Shell workers rebuilt a steel fence that sealed off the beach from the public while nets were cast over the dunes to prevent seabirds from nesting. As the protestors talked to security officials, Willie, in a spontaneous gesture, crawled underneath a truck, squeezing himself into a narrow space between the vehicle’s wheels. Work came to a halt. The Gardai made three attempts to drag him out. They managed to remove his shoes and socks, they twisted his toes but couldn’t get a grip on his body. Then they threatened to cut his legs off. ‘You might get a part of me’, said Willie, ‘but you won’t get all of me out.’ After three failed attempts they gave up. However Sgt Doherty, before abandoning the effort, beat on Willie’s ankle with a rock, inflicting severe pain and leaving him with a notable gash. At the time of writing, 84 days later, Willie’s wound is clearly visible, his ankle remains sore and is prone to swelling. The notion of a grown man in a Garda uniform stooping down with a rock to grind it into the ankle of another grown man, appears far-fetched and vaguely ridiculous. It is only after one has spent time in the Glengad-Rossport area and observed unfolding events that one can set aside preconceived notions of normal behaviour and come to terms with absurdities like this one.
Daily life has drifted beyond the edge of sanity, allowing the mainstream media to dismiss certain events as beyond belief. And yet they keep happening. The only issue at stake was Shell’s permission to proceed with work at Glengad compound. Shell has already breached environmental legislation several times in the course of this project, so it seemed reasonable to seek proof that they had consent for the work being undertaken. The gardai however view this type of vigilance as evidence of radical subversion. Ms Corduff had already phoned the station twice that morning, looking for Chief Supt Larkin, to warn him that the situation was growing serious and that someone might be injured. ‘He’s on a call”, was the response from garda Terence Devers, who was on duty at the time. Two hours passed and Ms Corduff called again. ‘He’s out’ repeated the garda on duty.
Mary Corduff persisted and spoke with Larkin who assured her she had nothing to worry about in relation to Shell’s work at the compound. “I’m quite sure they (Shell) have permission to do what they are doing”, Larkin told her, revealing, in a single phrase, the manner in which the gardai see their role as support actors to the headline act in this performance. However Larkin promised to furnish written proof within the hour. When she got to the station, at about 2.30pm, a ban (woman) garda awaited her, with the news that Larkin had left the building. She handed Mary Corduff a brown envelope which contained ‘proof ‘of permission for the works. All it contained was a standard print out from Shell describing the works underway. Ms Corduff asked for a receipt to prove the Gardai had given her this sheet of paper. After a 10-minute wait Larkin appeared from an office behind the desk. When Ms Corduff expressed surprise at Larkin’s presence, he replied brusquely; ‘I’m not going to get into a Question and Answer session with you.”
Larkin was clearly annoyed at Willie Corduff’s truck protest and slammed the door on Mary Corduff. ‘Go down and tell your husband to have a bit of sense,” was Larkin’s parting shot. “He is down there now because he has a bit of sense”, responded Corduff. During the afternoon an unidentified caller requested an ambulance for Willie Corduff who was allegedly suffering from ‘chest pains’ at the Glengad compound. An ambulance took off from Belmullet and visited the scene. Dr Swannick, a local man, known to Mr Corduff, asked him if he needed assistance. Corduff declined, saying he felt fine but complained that he had been abused by Gardai when they attempted to remove him from under the truck. At this point ambulance records note that the crew returned to base. Swannick was called once more in the evening, where he again spoke to Corduff. In the informal manner typical of this tight knit community, Swannick subsequently spoke to Mary Corduff’s parents and assured them that Willie was in good health; “Don’t worry about him (Willie), he’s fine”, affirmed the doctor.
The standoff continued into the night until just a handful of people remained at the compound. Willie took occasional breaks from under the truck to stretch his legs while well wishers came and went, leaving him hot water bottles, food and blankets. In the early hours of the morning only his brother in law was still there. The night was calm and the compound silent. Willie crawled out to stretch his legs once more, as cramps had set in. He spoke to Pete, his brother-in-law. He thought he heard a sound and headed back to retake his position under the truck. Before he could get back under the truck he was grabbed and immobilized by a number of men. Then came the first blow, delivered from what felt like a leather baton. He sank to his knees, dizzy, caught unawares by the blow to the side of his head. The men pinned him to the ground and punched him before turning him on his side. One man then pressed his knees into the dazed man’s back and forced Willie’s hands up behind his back and toward his neck in a stress grip. Willie felt his breathing contract as knees were pressed between his ears before his head was banged off the ground. The pain grew more intense and breathing became difficult.
‘I put up no defence whatsoever,’ recalled Willie, ‘there was no point.’ After a few minutes Willie believed he was going to die. ‘I could picture all my kids and my grandkids in front of me’ he said.
One of the men slowly released his grip on Willie’s hands, as if checking to see how weak he had become. Willie allowed his hands to flop down, deliberately drooled out of his mouth and stuck his tongue to one side, playing dead. ‘Leave him alone now, he’s nearly gone’ said one of the men and they released the pressure on him. A paramedic working with the security guards then bent down beside him and asked him if he needed help. ‘I’m here to help you’ he said. He smelled of alcohol, according to Willie. ‘I want help,’ whispered Willie, in pain and in shock.
At that point in time another unidentified caller requested an ambulance for the compound “for a gentleman feeling unwell.” An ambulance came from Belmullet and took Willie to Castlebar Hospital where nurses cut his jumper, shirt and underclothes off as the pain was too great for him to undress. The medical staff noted ‘pain in right legs (sic)’ and ‘bruising to body’. Dr Ruiz, who saw Corduff in the morning, noted headache and tinnitus, a ringing in his ear and pain in the left jaw, left ankle, right thigh and right shoulder. Bubbles of sweat had opened up on Corduff’s forehead, followed by a dry retch, probably the after effects of shock and the relief at being out of danger. After a day in hospital Corduff was discharged and the hospital sent the following letter to his own doctor; “Dear Mr Molloy, this patient was admitted following an alleged assault by security guards. He had been kicked all over the body and had LOC. He had headaches, nausea and vomiting.” The report outlined the X-rays and other tests undergone on the patient who was recovering in a satisfactory manner.
When he arrived home, Corduff was barely able to stand. He did only the lightest of work for several weeks, walking with the help of a stick.
When this reporter called out to see him a fortnight after the incident, Corduff was pale and his voice sounded cracked and distant. He had the air of a man who still feared for his life. “I haven’t slept much”, he admitted, ‘Mary wakes up in a lather of sweat, screaming at some nightmare in her head.” Willie tried to reassure her that the nightmare was over. The hospital returned Willie’s clothes which were beyond use. By force of habit Mary emptied the pockets of his torn jacket. There was a clink of copper on the floor as a holy medal rolled under a chair. ‘It sounds strange,’ reflected Willie, ‘but I think there’s someone out there protecting me.’

Postscript…
The Gardai have refused to investigate the Corduff beating and refuse to acknowledge that it even occurred. Willie Corduff has yet to file a complaint, as he has no faith in the gardai -all complaints relating to the Corrib Gas project are routinely rejected as lacking in merit. The Garda Ombudsman’s office is currently investigating the behaviour of named gardai who have been the subject of repeated complaints by the community but no one is holding their breath over the outcome. Jim Farrell, Director of IRMS, Shell’s private security force, personally coordinated the operation in the compound that night, with the full cooperation of gardai. Farrell claims he himself removed Corduff from the compound. “It was a trouble-free exercise”, he said.
The role of the gardai, Shell security and the public health service in the assault on Corduff requires further investigation. Someone, from inside the compound, requested medical attention for a healthy man on the grounds that he was suffering ‘chest pains’. The local doctor who arrived on the scene subsequently phoned Mary Corduff’s parents and confirmed that Willie appeared to be in fine health. The pain he had suffered until then (7pm) had been inflicted exclusively by members of the gardai and involved only his ankle. Several hours later a serious assault occurred during which Corduff was pinned down and pulled into a stress position which can, if applied with rigour, provoke heart failure. The absence of knife wounds tattooed into Corduff’s arms and legs is not grounds for dismissing his claims of serious injury with intent to kill.
Ciaran O Murchu, spokesman for Pobal Le Cheile, a local business group, said “gardai have shown they are not independent enough” to investigate the Corduff incident. Few local people would disagree with this assertion.

Ends.

By Michael McCaughan

“It was noted that development of the Corrib field may be delayed until 2004 as planning consent had been refused for the terminal. The Committee queried whether the Group had sufficiently well placed contacts with the Irish government and regulators.”
(Confidential Minutes of Shell Managing Directors, July 2002, obtained through FOIA request)

After hundreds of arrests, several months jail time and an ongoing national and international campaign, the final planning decision on the Corrib Gas project may come down to the fate of a single unoccupied dwelling and an active blanket bog protected by EU Habitats Directives. Last month’s 19-day An Bord Pleanala oral hearing into the onshore pipeline development proved an epic contest involving 120 documents and 80 submissions as the accumulated expert knowledge of local campaigners confronted the scientific certainties and ministerial consents wielded by Shell.

Chairman Martin Nolan has a formidable task ahead of him, weighing up the competing claims across the Corrib Gas divide. Local people, who have watched the project rejected and resurrected after previous oral hearings, believe that the Board will succumb to the inevitability of a project 80% complete and widely touted as a matter of national security. Shell previously sent a letter to the Board requesting “that Senior Planning Inspector, Mr Kevin Moore, is not assigned as the planning inspector in relation to this appeal.” It was Moore who rejected the project as unsuitable after a 22-day hearing in 2002. The lack of local faith in the integrity of the planning process can be understood from the interference implicit above and the statement of intent in the opening quote, which suggests lobbying pressure will be applied to the relevant State bodies.

The submissions from local citizens at the oral hearing focused on the unique nature of the pipeline, the high gas pressure involved and the lack of consultation regarding the project. There were lengthy discussions on ‘umbilical constraints’, ‘corrosion management’, ‘Smart Pigs’ and other complex technical issues which were handled with ease by local people. RPS, the consultants hired by Shell to sell the project to local people, were clearly not anticipating such rigorous examination and frequently had difficulty answering questions; ‘I didn’t say we didn’t get it” said RPS spokesman Ciaran Butler, struggling to reply to a query about an important document which was never passed on to the public, ‘I just don’t recall having it.’

Events outside the hearing affected the mood within. The sinking of Pat O’Donnell’s boat, by persons unknown, heightened tensions as local people temporarily withdrew from the hearing in solidarity. Mr Nolan, a calm, even-handed Chairman, kept things moving, admonishing both sides when informed debate threatened to slide toward pointless bickering. ‘We’re climbing the final summit today’ he said, as the hearing concluded, a note of relief in his voice. Nolan, like his predecessor Moore, was impressed at the high level of knowledge regarding complex gas-related issues “If I was here for another month there’d be something new happening every minute of every day”, he said, acknowledging the community’s permanent vigilance over the project.

The Corrib high pressure gas flow will meet an onshore Land Valve Installation (LVI) at Glengad Beach, using a mechanism which remains shrouded in mystery with known unknowns and unknown knowns that would leave Einstein reeling in confusion. What is clear is that Shell has designed a unique pipeline which, for that reason, cannot be compared to any other project in the world. ‘It’s just a pipeline like any other’ claimed Shell for three days, until, under rigorous examination, they caved in. Was it unique? “Yes’, came the simple response.

Phil Crossthwaite, a Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) consultant for Shell, criticized his clients for ‘chopping and changing’ between safety codes, something it considered ‘not particularly good practice.’ Meanwhile ABP’s Pipeline Consultant Nigel Wright expressed concern that the developer dismissed substantial risk factors such as internal corrosion, Methane Hydrate, Construction faults and Pipe instability in peat bog. In a remarkable critique of Shell’s modus operandi, Wright wondered aloud as to whether the corporation was running ‘a research and development project’ rather than a highly complex gas field requiring the highest level of health and safety guarantees. This question, coming from an expert in the field, left observers stunned.

In their submissions to the hearing, Shell refused to even consider the possibility of human failure in the project. Wright challenged the developer on the issue of what he called ‘ultra high pressure’ of 144 bar gas, almost twice the rate of normal gas transmission in Ireland and the UK and the ‘cocktail of standards’ applied to the project. The Advantica safety report, commissioned by the government in 2005, has become the government’s life raft and mantra in defending the project’s safety standards. However Advantica lays down a number of recommendations which need to be applied before the project receives its safe pass, including the need for an integrity management system prior to the construction phase of the pipeline. Another fatal flaw in depending on Advantica is that it examined a different pipeline route, a route since abandoned by the developer.

The absence of a comprehensive framework and management plan for safety and monitoring of the project led to Shell’s proposed 30-second safety plan which requires local people of all ages to walk at a pace of 2.5m per second to avoid immolation in the event of pipeline rupture. What Shell’s experts hadn’t done was walk over the peat bog, a tricky surface to navigate at any speed. Shell also assumed that shelter would be found within 30 seconds of an accident occurring. Anyone who has visited Rossport will be aware that minding sheep or cutting turf along the proposed pipeline route leaves you far from shelter. “The methodology says there is (shelter)’, insisted Shell, so shelter there must be.

Shell’s safety argument suffered irreparable damage when Cdt Patrick Boyle made his submission. Boyle, a retired bomb disposal expert, challenged Shell’s figures on ‘escape distance’ and demonstrated how public safety in this project was dependent on pipeline integrity, leaving no margin of safety from fire or explosion. The Ghislenghien disaster, a gas pipeline explosion in Belgium (July 2004) killed 24 people and injured 122, a pipeline built to the highest safety standards. Boyle advised Shell of his concerns back in 2007 and recommended an alternative route. He now believes that only the Glinsk option offers the safety zone needed to prevent major loss of life in the event of an accident. Boyle contacted RPS (Shell’s PR consultants) in 2007, offering advice on project safety but his suggestions were ignored. Boyle’s last job before retirement was to coordinate a security exercise on the gas pipeline interconnector at Gormanstown, on behalf of Bord Gais.

In one obvious oversight, Shell counted 49 dwellings in the path of the pipeline in its 2008 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). A year later Shell’s revised EIS now includes 82 dwellings, of which 79 are within the 500m death zone. One dwelling, owned by a local retired couple, is just 40 metres from the pipeline route. The couple were never consulted about the project and applied for planning permission for septic tank and restoration works to the house shortly before Shell’s latest EIS was filed.

Shell’s landfall valve installation (LVI), will reduce gas pressure from 345 bar to 144 at the point where it comes ashore. However the LVI is located on land above the beach at Glengad, leaving locals with a risk of 345 bar pressure gas coming onshore at substantially less than 500m from their homes.

Shell has opted for a thick pipeline wall to improve safety as the gas travels overland but leading pipeline safety engineer Richard Kuprewicz argued that the extra thickness brings risks of its own and is not best practice in the US. In addition, the thick pipeline, sustained by 3.79 tonnes of steel, will increase subsidence in the unstable peat bog.

In their final submission to the hearing, the Department of Energy emphasized the strategic importance of the project, stating that “a very significant part of the country’s annual gas needs could be met by the Corrib field for a number of reasons.” Maura Harrington pointed out that the company’s own figures show the gas field supplying only 40% of the country’s needs for three to five years at market prices with Shell determining the manner in which the gas is disposed.

In his final words to the oral hearing Shell senior counsel Esmond Keane cited EU Priority Habitats legislation, transposed into Irish law, which state that a development project may proceed, regardless of the ‘negative implications’ and the ‘absence of alternative solutions’ when ‘imperative reasons of overriding public interest, including those of a social and economic nature’ are at stake.’ Keane was right in one important detail, saying that ‘no other development proposal has been subject to such an amount of study and surveys over a period of time.’ What he didn’t point out is that all modifications and debate on the project has been forced upon Shell through the hard work of hundreds of local people, who have combined scientific research with civil disobedience.

Shell’s preferred onshore pipeline route will involve the laying, supervision and maintenance of the pipeline, the placement of a stone road, fencing and removal of peat. The operation of the pipeline and terminal will result in the creation of 55 direct jobs. However the preferred route may face insurmountable legal difficulties as EU priority habitats may trump energy security concerns. In its final submission, the Departments of Energy and the Environment pinpointed competing concerns which the Board will have to consider. The EU Priority Habitats Directive, Art 6.3 states that the competent national authority “shall agree to the plan or project only after having ascertained that it will not adversely affect the integrity of the site concerned and if appropriate after having obtained the opinion of the general public.”

The Department of the Environment, in its final submission, described the building of a stone road and laying of the pipeline as ‘innovative and as yet unproven’ in terms of impacts on habitats and that the construction of the permanent pipeline road through the bog ‘cannot avoid being physically intrusive.’ On the basis of these considerations, “it is not possible to say with confidence that the mitigation and reinstatement measures proposed will prevent the project from having a negative impact on the integrity of the site. In short, it is the view of this department that a reasonable scientific doubt exists as to the absence of adverse affect on the integrity of the site.” If the Board is unable to conclude with scientific confidence that the proposed development will not adversely affect the integrity of the site, ‘it cannot grant permission.’

The developer can appeal to Art 6(4) of the same Directive, which cites overriding economic and social interests but these apply only when there is no alternative solution. The people of Erris have identified the remote Glinsk site as a possible alternative. Kuprewicz described Glinsk as “….a vastly superior location option concerning health, safety, and environmental issues” before stating that “serious questions should be raised as to why this site was not evaluated when identifying site alternatives for possible consideration from the Corrib gas field.”

When pressed on the matter, Shell retreated to a briefing document prepared by Arup, a company which had previously recommended a pipeline route which would have traversed Dooncarton, scene of a disastrous 2003 landslide. The Glinsk option has the added advantage that a pipeline route would not be required as the refinery itself could be built at landfall, avoiding damage to the Glenamoy Bog Complex. “Everything is technically feasible” admitted Shell, when pressed on the issue during the hearings. .
Meanwhile just down the road from Erris, in a case which may have significant repercussions on the Corrib gas project, the State accused ABP of permitting “the deliberate destruction” of priority habitat limestone pavement at the protected Lough Corrib site in Co Galway by granting approval for the €317 million Galway city outer bypass. The issue arose in the hearing of a challenge by environmentalist Peter Sweetman to the board’s 2008 approval for the Galway bypass, excluding one connection between Gortatlevna and An Baile Nua. The outcome of this case may have a significant bearing on the decision over the pipeline route should the bypass challenge succeed.
In her final submission to the oral hearing in Belmullet, local resident Monica Muller noted that the community had tried, for over eight years, ‘to help this applicant (Shell) in making the Corrib Titanic a safer project-but all offers of help have been rejected.” As a result, Muller concluded, “I have every expectation that Mayo County Council would agree to anything this applicant demands, regardless of conditions imposed by the Board to the point of overturning conditions set by the Board.”

The An Bord Pleanala hearing confirmed what the mainstream media has resolutely refused to acknowledge; that the vast majority of local people want the gas to come ashore but consider the project doomed in its current form. Shell acknowledged during the hearings that their approach to the project followed ‘the line of least resistance’ rather than the precautionary principle, an admission which has left the Erris community in fear of their lives.

Ends.

Pirates of the Corribean

by Michael McCaughan

“As I got to my feet I saw the Garda pull the local man who had spoken with the quarry owner to the verge at the other side of the road…they flung him to the ground with first two then one Garda kneeling on his back and (they) pressed his face into the dirt all the while hitting him with batons…there were four Gardai at least involved in this…both Inspectors Gannon and Robinson were there whilst this went on so also was Garda Gy65 and Connor O’Reilly.”
Sarah Clancy, extract from sworn statement made to the Garda Complaint’s Board (15/11/06) over injuries arising during a protest in Erris, Co Mayo on November 10th, 2006.

“The sea was there for me all along, I’d like it to be there for my children, you know? And for me to put a price on letting them fuckers in now, let it be a million or more, it’s not up to me, leave it, I’ll be gone out of here, God only knows when but it cannot be said that I destroyed what nature, what God left us.”
Pat O’Donnell, interview with www.corribgas.net

Fisherman Pat O’Donnell, the man with his face in the dirt, has little patience for the nuances of newspaper investigation; “You ask more questions than the Gardai”, he says, after yet another interruption to ascertain precise quotes, times and dates relating to the Corrib Gas project in County Mayo.
O’Donnell, alias ‘The Chief’, is a 52-year old native of Porturlin, Co Mayo, the second youngest of eleven children. He has powerful shoulders, a strong handshake, piercing eyes and a direct manner that does justice to his title. He also seems quite shy. On the day we meet, he looks pale and worn, anxious about the coming weeks. “I’m tired”, he admits, clearly unhappy that he is showing any sign of weakness at such a critical time in the campaign. Since the sinking of his boat last month O’Donnell has been sleeping fitfully, smoking excessively and appears to have substituted cups of tea for formal meals. We meet at his elegant, spacious home, perched on a hill overlooking majestic Porturlin Bay – a safe haven during these stormy times.
O’Donnell’s wife Mary and children Jonathan (23), Rachel (21) and Pat (17) all share Pat’s commitment to the cause, opposing the controversial high pressure gas pipeline and refinery scheme. Youngest daughter Aisling is in the middle of a profoundly pink phase, mercifully unaware of the tensions around her. At least that how it seems.
The Corrib gas project involves laying a gas pipeline to a refinery terminal along the sea bed and through lands that take it close to local homes. O’Donnell’s brush with the dirt is one of many documented incidents involving Gardai; he has suffered bruising, broken teeth and damaged ribs during protests while the windows of his fishing vessel were broken in March of this year by persons unknown.
O’Donnell has lodged one complaint after another but it is clear that his public opposition to the gas project has branded him a troublemaker in the eyes of the law. The situation escalated dramatically on June 11 when Pat O’Donnell and Martin Alex McDonnell were apparently attacked while working at sea and their boat the Iona Isle, was sunk. This incident is the subject of an ongoing investigation, amidst claim and counter-claim as to precisely what happened that night. (*This website is conducting its own investigation into the incident, its findings to be published when sufficient information has been gathered. It will be based on research rather than speculation)
The O’Donnell family refused to accept a compensation deal from Shell which would have netted them €120,000 for staying at home with their feet up after removing lobster pots lying in the way of the Solitaire. Some of the pots were removed and damaged last week by persons unknown.
O’Donnell and his son Jonathan were subsequently arrested for ‘loitering’ at their workplace on the sea, their boats confiscated, forcing them to sign on the dole this week. The O’Donnells employed four crew members while the family shellfish business, with seven employees, may be forced to shut its doors because there are no boats at sea supplying them with raw materials for their work. As the government laments the rapidly rising unemployment figures, this move against O’Donnell has affected thirteen jobs. The entire Corrib Gas project, by Shell’s own estimates, will create between 50 and 60 long term jobs. The Gardai claim they are enforcing a 500m exclusion zone around the Solitaire but that order was never formally issued by any government department.
In any other part of Ireland Pat O’Donnell would be regarded as a pillar of the establishment. At fourteen years of age he left school and faced a stark choice: take to the seas in a fishing vessel or emigrate on a boat to England. O’Donnell chose the fishing life and at seventeen he purchased his first vessel, against the advice of his father. “He thought I wasn’t ready”, recalled Pat. The teenage skipper employed a crew of three, including two men old enough to be his father. “They had to take orders from a child”, said Pat, “but it was a friendly type of set up. There’s a kind of freedom out there, being away from it all.” However the rewards are uncertain and the hours long. “You might go out today and you’d get nothing and you’d be down”, he says, “and tomorrow you might have a bumper haul and you’d be on a high.”
O’Donnell paid for his boat within a year, quickly discovering his vocation; “I knew at a very young age that I wanted to be a fisherman, because my father was at it, my brothers, and that type of thing and I thought it was the life that I liked.”
He now owns three boats (one is at the bottom of the ocean with no prospect of compensation as insurance assessors regard its destruction as “an act of terrorism”) and has a small shellfish-processing factory, also in Porturlin. That business won an industry award several years ago, ‘something about food’, recalled Pat, showing me around the state of the art facility. O’Donnell has a quick, dry wit and a self-effacing manner complemented by a certain courage which comes with doing daily battle in one of Europe’s angriest seas. In 1996 O’Donnell became a local hero when he responded to a distress call and helped save the life of a Garda diver who had got into difficulty during a rescue mission. Two other lives were lost.
O’Donnell received a letter of recognition from Michael Woods, Minister for the Marine, while the grateful parents of Garda Ciaran Doyle presented O’Donnell and his wife Mary with a voucher for a hotel and restaurant during their stay in Dublin.
O’Donnell came to greater national prominence last year when he refused to move his lobster pots out of the path of the Solitaire when it entered Broadhaven Bay. The gas project is now 80% complete but the offshore and onshore pipes have yet to be connected. Shell still requires approval for its onshore pipeline route which runs close to homes in a number of villages, including Rossport, where five farmers went to jail in 2005 for refusing access to their lands.
As a fisherman with three licences and 800 lobster pots in the area, O’Donnell and his son Jonathan enjoy the legal right to work the Bay as usual during the summer months. The family shellfish factory supplies crabfish meat to restaurants from Belmullet to Dingle and Dublin, and summertime is a critical sales period.
In mid June Shell E&P Ireland (Sepil) sent out letters to homes in the area, unilaterally declaring a 500m exclusion zone around the Solitaire. O’Donnell responded with a letter to the Gardai in which he demanded a similar exclusion zone around his pots and state protection for his boats. He correctly anticipated a repeat of last year when he was arrested twice at sea during the Solitaire’s visit and was only released minutes before his solicitor delivered a formal challenge to his detention. This year however the courts upheld the order to keep O’Donnell on dry land.
The chief wasn’t always against the Corrib gas project. “At first I was excited about it, because I thought the younger ones would have plenty of employment, they wouldn’t need to be emigrating”, he says. The project was expected to bring jobs, money and pride to this remote corner of County Mayo. “Then for some reason I got my hands on the offshore EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) which talked about the impact it would have on the sea”, he explained. The document was highly technical and difficult to decipher. “I couldn’t make fucking head nor tail of it because it was way above me”, he says.
O’Donnell and a group of local people located a marine biologist and asked him to analyse the content of the EIS. Two weeks later the biologist called Pat back with a chilling message; “If this goes ahead”, he said, ‘in its present form, you and your family better pack your bags and get out of there because people will die.”
O’Donnell circulated the report to the media but there was no reaction at the time. As a fisherman, O’Donnell has one particular concern. “The main thing I’d be against is what’s coming out of the discharge pipe, a mile off Erris Head”, he states. “There’d be a cocktail of chemicals out there. I’d be afraid it would get into the food chain.” Shell insists that the project is safe and that community concerns, including those around the planned onshore gas refinery, are unfounded. O’Donnell lives five miles from the refinery site. “From what I’ve heard, what comes out of these chimney stacks is not too healthy”, he adds.
The gas should have been flowing since 2003 but a sustained community campaign has challenged it every step of the way. A 2002 oral hearing by An Bord Pleanala, the only comprehensive inquiry into the project, concluded that it was ‘the wrong project in the wrong site’. When An Bord Pleanala announced a recent hearing into the onshore pipeline route, Shell put in a written request that Inspector Kevin Moore, the architect of the first report, be excluded from the process. Planning permission was eventually granted in circumstances that are widely regarded as unsatisfactory.
The Solitaire arrive into Broadhaven Bay flanked by navy warships, Garda water units and private security vessels, while some 300 Gardai and 200 private security employees keep vigil on dry land. Last year the arrival of the Solitaire turned the locality into a warzone as boats zipped around the bay, intercepting protestors in Kayaks (previously blessed by the local priest) and even surfers who took to the unpredictable waters to challenge the pipelaying process. The Solitaire eventually limped out of the bay due to ‘weather damage’, a development regarded as a major victory for protestors and an embarrassing setback for Shell.
This time round the government and Shell are taking no chances. in recent days Gardai have shut down access to public roads and beaches, refusing to explain the legal basis for their actions. Even swimmers have been arrested for failing to obey the orders of a Garda, an extraordinary and arbitrary power conferred on the police. Pat O’Donnell was arrested at sea and has been warned that if he sets foot on his boat he will be rearrested. Six Gardai keep permanent watch on his impounded vessel at Ballyglass pier.
The stakes are high. Rossport Solidarity Camp, set up at the invitation of local people, has filled up with national and international volunteers preparing for direct action at sea and on land. The individual in charge of the Kayak brigade is a Greenpeace veteran who has previously faced down the US navy during environmental protests. Talking to some of the Solidarity Campers, the motivation behind their commitment harks back to George Orwell’s reflections on arrival in Spain to fight fascism in 1936, when he wrote: “At that time and in that atmosphere it seemed the only conceivable thing to do.”
Peace and Justice organization Afri (Action from Ireland) has launched a UN-style monitoring and accompaniment programme which will observe events as they unfold and offer witness testimony should it be required. The local community is sharply divided over the project but the closer you get to the villages and townlands in the path of the pipeline, the greater the opposition to it. On the other hand, if you travel to Belmullet or Ballina, well beyond the affected area, support for the project increases, boosted by an estimated 900 beds occupied by project workers, who fill local pubs and eateries.
The role and responsibility of the Gardai in monitoring the project, and the resulting protests, has been the subject of considerable concern and more than one hundred public complaints. None of them have impressed the DPP. A local man, Terence Conway, has recorded many hours of film footage which make terrifying viewing, as Gardai punch women, throw people into drains and generally behave in a manner more akin to football hooligans than keepers of the peace.
This sense of a community under siege is so far removed from the dominant media perspective that it has created a sense of profound despair among local people. Global Community Monitor (GCM), an independent human rights group, sent a delegation to Erris which reached the following conclusion: “There is video evidence of women and the elderly being pushed and beaten by Gardai without provocation. Even high ranking officers were personally involved in beating up protestors.”
Similar concerns over the behaviour of British police during recent protests in London have prompted a public inquiry and the suspension of a number of accused officers. Not so in Ireland. At a meeting of the North West Mayo Community Forum, which brought supporters of the project together, Chief Supt Tony McNamara ‘refuted in its entirety’ any allegations that the Gardai ‘were protecting the developer and not the people.’
Pat O’Donnell is not surprised. “We are the enemies in all this, we are the criminals”, he says. Gardai arrested and charged Pat O’Donnell with assault shortly after he filed a complaint against the force for alleged brutality against him. The assault charge was thrown out on appeal but he was charged with obstruction, even though he was one of more than one hundred people protesting on a road at the time. On another occasion O’Donnell faced similar charges but the crucial seven minutes of Garda footage mysteriously disappeared when the case came to Court.
Gardai undoubtedly have a difficult task in policing protestors engaged in acts of civil disobedience. However their response in Erris too often seems disproportionate as apart from very rare physical challenges, protestors offer no resistance and have repeatedly stated their willingness to be arrested in order to draw attention to their cause.
The security issue is further complicated by the presence of Integrated Risk Management Systems (IRMS), a private security firm whose employees have engaged in abusive surveillance of local people, filming children as they undress on the beach at Glengad and aiming cameras into the kitchen of a nearby home. In a further twist to the tale, Irishman Michael Dwyer worked at the Shell compound in Erris last year. There he met radical Eastern European nationalists, who introduced him to Eduardo Rozsa Flores, a mercenary with a combat record in Croatia. Flores formed a militia and travelled to Bolivia, in a life and death struggle against democratically-elected President Evo Morales. Flores and Dwyer were shot dead in a Bolivian hotel room by Bolivian police who suspected them of plotting to overthrow President Morales. (For an in depth analysis of IRMS/Bolivia, see Andrew Flood’s ‘The Shadow over Erris: Shell, IRMS and Bolivia’, at www.indymedia.ie)
At least two more suspects in the Bolivian plot are believed to have been employed by Shell at the Glengad compound, fuelling fears that trained thugs are operating with impunity in their neighbourhood.
Another former IRMS employee, Richard Kinsella, was given a three month prison sentence this week for two public order charges arising from uruly behaviour in Ballina two weeks ago. Judge Mary Devins was surprised to hear that the defendant had a number of previous convictions, which resulted in jail sentences. Kinsella claimed his convictions had been overturned on appeal but the court had only his word on that matter. Devins wondered how someone with Kinsella’s track record could have got a job with IRMS, given the ‘stringent vetting criteria’ wich IRMS employees supposedly undergo. The people of Erris have been asking the same question for some time.
Pat O’Donnell has been singled out for exceptional attention by State authorities. Last year, just before the Solitaire arrived, two investigators were sent from the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) to quiz him over allegations of dangerous navigation, made by a survey boat working for Shell. This complaint, if substantiated, could have resulted in the loss of his licence and with it his right to challenge the Solitaire.
“There was no incident, they just wanted to get me out of the water”, insists O’Donnell. The two men questioned O’Donnell at length in a manner he viewed as hostile and provocative. “They treated him like a criminal suspect rather than an experienced fisherman”, said John Monaghan, who hosted the meeting. “They were trying to talk him into accepting he had done something which he didn’t do”. Monaghan, an enthusiastic citizen journalist, had accompanied O’Donnell on the day in question and recorded the proceedings. He had footage from the precise time at which the navigation error had supposedly occurred. He gave the two marine investigators a disc with his footage and bade them farewell.
“That was the last we heard of them”, O’Donnell adds, with a smile. Corribgas.net has confirmed that the marine safety office found no grounds to pursue the incident any further.
“I’m only surprised they (Gardai) haven’t come to the house and accused me of sinking my own boat”, he says.
The latest pretext for keeping O’Donnell out of the sea is the alleged unseaworthiness of his boat the John Michelle. A marine inspector checked the vessel this week (Tuesday) and picked out minor technical points needing attention. The main issue was the absence of two life rings. O’Donnell claims these rings were in place when his boat was towed in by Gardai last week. After the sinking of his boat last month, O’Donnell is paying particularly close attention to safety matters. When it comes to the worthiness of his boat, O’Donnell points out that he renewed his Code of Practice (marine equivalent of an NCT) in April of this year, following an inspection of his boat.
“This is all about keeping me away from the sea until the Solitaire has done its work”, commented O’Donnell.
Like most fishermen in the area O’Donnell is unable to swim, but he sees no mystical purpose to this oversight. “I took the kids to Ballina and had them learn to swim”, he says, “this crack about fishermen not learning to swim is awful nonsense. Jonathan is a strong swimmer.”
Mary O’Donnell, Pat’s wife, is a resilient woman who keeps a firm grip on the domestic ship while also working on campaign strategy. The couple met at a dance in Belmullet, when Mary was still a teenager. They married a few years later. “We get on very well,” says Pat, with the quiet assurance that comes with 30 years of married life and a clutch of kids. Pat is open about the demons which have challenged him in the past and about his struggle to overcome them; “I had a problem with drink in the early days, but after the first couple of kids was born, I ended up in hospital, thank God.” Pat is proud of his 20 years sober, (“coming up this October”) but the sinking of his ship brought him close to the edge; “That’s my main fear of all, that I’d go back to fucking drinking, Jesus Christ, that’s one place we don’t want to go. I certainly wouldn’t want that life.”
O’Donnell openly admits that most of his neighbours have accepted Shell’s presence in the area; “The fishing has gone down a bit, these last two or three years, fuel has gone up and most of them got a few pound.” Shell paid out €20,000 per licence last year for the disruption to fishermen and added a further €10,000 for this year’s interrupted work. “So a lot of them have accepted the money, they know the project is wrong, they’d tell you that privately, but when they’ve accepted the money they’ll have to go with what Shell says.”
This time last year Pat and Mary headed off to Shannon Airport after their children presented them with a surprise holiday to Italy. “We turned around at the airport”, says Pat, looking somewhat sheepish. News had reached them that the Solitaire had arrived in Broadhaven Bay. “There’ll be plenty of time for holidays when this is all over.”
ends.

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