Yesterday a group of UK supporters handed in a statement at the Irish embassy in support of the local residents opposing the construction of the Corrib gas pipeline and associated onshore refinery near Rossport in Co. Mayo. The Irish government has given support for the pipeline which endangers the lives of its citizens.

Safety
The pipeline is an experimental design operating at unprecedently high pressure (over 150 bar) running as close as 70 metres to houses and just beneath public roads. In 2000 a pipeline rupture in the USA (in a treated gas pipeline operating at just 45 bar) killed people over 200 metres away. Untreated gas is odourless, making it extremely difficult to detect a leak until it explodes. In addition, the pipeline runs through a peat bog in an area prone to landslides.

Pollution
Local people are concerned about pollution from the gas refinery six miles inland, which will discharge waste water containing heavy metals and industrial chemicals into Broadhaven Bay. Shell's environmental impact statement claimed there was 'no evidence that Broadhaven Bay is of particular importance to cetaceans' despite having commissioned a study from University College Cork which indicated that the area is an important breeding and rearing area for dolphins and whales.

Climate change
Given the real and growing threat caused by climate change, Ireland along with every other country should be asking itself whether further development of fossil fuel reserves, leading to the production of more greenhouse gases, is really in the best interests of the country or the planet.

Local campaign
The pipeline is being built by a consortium of Shell, Statoil and Marathon. Work was halted due to sustained direct action by local people and supporters. Five local men have spent 80 days in Cloverhill jail in Dublin after refusing to allow pipeline work to take place on their land in defiance of a court injunction.

email:  mayosolidarity@yahoo.co.uk
www.corribsos.com www.indymedia.ie/mayo
Please send messages of support to Micheal ni Sheighin, Brendan Philbin, Vincent McGrath, Philip McGrath and Willie Corduff at Cloverhill Prison, Dublin 22, Eire
Text of statement to Irish Embassy:

Statement on the Corrib gas pipeline
To: Dáithí Ó Ceallaigh, Irish Ambassador to the UK
16 September 2005
We are at the Irish Embassy today protesting in solidarity with local residents opposing the construction of the Corrib gas pipeline and associated onshore refinery near Rossport in Co. Mayo. The Irish government has given support for the pipeline which endangers the lives of the people of Rossport. Our purpose today is to register our support for their campaign, to raise UK public awareness of the situation in Rossport and to ask the Irish government to address residents’ and our concerns.

Safety
The pipeline is an experimental design operating at unprecedently high pressure (over 150 bar) carrying untreated gas as close as 70 metres to houses and just beneath public roads. Untreated gas is odourless, making it extremely difficult to detect a leak until it explodes. In 2000 a pipeline rupture in the USA (in a treated gas pipeline operating at just 45 bar) killed people over 200 metres away. In addition, the pipeline runs through a peat bog in an area prone to landslides. We would like answers to the following questions:
- Why was permission for such an experimental and potentially highly dangerous project granted?
- Why is the latest official safety review being conducted by a firm which has previously worked for consortium partner Shell and has a clear conflict of interest?
- Why have none of the official safety reviews of the project included examination of the effect of a potential rupture?

Pollution
The gas refinery will discharge waste water containing heavy metals and industrial chemicals into Broadhaven Bay. Shell's environmental impact statement claimed there was 'no evidence that Broadhaven Bay is of particular importance to cetaceans [whales and dolphins]' despite having commissioned a study from University College Cork which indicated that the area is an important breeding and rearing area for dolphins and whales. This suggests that Shell’s statement was duplicitous and deliberately ignored available evidence. Emissions from the refinery are also forecast to pollute Carrowmore Lake, source of the area’s drinking water.
- Why has the Irish government not ordered a new, independent environmental impast assessment in the light of the revealed failings in Shell’s statement?

Climate change
Given the real and growing threat caused by climate change, Ireland along with every other country should be asking itself whether further development of fossil fuel reserves, leading to the production of more greenhouse gases, is really in the best interests of the country or the planet.
- To what extent has the Irish government considered the climate impact of development of the Corrib gas field in its assessment of the desirability of the project?

Local campaign
Work on the pipeline is currently at a standstill due to sustained direct action by local people and supporters. Five local men - Micheal ni Sheighin, Brendan Philbin, Vincent McGrath, Philip McGrath and Willie Corduff have so far spent 80 days in Cloverhill jail in Dublin after refusing to allow pipeline work to take place on their land in defiance of a court injunction. While it would be wrong to suggest the government should compromise the independence of the judiciary, it would be appropriate to put pressure on the pipeline consortium to lift its injunction, which the men have said would then enable them to purge their contempt.

We call on the Irish government to withdraw support for the Corrib pipeline and release the Rossport 5.