Minister for the Marine Noel Dempsey has denied he interfered with the mediation over the Corrib gas onshore pipeline.
The Minister was responding to yesterday's decision by the five Rossport men opposed to the onshore pipeline to suspend further involvement in mediation talks, which were initiated formally only a week ago by former Ictu secretary general Peter Cassells.
The five men, who spent 94 days in jail last year over health and safety concerns about the high-pressure onshore pipeline, said in a statement yesterday they had suspended their involvement "with deep regret and with immediate effect" because of "the continued and direct interference in the mediation process by Minister Noel Dempsey,TD".
The issue which is of most concern to the five - Willie Corduff, Philip and Vincent McGrath, Brendan Philbin and Mícheál Ó Seighin - is the fact that the Minister has been seeking briefings from Mr Cassells, and that his role as mediator now appears to have been extended.
In a written Dáil reply from the Minister to Mayo TD Dr Jerry Cowley (Ind) on January 25th, the Minister said that the role of the mediator "is wider than just the gas project".
"I understand he is looking at the availability of services generally throughout the region, including in particular, the role of gas supply in the area, in the context of Bord Gáis Éireann's proposals to modify some of the connection terms," Mr Dempsey said in his reply.
In their statement, the five men said: "Mediation is a process of dispute resolution in which a neutral third party, the mediator, assists two or more parties to negotiate an agreement. The Minister, as an active sponsor of the Shell project in north Mayo and non-neutral, has no role seeking and receiving briefings from the mediator."
Mr Dempsey, emphasising that he had "not interfered", said it was necessary that Mr Cassells would brief him on "people's concerns". Mr Cassells was seeking a meeting with the men to clarify their position, Mr Dempsey said.
Shell E&P Ireland issued a statement urging "all parties to the mediation process for the Corrib Gas Project to support meaningful dialogue".