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A final opportunity exists for consent to replace coercion over the Corrib gas project; the State must take it, writes Fintan O'Toole

LET'S CONDUCT a brief thought experiment. Suppose, for a moment, that Sean Dunne's proposal for a massive tower in Ballsbridge is given the go-ahead. Suppose, too, that local residents are infuriated by this decision, seeing it as an assault on their familiar way of life. Suppose then that some of those residents form an action group with the intention of disrupting the building of the tower by staging sit-ins or occupying the site. The dispute becomes embittered to the point where one of the residents decides to go on hunger strike.