TWO GOVERNMENT Ministers are due to hold talks today with a number of north Mayo community groups in a bid to resolve the Corrib gas dispute.
The initiative by Minister for Energy Éamon Ryan and Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív represents the first direct Government intervention since mediator Peter Cassells was appointed by former energy minister Noel Dempsey.
It is understood that the two Ministers are not presenting specific proposals to the groupings, but aim to engage in a “listening exercise”. The five TDs for the constituency and elected councillors for the Erris area have also been invited to the sessions which are said to be confidential.
The invited participants are understood to include representatives of Pobal Chill Chomáin and Pobal Le Chéile and Shell to Sea. Pobal Chill Chomáin was formed earlier this year to back a compromise, which would involve relocation of the gas refinery to a coastal location at Glinsk in north Mayo.
The Glinsk option received the backing of Bishop of Killala Dr John Fleming, Fine Gael TD Michael Ring and Labour Party president Michael D Higgins, and was also endorsed by former senior Bord Gáis engineering manager Leo Corcoran.
Mr Corcoran said that Glinsk’s advantages over the current refinery location at Bellanaboy included distance from a drinking water catchment and the fact that it would not require an onshore production pipeline.
However, Shell rejected the location as not technically feasible, even though its consultants, RPS, examined Glinsk in an initial study of alternative pipeline routes.
Mr Cassells was unsuccessful in his initiative, having been given a remit limited to the onshore pipeline. In his report of July 2006, he made a number of recommendations, including diverting the pipeline route away from houses in Rossport.
A motion passed by a two-thirds majority at the Green Party’s last national executive council in June called for relocation of the Corrib gas refinery from its north Mayo site at Bellanaboy.
The motion stated that the party believed relocation to be the “only way to resolve the Corrib gas issue”. It “strongly” recommended that strategies for examining other potential sites be initiated immediately by an independent body, representative of local communities, the Government and petroleum companies.
The party’s Mayo constituency, which moved the proposal, estimates the gas field is worth €8 billion-€10 billion due to rising gas prices.
The refinery cost is one-40th of this, at €200 million to €300 million, and relocation would cost under €100 million, it estimates. The current site could be “modified” to become a research centre for renewable energy, it notes.
Andy Wilson, spokesman for the Mayo Greens, said an emergency meeting of the constituency organisation was held a fortnight ago at which the issue was also the subject of a three-part motion.
Shell has suspended its planned offshore pipelaying programme while the contracted vessel, Solitaire, is reported to be undergoing repairs.