A chara, – Like Peter Murtagh (Opinion, May 18th), I will reserve judgment on what happened to Willie Corduff at Glengad, Co Mayo, in the wee hours of April 23rd, until I see medical reports or other evidence of his injuries.
But I will also reserve judgment as to who it was used a digger to tear down Shell’s fence the previous evening, until I see evidence to identify them.
Mr Murtagh insinuates that this was the work of a group of Shell to Sea protesters: “. . . Protesters disagree and a group broke into the fenced-off area on April 22nd, commandeered digging machinery and smashed the fence.”
All the reports I have read indicate that the people who tore the fence down wore masks, and somehow managed to escape without being arrested, despite the large numbers of private security contractors and gardaí stationed in the area. I have seen no explanation as to how they started the digger, nor any evidence that it was hot-wired.
It may be bizarre to speculate that a group of masked Shell sympathisers might have taken a digger to tear the fence down, but no more bizarre than the findings of the Morris tribunal that members of the Garda Síochána in Donegal planted a hoax bomb at the MMDS antenna in Ardara so as to arrest local protesters under the Offences Against the State Act.
As the seanfhocal says: “Ní mar a shíltear a bhítear.” It is fair enough for Mr Murtagh to ask for evidence of what happened to Willie Corduff, but he must not then join the charge to transmute some other unproven allegation into bald fact. – Is mise,
Madam, – The licensing terms for offshore oil and gas exploration, development and production, available on the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources website, state: “The Minister may, for such period as the Minister deems necessary, require that specified exploration, exploitation, production or processing activities should cease or be continued subject to conditions which the Minister may specify, in any case where the Minister is satisfied that it is desirable to do so in order to reduce the risk of injury to the person, waste of petroleum or damage to property or the environment. No claim for compensation may be made against the Minister on foot of any such requirement”.
Brendan Cafferty (May 13th) is therefore mistaken when he says that the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan cannot legally stop the work on the Corrib project. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – Brendan Cafferty’s letter (May 13th) creates a direct conflict of credibility in his challenge to Vincent McGrath’s letter (May 11th). His “facts” are simply wrong. He fails to distinguish between a planning permission and a ministerial consent.
Mr McGrath is correct in affirming that there is no planning permission for works at Glengad. The ministerial consent of 2002 to which Mr Cafferty refers is not a planning permission. It is merely a consent to the pipeline concept and specifies the need for a broad range of further consents and permissions.
Likewise Mr Cafferty is clearly unaware of the fact that the ministerial consent of 2002 is sub judice since 2005 when the Rossport Five were committed to jail. This is the consent they were contesting and which astonishingly was not adjudicated prior to their sentencing. It continues before the High Court ever since, moving slowly towards adjudication. No recent permission can therefore validly arise from this consent. – Is mise,