Madam, – The boarding of Pat O’Donnell’s trawler off Co Mayo (“Green Party calls for inquiry into Corrib sinking”, June 12th) is a sinister but not unexpected development in the long and sorry story of Corrib gas.
Unlike other local fishermen Pat O’Donnell has consistently refused the Shell shilling and has continued the tradition of fishing which has been in his family for generations. Shell has denied all knowledge of those who boarded the trawler and held the two fishermen at gunpoint.
Who benefits from such an incident? Not O’Donnell whose livelihood sank with his trawler. Who was responsible for this early morning drama which could have ended in disaster? This is not Somalia where such offshore piracy is commonplace. Who employed and trained these men to allegedly board and scuttle the trawler? And sail away scot-free, leaving the skipper and the crew man to sink or swim.
Had their life raft failed to inflate Pat O’Donnell and Martin McDonnell might have sunk with the trawler, and with no witnesses it would have been written off as another unfortunate tragedy at sea.
Recently, dozens have been arrested for protesting against the arrival in Glengad of dangerous untreated gas. There is little expectation, however, that anyone will be arrested to face criminal charges for the sinking of the trawler. There is even talk about no compensation for the loss. Small wonder some in north Mayo feel abandoned by justice. This could have been the obituary of two Erris fishermen both of whom are strong opponents of the Corrib gas project as presently conceived. Is life so cheap? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – One of the big challenges in discussing the Corrib gas issue is separating fact from fiction. It is helpful and necessary to ground ourselves on fact.
The Corrib project in its present configuration should be opposed because it constitutes an unacceptable risk to the health, safety and environment of a small community in Co Mayo. How can we prove that it does constitute such a risk? The answer lies with Shell’s own evidence to the An Bord Pleanála oral hearing presently underway in Belmullet.
There, Shell’s consultants have acknowledged that houses within 230 metres of their proposed pipeline could “burn spontaneously” from heat radiation in the event of a rupture if the gas in the pipe was at full pressure (“Gas explosion fears raised at hearing”, June 4th). That’s a 460 metre corridor of devastation. Houses within 171 metres would be at risk if the gas pressure was at 144 bar.
Everyone within this 242-metre corridor would have 30 seconds to escape from any leaking invisible, odourless gas.
The consultants conceded that this proposed pipe was unique.
This is the evidence of Shell’s consultants, not their opponents. The point is that many people living their ordinary lives walk and travel within this potential killing zone. There are houses within this zone with families and children.
This is dramatic evidence finally confirming facts previously denied by Shell and their apologists. I recall then Minister Dempsey stating definitively in 2006 that people were safe beyond three metres in the event of the pipe rupturing.
The inhabitants of the area in which this pipe is placed can legitimately ask those who support this project – are you, personally and publicly, willing to impose this permanent risk on them? That is the key question.
The answer should have nothing to do with one’s political ideology. It has everything to do with how human life is to be valued and whether that value is greater than politics, profit or personal pretensions. – Yours, etc,