A LEADING Swedish architect has given her support to an artist’s bid to tender for an offshore block in Irish waters which can be developed on behalf of the public.
The project, known as “Gazillion” and spearheaded by artist Colum Stapleton, is the subject of an exhibition at the Gyreum in Castlebaldwin, Co Sligo.
Prof Elizabeth Hatz, professor of architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and lecturer at the University of Limerick’s school of architecture, will moderate a think-tank on the concept next weekend at the Gyreum, an ecologically friendly lodge built by Mr Stapleton.
Geologists, seismologists, students and other interested parties are invited to attend the gathering, which takes place before the Department of Energy’s May 31st closing date for bids in the new Atlantic margin licensing round.
“Ireland has a lot of initiative, intelligent thinking and boldness, and I always feel that Irish people are at their best when they have a challenge,” Prof Hatz said.
“The possibility of trying to solve Ireland’s economic crisis and energy questions has to be seriously addressed and there have to be new ways of thinking,” she said.
Mr Stapleton described Gazillion as “a challenge to the people of Ireland to go figure their own huge ocean expanse, go prospect for gas, implement their own rescue” while appreciating that “hydrocarbon exploration is a needle-in-a-haystack exercise in terms of results”.
He has invited the public to choose a block in the new licensing round, which opens up the entire Atlantic margin.
A 2007 consultants’ report for the Department of Energy estimated there are 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent offshore of Ireland.
The cost of presenting a tender is €1,500 and it costs an additional €18,000 to avail of the best data from the department to “inform a tender”, Mr Stapleton said.
The project would need €2 million to prove to the department it has the “financial muscle” for a thorough seismic survey in advance of applying for a drilling licence, he added.
In a related initiative, Mayo’s potential to develop a multimillion euro renewable energy industry and becoming the Saudi Arabia of Europe in wind and ocean energy will be debated at the Mayo Associations’ worldwide convention, which takes place in Westport from next Friday to Sunday.
The theme of the conference, which will be opened by President Mary McAleese and attended by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, is “power by land and sea”. More than 100 delegates from Mayo associations worldwide are expected to attend the event.
