FOUR CO LOUTH residents who took court action seeking the closure of the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant asked a judge yesterday to rule that the Government should pay the legal costs of the case.
Constance Short, Mary Kavanagh, Mark Dearey and Olann Herr, who in 1994 initiated a case claiming Britain failed to observe EU directives over the plant, said that because the Government later took legal action itself against Sellafield, it should pay the costs of their case.
Yesterday, they applied to the High Court for leave to discontinue their action against Ireland and the Attorney General and sought all costs to be awarded against the State. The original action was also against the operators of Sellafield, British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL) but, the court heard, this was settled on the basis that the residents and BNFL pay their own costs.
In that action, they sought an injunction directing BNFL to comply with EU directives that the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (Thorp) facility at Sellafield should have been subject to an environmental impact assessment. They also sought damages.
Their complaint was that BNFL, in operating Thorp, had caused discharges into the Irish Sea resulting in pollution and damage or potential damage to their health. That case went to the Supreme Court, which found the Irish courts had no jurisdiction to hear it. The residents came back before the High Court yesterday to ask Mr Justice Michael Peart for leave to discontinue the action. This was not opposed by the State, but the application for costs was.
The residents say they are entitled to seek costs because they had taken the case in the public interest and that the State, through its Ministers, had recognised it as such and committed to pay their reasonable legal costs.
The case against the State was over its inaction on Sellafield, but this was now moot as the Government has since taken extensive legal action, the residents claimed.
They also claimed that as a result of their action, the threat from Thorp has been ameliorated and it is now due to close in 2012. However, the State denies this and says it is due to recommence production in that year.
The residents argued that a number of senior politicians, including Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern, a Louth TD, said in the Houses of the Oireachtas that this case should have been brought by the Government.
Michael Forde SC, for the residents, said Fianna Fáil had also promised in its election manifesto that the State would take over and fund the action initiated by the residents. Unless the Government takes responsibility for the costs, the residents would be liable, he said.
Dr Forde said the Government funded the residents’ campaign with €200,000 for research purposes and this was evidence of their support. Paul Sreenan SC, for the State, said it was “absolutely contesting” the claims made by the residents.
The State denied the residents’ claims that a barrage of cases had been taken by the Government over Sellafield as a result of the residents’ original action and there were in fact only two such cases.
Mr Sreenan said what happened was that the ratification of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea provided a vehicle under which Ireland could pursue the UK, although the EU later found this matter should have been taken in the European Courts of Justice.
Ireland also pursued the UK under another marine convention, OSPAR, in regard to provision of information but this was unsuccessful, he said.
Regarding comments made by Mr Ahern and others, Mr Sreenan said the recent High Court ruling in the Bertie Ahern versus Mahon tribunal case found a politician could not be made amenable outside the Dáil for comments made in the chamber.
Mr Sreenan also said the Government had offered up to €500,000 to the residents for scientific research. An offer of legal advice to analyse the strength of the case had also been made but never taken up, Mr Sreenan said.
The judge reserved judgment.