TWO Government Ministers have urged all stakeholders in the Corrib gas conflict to “remain within the law”.
Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív and Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan made their appeal in Belmullet, Co Mayo, yesterday, following their attendance at a Government development forum and a separate open meeting in Inver, Co Mayo, the previous night.
About 50 local people were outnumbered by gardaí and Shell security at a peaceful protest at Glengad beach, Co Mayo, yesterday morning.
At a highly charged public meeting in Inver the night before, attended by more than 300 people, both Ministers were warned that there will be further injury and even deaths in north Mayo if the dispute is not resolved.
Work has resumed on the offshore pipeline, and An Bord Pleanála’s oral hearing into the new onshore pipeline route is due to open with a preliminary hearing on May 13th, and the full hearing on May 19th in Belmullet.
Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, Mr Ó Cuív compared it to the situation in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. It was “as difficult a problem as I’ve ever seen” and “with as deep a division as I’ve ever seen”, he said.
However, people had to engage in dialogue, and he cited as examples the late Gordon Wilson in the North and former South African leader Nelson Mandela.
Mr Ó Cuív said that “valid issues” had been raised by a lot of people at the Inver public meeting on Thursday. “I don’t have a ready answer, but unless we agree that everything is done within the Constitution, it is very hard to see a way forward,” he said.
If costs were an impediment to people taking legal action, this “could be talked about”, Mr Ó Cuív said.
The Garda Ombudsman Commission and the Private Security Authority of Ireland had been established to deal with complaints in relation to Garda or security actions, he said.
Both Mr Ó Cuív and Mr Ryan appealed to the community to use the Government forum, established by them late last year and chaired by former Department of Justice secretary general Joe Bros- nan. Mr Ó Cuív said they had gone out of their way to allow structures or terms of reference to promote dialogue.
Ultimately the solution lay in the parish of Kilcommon, and ways had to be found to support the community, Mr Ryan said.
At Thursday night’s open meeting, Mr Ryan was singled out for particular blame, as the Green Party had opposed the project, as it is currently configured, before it entered government.
Willie Corduff, of the Rossport Five, said: “I blame the Government and especially you, Eamon Ryan, who told me the project was wrong before you got into government. What has changed since then?”
Mr Corduff showed the Ministers injuries he had sustained last week during a protest at Glengad when he was allegedly assaulted.
Mr Ryan was asked why the Aarhus Convention, which would afford people the same access to the law as big corporations, had not been ratified.
“The issue of us stopping the project is a legal impossibility,” Mr Ó Cuív told the meeting.
Chairwoman Paula Leonard said the meeting was held to address the belief that the Garda was not protecting the people.
Local eco-tourism operator Anthony Irwin said: “For decades two or three gardaí policed this community without any trouble. And now 300 gardaí can’t control it.”