The Corrib gas controversy was a social protest campaign against the Corrib gas project in north-western County Mayo, Ireland. The project involves the processing of gas onshore through Broadhaven and Sruth Fada Conn bays in Kilcommon. Originally spearheaded by local advocacy groups Shell to Sea and Pobal Chill Chomáin, the protests later grew to national prominence due to the heavy-handed approach taken by the Garda Síochána and private security firms towards the protestors. The project was jointly managed by Shell E&P Ireland and Statoil Exploration Limited, and supported by the Irish government.
Despite the opposition, onshore gas production commenced in December 2015, albeit significantly behind schedule. Shell announced the sale of their stake to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in July 2017, and were fully divested from the project by November 2018. At the time of their departure, the losses incurred by Shell on the project were estimated to be around €1 billion.
While the original aims of the protests were unsuccessful, Shell to Sea and other environmental groups continue to operate and highlight related issues. These include renegotiating the generous tax agreements made between oil and gas companies and the Irish government, the death of environmental activists worldwide, corruption by multinational oil companies and the campaign against fracking, including opposing the import of fracked liquefied natural gas from the United States.
Background
The Corrib gas project entails the extraction of a natural gas deposit off the northwest coast of Ireland. The project includes extraction of the Corrib gas field and construction of the natural gas pipeline and a gas processing plant. The project is controlled by Shell E&P Ireland as operator of the project, in co-operation with Statoil Exploration (Ireland) Limited, and the Vermilion Energy Trust.
The deepwater exploration licence No. 2/93 for 11 years, covering four blocks in the Slyne Trough, was granted on 1 January 1993 to Enterprise Oil. The licence was issued under the licensing terms for offshore oil and gas exploration and development 1992. The Corrib natural gas field was discovered in 1996. It was the first reported commercial natural gas discovery in Ireland since the Kinsale Head gas field was discovered in 1973. The first appraisal well was drilled in 1997. A number of consents and approvals to develop the Corrib Project were issued in 2001.
In 2002, Enterprise Oil was acquired by Royal Dutch Shell who took over the operatorship of the project. Development of the project began in 2004.
Worries about the nature of the Corrib deal prompted calls for an inquiry as early as 2001.
Controversy There have been several concerns put forward about the project, ranging from public opposition to environmental and political groups raising concerns. The controversy has stemmed from many points:
Local residents along the course of the proposed pipeline route felt they were not sufficiently consulted Alt URL The location of the pipeline and its proximity to houses caused concern The transmission pressure and untreated nature of the gas in the pipeline The location of the onshore processing facility on former forestry land within the local water supply catchment area Jailing for civil contempt of protesters at the request of Shell Concerns about the impact on marine ecology Most people who live in County Mayo believe that the gas processing should be carried out at sea. Some are also concerned with irregularities in the policies and conduct regarding the project.
Planning problems In November 2000, a planning application was submitted for an onshore terminal at Bellanaboy to Mayo County Council (MCC). In January 2001 MCC sought more information after local concerns were raised. In April 2001, a new planning application was submitted, and in June 2001, the MCC sought more information which was supplied to them in July. In July, the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Frank Fahey hosted a public meeting on offshore licensing aspects of Corrib in Geesala, County Mayo. In August 2001, MCC granted planning permission for the onshore terminal, with conditions. This was immediately appealed to An Bord Pleanala by local residents and environmental groups.
The same month, Minister Fahey stated that the objectors were holding up progress in the region. The planning decision, according to a Channel Four documentary, resulted from "huge pressure" that had been exerted on it. This decision was immediately appealed to An Bord Pleanála (ABP) by local people and environmental groups. In 2002, planning permission for a proposed refinery in County Mayo was refused by the appeals board after Senior Planning Inspector Kevin Moore concluded that "From a strategic planning perspective, this is the wrong site; from the perspective of Government policy which seeks to foster balanced regional development, this is the wrong site; from the perspective of minimising environmental impact, this is the wrong site; and consequently, from the perspective of sustainable development, this is the wrong site".
Then Minister for Marine and Natural Resources Frank Fahey told the media that this refusal was "just a hitch". He was backed by local Fine Gael TD, Enda Kenny, but opposed by another local Fine Gael TD, Michael Ring. In 2002 a Rossport resident failed in a High Court challenge to halt the pipeline.
In 2003, senior executives from Shell acquired an interview with then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and other Irish government ministers. Within a week, Ahern met with the board of An Bord Pleanála, who are appointed by the government. In December 2003, a new planning application was made for the same site, together with a peat storage site some 11 km away. This was subject to an appeal to An Bord Pleanála who granted permission in October 2004, attaching 42 conditions. The board decided to ignore many of its own inspector's recommendations. Not long before, a huge landslide swept away the whole surface area of a mountain close to the intended pipeline route. Planning permission was not required for the onshore pipeline under the Gas Act 1976.
In November 2009, An Bord Pleanála ordered Shell to redesign the pipeline and move its route away from homes because it posed an "unacceptable risk".
Opponents and supporters
The Shell to Sea campaign, which is campaigning to have the gas processed at sea rather than inland, began during the imprisonment of the Rossport Five in 2005. It is an active group in the affected Kilcommon parish. Shell to Sea also has many supporters outside of the immediately affected area from across County Mayo and the rest of Ireland, as well as abroad. Shell to Sea have a website that is updated frequently. They refuse to be participants in the North West Development Forum (known as the Corrib Gas Forum or known locally as the 'Funny Forum') at which government ministers, Royal Dutch Shell and Mayo County Council hold occasional meetings, as the Forum refuses to consider the aspects of the project that people find most objectionable.
Pobal Chill Chomáin, a group of local residents who live in the affected area of Kilcommon parish and live on both sides of Sruwaddacon Bay, also oppose the current plans for the project, due to concerns about the health, safety and environmental impact of the onshore aspects of the scheme and cite Shell's record in similar projects. They also refuse to participate in the North West Development Forum.
Pobal Le Chéile is a local alliance of small and medium-sized local business people mainly from the Erris region who also oppose the current plans for the project. Unlike other local business people, they have refused to take money or gifts from Shell. They work closely with Pobal Chill Chomáin and have also refused to participate in the Forum.
The Pro Gas Mayo Group (PGMG) was a small pressure group based in County Mayo and successor to the Pro Erris Gas Group. It considered the Shell to Sea campaign to be threatening employment in Mayo. It had three known members, Pádraig Cosgrove (from Bangor Erris), Harry Walsh (from Kilmaine, some 100 miles from the affected area), a former non-party councillor on Mayo County Council, and Brendan Cafferty from Ballina (a former Garda). None of its known members reside in the affected community of Kilcommon Parish.
A poll conducted throughout the county by TNS/MRBI on behalf of RTÉ's Nuacht in September 2006 showed that 60% of respondents agreed the gas processing terminal should be located offshore, with 23% supporting Shell and the government's decision to build inland. The offshore alternative had strongest support amongst those aged under 49 years, and those residing in Castlebar/Ballinrobe/Claremorris and Westport/Belmullet areas.
Many environmental activists criticised the Green Party for joining Fianna Fáil in coalition after the 2007 general election, as the terms of the programme for government did not include a reversal or renegotiation of the proposed gas pipeline and refinery. Before being appointed as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan publicly supported the aims of the Shell to Sea campaign and the Rossport Five, and also attended their protests. The Green Party was also criticised for failing to launch an independent review of the decision, as stipulated by the party in a motion passed at their annual convention in 2007. The motion, passed at the February 2007 annual conference in Galway, said that "...the Green Party in government will not approve a production pipeline consent being signed as part of the Corrib gas project until the completion of a full independent review of the best development concept for the concept."
Opposition (1998–2004) In 1998 there were complaints from unions about the failure to employ Irish workers on the exploration rig SEDCO 711. Enterprise Oil contended that union wage rates offshore Ireland were two to three times higher than in the North Sea. The budget was £20 million for 2008 cumulatively £50 million. A spokesman said "Everybody is on tight budgets and we have got to do it cost effectively. Just because there is a big job doesn't mean there is slush to be thrown around for good social causes". Mike Cunningham, a gas and oil consultant based in Castlebar, said "It is now time for the companies to acknowledge that they have an ethical and moral duty not only to our local regulatory bodies but to the ordinary people of this region to come here and publicly debate all issues relating to their current and future exploration activities off our coastline". Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources Frank Fahey warned that apart from the construction stages very few jobs would be created. Sub-sea technology was to be used to bring the gas (which lies forty miles off the Mayo coast) to land, in contrast to the more commonly used production platforms. Strong objections were raised to the building of a gas refinery from the residents of Ballinaboy and Lenamore. The villagers said all sixteen of their households in the remote villages are within 1 km of the proposed refinery and that some houses are as close as 360 metres. In 2001 Enda Kenny TD, speaking in the Dáil, raised the concerns of the Erris Inshore Fishermen's Association about the effect of the discharge pipe from the terminal at Ballinaboy. In 2003 an offshore terminal was mooted as a solution to the Corrib gas planning crux.
Protests (2005–2008)
In January Shell sent registered letters to a number of land owners, who were denying the company access to their land, that they would take court action against them.