Fury as Shell gets green light for pipeline

THE Government was accused of favouring ‘big business’ over people last night after Natural Resources Minister Noel Dempsey granted oil giant Shell permission to construct the offshore section of the controversial Corrib gas pipeline.

Mr Dempsey gave his blessing despite having recently ordered a safety review of the onshore element of the project, the results of which will not be known for several weeks.

The minister’s decision showed the Government was clearly “on the side of Shell”, said Green Party energy spokesman Eamon Ryan, adding that it made “a mockery of his own supposedly independent safety review of the onshore section of the same pipeline”.