Rossport group to target vulnerable FF and PD seats

THE group protesting against the proposed gas pipeline in Mayo will campaign against Fianna Fáil in marginal constituencies at the next General Election.

Campaigners from the Shell to Sea group yesterday held a protest outside Leinster House to mark the first anniversary of the jailing of the Rossport Five.

Relatives of the five men were among the protestors as were a number of TDs including Mayo independent Jerry Cowley, Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins and Green Party TDs Dan Boyle, Eamon Ryan and John Gormley.

A spokesman for the group, Tadhg McGrath, said that it had identified several constituencies in Cork, Waterford and Dublin where the Government was vulnerable and would be canvassing door-to-door, asking people to vote against Fianna Fáil and the PDs.

Dr Cowley said that nothing had changed in the past year notwithstanding the five men having spent 94 days in prison. He accused Shell, which leads the consortium developing the gas field, of intransigence.

“Nothing has changed,” he said. “Shell has not changed its position.”

There have been reports in recent weeks of tensions between the five men. One of their number, Brendan Philbin, is said to have taken no active part in the joint campaign over the past two months and is also pursuing a separate case against Shell.

But yesterday, Dr Cowley said that the protest was as strong as ever and that it attracted widespread support in the area.

That view was echoed by Mary Kilduff, the wife of Vincent Kilduff of the Rossport Five who said that campaign’s momentum had been maintained.

Ms Kilduff said that the 94 days the men had spent in prison last year was worth it. “It made a national story of it. It highlighted to the people of Ireland what was really going on.”

She was also highly critical of Shell and what she said was the Government’s facilitation of the project.

“We have seen in other countries like Nigeria and Scotland and the harm that they have done to the environment and to people,” she claimed.

Asked about the independent safety review carried out on behalf of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, she said that it would mean that her safety would depend on a valve that reduced the pressure at which gas was pumped.

When the safety review was published last month, Andy Pyle, the managing director of Shell in Ireland, said that his company were committed to meeting all of its recommendations. He also apologised for the part Shell played in the jailing of the five men.