Advisers back all-Ireland anti-fracking campaign

A new all-island organisation to campaign against fracking is being backed by advisers in the areas of economics, law, science, public health and policy development.

Good Energies Alliance Ireland is a cross-border initiative which will also promote ways in which the wise use of energy can be supported from sustainable sources and practices.

Fracking, which involves using water to fracture rocks to drill for shale gas, is causing concern over the potential environmental and health considerations related to the activity.

However, while there are genuine fears about this method of extracting natural resources, companies are promising hundreds of jobs in rural areas.

Bringing together the many community groups around the country, Good Energies Alliance says its plan is to use information and creative communication to raise awareness of the process of fracking and:

* To lobby nationally and internationally for a ban on hydraulic fracturing until independent scientific studies verify that it can be undertaken sustainably and will result in no environmental, social or economic harm.

* To research and support ways in which the wise use of energy can be supported from sustainable energy sources and practices by means of programmes and events.

One company, Tamboran, which hopes to be granted a license to frack in Leitrim made a presentation in the Dáil earlier this week. It hopes to drill for up to 2.2 trillion cubic feet of gas in Leitrim over more than 30 years.

However, the Government has not yet decided whether it will grant permission for fracking, and if it does, it will need to be highly regulated.

Widespread unregulated fracking in the US has caused environmental damage in many states, while France has banned the practice.

A report being carried out by the university of Aberdeen on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency is set to be published later this month.