Sinn Fein member demands Sellafield closure

Sinn Fein used a CND conference in Britain today to demand the closure of the Sellafield nuclear waste disposal plant.

The party’s sole Dail member, Caoimhghin O'Caolain, called for a ‘‘people power’’ campaign on both sides of the Irish Sea to bring about the end of the Cumbrian complex.

He told the London CND conference: ‘‘Sellafield is a most serious and immediate danger to all the people of Ireland and Britain - a potential Chernobyl in our midst.’’

The Dail representative for the Cavan-Monaghan constituency said the British Government’s recent decision to open a new mixed oxide fuel facility at Sellafield meant that British Prime Minister Tony Blair was guilty ‘‘of an act of bad faith and disregard for the Irish people on a par with anything done by his predecessors in the long and sorry history of Anglo-Irish relations’’.

He claimed: ‘‘The demand for the complete closure of Sellafield is now growing as people realise the threat posed to us all by an attack on the plant similar to that in the United States on September 11.

‘‘That is the real danger.’’

Mr O Caolain said that even if September 11 had never happened, Sellafield should still be closed down.

‘‘It has turned the Irish Sea into the most nuclear-polluted stretch of water in the world.

‘‘I take this opportunity to call for a united effort by people on both sides of the Irish Sea to have Sellafield shut down. This plant endangers the lives of people in Britain as much as in Ireland.’’