Call for community control of energy profits

Ireland’s oil and gas resources should be taken out of the hands of faceless multinationals and returned to local communities, a campaigner said tonight.

Rossport Five member Vincent McGrath said the Government must cancel all deals struck with exploration companies in the 1980s and 1990s.

He called for a national referendum to agree more equitable arrangements which would plough back some of the profits into local community projects.

Mr McGrath told a People Before Profit conference in Dublin tonight: “The responsibility of our natural resources must be taken out of the hands of faceless profiteers and returned to support local communities.”

Mr McGrath and four other North Mayo men spent 94 days in prison last summer for ignoring a court order to stop protesting against a Shell gas pipeline near their homes.

A mediator has now been appointed by the Government to try to resolve the dispute between the five men and Shell.

“Multinational companies have impoverished communities who get nothing from the proceeds of oil and gas exploration,” Mr McGrath added.

People Before Profits is a new umbrella group for community activists working towards a more equitable society.

Spokesperson Catherine Swift said: “We aim to change the focus from the wealth-creation policies of the Government to practical measures that are better for the social good.”

Other speakers at the two-day conference include Maura Harrington of the Davitt League and Andrew MacLaran from the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies in Trinity College.