Shell announces plans to re-route Corrib gas pipeline

The Irish subsidiary of the global oil giant Shell has announced that the controversial Corrib gas pipeline will be re-routed.

Shell Ireland said today that it would be changing the route of the pipeline in order to bring an end to its long-running dispute with local residents in Rossport, Co Mayo.

The move was recommended in a recent report by Peter Cassells, the former trade union official appointed to mediate between the company and the five men who led the campaign of opposition.

The men spent more than 90 days in prison last year for refusing to obey a court injunction ordering them not to interfere with work on the pipeline.

They said the structure posed an unacceptable safety risk to the local population, but Shell has consistently maintained that there is no threat to public safety.

The company reiterated this stance today, but said they would modify the route in order to press ahead with the project.

It is unclear if the move will resolve the controversy, however, as the Shell to Sea campaign said in response to Mr Cassells report that re-routing the pipeline would simply move the problem to another location.

Work is due to resume on the pipeline in September.