State Papers: Whiddy Island oil terminal owners agreed pollution payments with Cork fishing co-op

The French-owned oil tanker, Betelgeuse, caught fire and exploded at the Gulf Oil-operated terminal jetty on Whiddy Island on January 8, 1979, killing 50 people. Photo: Richard Mills

Members of a fishing co-op in Bantry, Co Cork, were to receive interim payments up to a maximum of £80,000 for every incident of pollution damage under a confidential agreement reached in 1990 with the operator and owner of the oil terminal at Whiddy Island in Cork.

The agreement arose out of concern of local fishermen in Bantry Bay about the resumption of activity at the oil terminal after the French-owned oil tanker, Betelgeuse, caught fire and exploded at the Gulf Oil-operated terminal jetty on Whiddy Island on January 8, 1979.