We shouldn’t mess with Mother Nature

I READ with interest the “trillion dollar illusion” that was painted on your front page recently.

However, there was no mention of the colossal risks involved in this for the Irish people.

Your reporter mentions the drilling licences.

Do these people have the tens of billions in reserves to compensate the Irish people in the event of a catastrophe?

If they don’t, quite simply, they should not be involved. This, if it wasn’t, should have been a basic criterion at the outset.

This is a ruthless, high stakes, high risk and dangerous business as proven by BP in the Gulf of Mexico last year.

Only their massive reserves allowed them to stay in business.

Shouldn’t we take our time? The tools we have become familiar with are speed, hustle, illusion and secrecy.

Let’s not go down that road again. Let’s take another look, under our new regime at all of this.

Mother Nature will mind her oil in the meantime. I would caution the naive amongst us that the oil, at the moment, belongs to Mother Nature who has proven herself to be a formidable adversary in the past.

She has, in her time, shattered many dreams.

Pádraig Ó Murchadha

Ballincollig

Co Cork