Corrib pipeline - Compromise needed to end stand-off

SADLY, though public sympathy is firmly on the side of the five Mayo landowners imprisoned for contempt of court, it is questionable if they will succeed in their appeal to be allowed out of jail for talks with Shell over the Corrib gas pipeline.

Regrettably, they are spending their eighth week behind bars for breaching a court order restraining them from blocking Shell’s access to their lands in Rossport.

While the oil company has a moral duty to respond positively to their plea, the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, is on record as saying they must stay in jail until they purge their contempt. However, in yesterday’s open letter, calling on Shell to withdraw its injunction to enable talks go ahead, the men maintained their right to protest over the health and safety hazard posed by plans to build a gas pipeline across their lands.