The future of mediation talks over the €900 million Corrib gas project for north Mayo hung in the balance last night, as the five recently released opponents of the onshore pipeline expressed serious concern about the Government's latest action.
The men are due to meet today following confirmation by the Minister for the Marine that he is "considering legal issues" which would allow him to defer his own order to dismantle an illegally welded section of the high pressure pipeline.
There was conflicting information from Shell and the Department of the Marine on the continuation of the dismantling operation with reports that some staff were withdrawn to do a "safety course".
Mr Dempsey had issued the order to Shell E&P Ireland on July 30th, following photographic evidence in The Irish Times of what he described as a "serious breach" of consents for the project. However, the company only began the dismantling work on Monday after some delays.
The Minister's meeting yesterday in Dublin with Shell officials was convened to discuss a proposal submitted by the Pro-Erris Gas Group (Pegg) earlier this week - simultaneously backed by the Council for the West - to defer the dismantling work until publication of the Minister's safety review of the onshore pipeline. Pegg says the company should be asked to pay a minimum of €250,000 towards community projects in Kilcommon parish, instead of wasting money on dismantling the welding.
However, Dr Mark Garavan, spokesman for the five men and the Shell to Sea campaign in Mayo, said this would place a serious question mark over the Minister's regulatory regime and his promises that the Corrib gas project would be monitored more tightly.
In a statement, Mr Dempsey said Shell E&P Ireland had sought legal advice on the Pegg proposal and would be "in communication with officials from my department once this advice has been received".
Shell confirmed that it was consulting its lawyers.
