New appeal over gas pipeline

Residents are appealing to Shell to relocate a gas refinery to a more remote site to protect their health and the environment.


The group, from Rossport in County Mayo, want Shell to consider a new initiative for the location of the Corrib gas refinery, despite the company announcing an alternative route for the pipeline only a month ago.

It was claimed by partners in the project that the new route for the new Corrib pipeline would be twice as far from houses as the original, and was proposed after 11 months of public consultation.

The residents have said their concerns are not anti-gas but has always been the “health, safety and the environment, and this remains the case”.

Up to 60% of Ireland’s gas needs will be supplied by the Corrib pipeline, according to the project partners and would add Euro 3bn to the nation’s gross domestic product over the lifetime of the project.

The refinery is currently 30% built despite delays in construction as a result of protests and building costs are estimated at Euro 200m.

In 2005, the Corrib gas project made the news when five local men were jailed for breaking court orders by obstructing the developers from carrying out pipeline work on their land.

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