THIS week the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, and the Minister of State, Mr Stagg, have strongly condemned Sellafield following yet another radioactive leak.
Strong talk has been heard from Irish Ministers on the subject in the past. "Over the last 10 years, governments here have paid a lot of lip service to opposing Sellafield," says Mr John Bowler, of Greenpeace.
However, this time the Government appears to be backing up strong talk with activity. There have been a number of unprecedented actions:
. For the first time, the State objected to a further planned development near Sellafield, and the Minister of State for Energy, Mr Emmet Stagg, went to England to open the case at the public inquiry in Cumbria.
Nirex UK, a publicly owned nuclear waste disposal company owned by the UK nuclear industry, has plans for an underground nuclear waste dump there. For the moment, all it wants to do is test rocks. But if the rocks pass these tests, a massive underground dump for low to intermediate level radioactive waste is planned. Nirex says the dump is not inevitable.
. At the planning hearing, the Government signalled that it might take legal action if this testing - called a "rock characterisation facility" - was approved by the British Environment Secretary. Mr Stagg confirmed this yesterday, saying that if the facility was approved, the Government would look at legal options to stop it.
. In early January, the Department of Energy formally complained to the European Commission that Nirex had failed to comply with the EU directive on environmental impact assessment by not disclosing what alternative sites were examined with the proposed facility.
. Counsel for the State has been supporting four Dundalk people who are seeking to take an action against British Nuclear Fuels in the Irish courts. According to Mr Stagg, the State will consider indemnifying the four individuals if the action goes ahead, if that is legally possible.
The action would be to stop BNFL from operating its Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) at Sellafield. A Supreme Court decision on whether "the action can go ahead is awaited."
. A committee of Ministers, chaired by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, has been in operation since last April to co ordinate strategies adopted by different Departments on nuclear issues.
. A "diplomatic offensive" has been launched by Irish ambassadors in countries that send or are considering sending nuclear waste to Sellafield/THORP. According to Mr Stagg, the Government hopes than when contracts come up for renewal, a number of states will stop sending their waste there.
. The Attorney General is considering the possibilities of a legal action against the Sellafield/ Thorp facilities.
This option has been considered, and rejected, by previous governments on the grounds that the chances of winning such an action appeared slim. According to the Green Party TD, Mr Trevor Sargent, the fear of losing a case should not deter the Government from taking one.
"The very fact that a sovereign government would go to court indicates a level of seriousness," he said. No matter what the outcome, a case would focus international attention on the issue.
Sixteen leaks of radioactive material in British nuclear power facilities were reported to the Government last year. So far this year, there have been three.