Objectors holding up progress in west - Fahey

If there was a general election in the morning there would be six Independent and Sinn Fein TDs on the western seaboard, the Minister for the Marine, Mr Fahey, claimed yesterday.

Mr Fahey said that while there would be "exciting times", it would bring political instability similar to that of the early 1980s. In the tones of an election speech, the Minister said the development of the west was not being held up by the Government but by objectors to infrastructural developments such as the recent ESB campaign to upgrade the electricity network.

"The neglect of the west of Ireland is a good single issue, if you are simplistic enough to reduce it from what is a very complex mix of problems," he said, as the main political parties face competition for the Dail from Independent candidates.

The Minister was speaking at the International Humbert School on the theme of "Corrib Gas: Flagship for Developing the West", where there was sharp argument about who would benefit most from Corrib gas.

Mr Sean Clarke, local IFA chairman and potential election candidate, said Mr Fahey's remarks about independents were "insulting".

Enterprise Energy's managing director, Mr Briain O Cathain, said that with the discovery of the Corrib gas field, "nature has undone what generations of under-investment and neglect by Dublin has done to the west".

He welcomed the rigorous appraisal and evaluation of the project, of which he was proud because it was "world class". Without a local energy supply Mayo would continue to suffer, and IDA Ireland had said it could not attract such high-tech businesses to areas like Mayo, he pointed out.

The Corrib pipeline will carry a broadband fibre optic cable from Dublin to Castlebar. He said local gas would always be cheaper than imports.

Mr Terry Reilly, managing director of the Western People newspaper, expressed concern that there could be a "lopsided" development in relation to promises about gas.

Mr Peter O'Neill, head of the Department of Public Enterprise's gas division, said the Corrib field was a catalyst for the roll-out of energy infrastructure in the west.

He said Bord Gais did not have a monopoly on building gas pipelines. And if the pipeline "is not going to a particular place, people can't blame Bord Gais".