Madam, – Why is it, whenever some disgruntled person follows the martyr route, normal State procedures are put on hold while that individual garners the support of other disaffected individuals, thus perpetuating this mad hatter’s charter?
The characterisation of the dispute between the Shell to Sea group and Shell Oil as a David (good) and Goliath (bad) fight for the rights of a small community is plainly misleading. We are all subject to the laws of the land, whether we live in large towns or tiny hamlets.
As it is, many rural areas, including that of Bellanaboy, are subject to planning restrictions way beyond that of most urban areas. Under these highly restrictive conditions and in the face of, at times, riotous behaviour by people who refuse to accept the lawful rulings of the State, Shell still offers the olive branch of further talks on conditions at that site.
How can we, as a small nation, survive economically if local reaction to lawful planning decisions is allowed to fester and disrupt future investment by multinationals? Tens of thousands of local jobs depend on the Dells and Hewlett Packards of this world, and we are energy-dependent.
There are far too many cosseted dreamers in this country who are still in need of a blunt reality-check. – Yours etc,
Madam, – Lelia Doolan rightly shakes her head at the jailing of Maura Harrington (March 18th). I think that most right-thinking people, regardless of their views on the Rossport issue, would be dismayed at the imprisonment of this fragile woman at a time when criminals seem to walk free with impunity.
Am I the only one to wonder that the jail time served by Maura Harrington and the so-called Rossport Five far exceeds the time served by the politician who gave this gas field to Shell for nothing? Such largesse on our behalf by this discredited individual now seems all the more ill-judged in the current climate.
If we have any leaders in Dáil Éireann, could some of their skill not be brought to bear on solving this issue, and in the shorter term, in getting this woman out of jail? – Yours etc,
Madam, – Brendan Cafferty (March 19th), seems to be aware of a different project developing in north Mayo to the building of the Corrib gas refinery. I say this because he mentions a site with 1,000 workers, most of them from the locality of Erris. By Shell’s own recognition, the employment on the refinery site in Erris is at a maximum now of 500 people and falling fast. Mr Cafferty also said that another contributor to your Letters page was “too far removed” to know the true facts. Mr Cafferty’s address is only 50km away and he managed to get them wrong. – Yours, etc,