October 01, 2006
LAST Tuesday we saw the law being flouted by protesters at Bellanaboy. The Shell terminal there has been granted permission by Bord Pleanala, having gone through the process twice.
What was at issue last year, we are told, was a Shell pipeline through Rossport. But work at the terminal site was terminated due to protests, with workers going to the site having to get “permission” from objectors. Shell stopped work and did not force the issue, giving space to all concerned.
The minister appointed a firm to examine the safety of the pipeline and it got a clean bill of health.
That should have been enough, but Peter Cassells, a mediator, also tried to find a way forward and failed.
For any reasonable person that should be enough if the safety of the pipeline at Rossport was the only issue. Workers were stopped going on site at the terminal by protesters who also obstructed gardai on Tuesday.
Where stands the law now? Does mob rule prevail? The spectacle of people reciting the rosary while obstructing gardai was totally hypocritical, a sort of local jihad, and Bull McCabism at its best. Ar aghaidh leis an obair.
Brendan Cafferty
Ballina, Co Mayo
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-2382712.html
