Irish fracking campaign to light up Leitrim mountain
An illuminated heart installation on one of Leitrim highest peaks will call on the Irish government to turn away from fossil fuels and focus on the health of its communities, asking TDs to Stop the EPA study for good on December 2nd. The EPA research has been seen as severely compromised due to links with oil and gas industry.
An all Ireland ‘Stop the Study’ campaign has already seen a small victory for anti fracking groups with indications that tenders for seismic monitoring and ground work linked to the EPA 'fracking' research in Clare, Leitrim and Fermanagh have been temporarily stalled. The EPA have also subsequently been asked to answer mounting questions about their administration of the study and have been called before a Joint Oireachtas Committee on Wednesday 2nd December next.
An all Ireland Stop The Study campaign run by groups opposed to fracking both North and South of Ireland which included a social media campaign, demonstration and well attended presentation at Dail Eireann on November 5th last has helped stall EPA work on the ground related to fracking. The action saw support from 'hulk' star Mark Ruffalo, who has been influential in the New York ban against fracking, supporting the Irish campaign. He called on the Government's of both Northern Ireland and the Republic to abandon the EPA administered research in light of the vast amount of evidence of risks to health the industry poses.
Campaigners claim the EPA 'fracking' research is compromised on a number of grounds. Shale gas services companies CDM Smith and AMEC Foster Wheeler are in charge of undertaking most of the research tasks. CDM Smith are the contracted party, so other members of the consortium are not partners in the research, but better described as subcontractors. The validity of the research was further questioned when it emerged that Ministers in both the Dail and the Northern Ireland Assembly had continued to name the prestigious Queens University Belfast as part of the research consortium, despite the universities statement that they are not involved in the study.
The EPA admit that they and the steering group which oversees the study were informed that Queens had cancelled their involvement in the research in October of 2014. Despite this, leaflets and advertisements in the local press in February of 2015, along with Government Ministers in both the Dail and the Assembly, continued to state that Queens University were part of the research consortium. The EPA have been urgently requested to reappear before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Wednesday 2nd December, to check the veracity of the update they gave in June of this year.
A spokesperson for the frack free campaign Tom White stated. “Whilst the stalling of the tenders is a step in the right direction, this whole research is now compromised beyond repair, and needs to be abandoned immediately. Worryingly it seems certain people within Government appear wedded to the idea that frackingcan happen in Ireland. My fear is that people think that the threat is gone away but the reality is that the Oil and Gas industry find other ways to corrupt the decision-making process such as their influence on what should have been independent research. The mounting scientific evidence of harm by this industry, indicates the time for an outright ban as Government policy is here”
This coming weekend in Leitrim sees a number of events coinciding with the forthcoming EPA meeting and climate change talks in Paris. Communities working with the “Artist in the community” scheme a partnership with communities, an artist with the backing of Leitrim Co Co will power an light installation on one of Leitrim’s most prominent peaks, Benbo mountain. Social justice group AFRI along with Love Leitrim will also be showing their international solidarity hosting anti fracking campaigners from the Basque region visiting North Leitrim and Fermanagh, with Donal O'Kelly performing his award winning play 'Fionnuala' at the Glens centre on Saturday evening.
Contact: meenaghman@yahoo.com