Once Upon a Time in the West (eBook)

A full and definitive account of the Corrib gas controversy, with a Foreword by Fintan O'Toole.

All I want is to stay where I am. My heart and soul are in this place.'

(Willie Corduff, one of The Rossport Five)

In a rural community in the west of Ireland, a bitter struggle continues between multinational oil and gas interests and a group of local residents.

In 1996, Enterprise Energy Ireland - which was later bought by Shell - discovered a significant reserve of natural gas off the coast of County Mayo. The local community welcomed the find, hoping it would bring significant benefits to the area. However, as details of the Corrib gas field project began to emerge, many people became concerned. There were fears about the safety of the inshore gas terminal and linking pipeline and about their effects on the environment.

As the project wound its way tortuously through the planning system, the local opposition grew, culminating in the jailing in 2005 of five local residents, who became known as the Rossport Five. This galvanized the protestors, and north Mayo became a simmering cauldron of discontent. Arrests and violent clashes between protestors, security staff and gardai have continued to this day.

Irish Times correspondent Lorna Siggins has been reporting on the controversy from the outset. No one is better placed to unravel the twists and turns of this fascinating human drama and its political, cultural and environmental shockwaves.

In a rapidly changing Ireland, this epic struggle between big business and local interests raises an uncomfortable question: what price are we willing to pay for progress?

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'All I want is to stay where I am . . . My heart and soul are in this place.'(Willie Corduff, one of The Rossport Five)In a remote, beautiful part of the west of Ireland, a David and Goliath struggle rages between multinational oil company, Shell, and some of the local community of Rossport, County Mayo. In 1996, Enterprise Oil, subsequently bought by Shell, found a major source of valuable gas offshore in the Corrib gas field. In the attempt to build an onshore pipeline and refinery the oil giant has come into conflict with a small group of locals who, anxious about the safety of their families, the environmental impact of the project and the future of their community, are resisting Shell's plans. The eyes of the nation fell on this tiny community when, in 2005, five of the residents were jailed for refusing to allow Shell onto their land, in contempt of court orders. These men have become known as The Rossport Five. Irish Times correspondent Lorna Siggins has been covering the controversy from the beginning. No one is better placed to unravel the twists and turns of this fascinating human drama and its political, cultural and environmental shockwaves. In a new Ireland where economic logic goes largely unchallenged, the Corrib Gas pipeline controversy raises uncomfortable questions about the ways in which Ireland has changed.