The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Greens target LNG plant
ANY effort to remove State support from the Shannon LNG plan would be fiercely resisted by most of the county’s Oireachtas members.
That’s according to Fianna Fáil Senator Ned O’Sullivan, speaking this week after the Green Party officially listed an end to the plan among its 17 key demands for Government.
The list is being considered in full by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael this week as party leaders Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar now prepare to respond by letter to Green Party leader Eamon Ryan before negotiations get underway on the demands.
Reports suggesting Martin and Varadkar are prepared to concede the Shannon LNG plant for a Government with the Greens provoked deep fear in North Kerry this week.
Fianna Fáil TD Norma Foley has reiterated her commitment to the plan in the interest of job creation in her constituency. She said the parliamentary party – including its leadership – knows exactly where she stands on the matter: “This plant is of huge importance for the whole county, not just North Kerry,” she told The Kerryman.
Fine Gael’s Brendan Griffin – who famously brought Leo Varadkar to the site of the proposed plant in his first week as Taoiseach – was unavailable for comment.
130 environmental groups from home and abroad have meanwhile just signed a letter calling on all Irish political party leaders to withdraw their support for the plant.
Opposition to the plant remains focused on the controversial method of fracking. Though banned in Ireland, fracked gas has transformed the US energy market, and the parent company behind Shannon LNG – New Fortress Energy – has conceded that it would likely import fracked gas to the Kerry terminal. The method of fracking has led to serious concerns in many communities across the US, where it is being blamed for everything from contamination of the water table to seismic activity.
Kerry supporters of the project are urging the Greens to consider the human cost of their objection to the plan – in a region hard hit by immigration and lack of employment opportunities. It is entirely possible the Shannon operation might not require fracked gas by the time the plant is built, they say.
Long-time supporter of the plant Senator Ned O’Sullivan made that point as he appealed for ‘cool heads’, saying he remained optimistic about the prospects of Shannon LNG despite the crunch talks.
“I think it is probably the most inappropriate of all the Greens’ 17 demands. At the moment, the sole objection to Shannon LNG is that it will take in fracked gas. We’re going on and on about this for 15 years now, and the original fear was that it could blow up...that was outrageous, but succeeded in holding it up.
“Every country in Europe has at least one LNG terminal, most have two. Who is to say that the Shannon terminal will only ever be joined at the hip to fracked gas? It is a constantly changing business. It may well be possible that gas will be extracted in a way that would be more in keeping with Green Party policy in the future.
“The first question I would ask of the Greens is whether they will be pushing to rescind the PCI status support in Europe? My best guess is that they won’t. It will be too difficult, it’s there in place on the list and I don’t see that being in jeopardy.” Local opponent of the plan Johnny McElligot, campaigner with Safety before LNG, said the plant would represent a ‘gaming’ of the system, however. He was among those to have organised the letter sent the party leaders this week.
“We’re on the Kerry side of the Shannon estuary. Moneypoint coal power station is less than 5 km away as the crow flies,” Mr McElligott said.
“We’re looking at all the jobs being lost there because the power station is closing on climate grounds. I cannot understand the logic of now building a fracked-gas import plant, which would have a carbon-equivalent footprint 44 per cent larger than that of coal. A policy on fracked gas imports that takes into account the full life-cycle and non-territorial emissions is needed. Measuring only what is burned in Ireland is gaming the system.”
The Green block already lost the vote which kept Shannon LNG on the coveted Project of Common Interest list earlier this year.
“If gas can be sourced by other methods we will need a terminal to re-gasify it. Are the Greens totally satisfied about the provenance of the gas we are currently importing from the Continent?” Senator O’Sullivan asked.
“I wouldn’t be terribly concerned about their objection, it’s probably just an aspirational aspect of their list of demands,” the Senator said.
Asked if he thought Mícheál Martin – who announced the plant to great fanfare in Tarbert in 2006 as then Enterprise Minister – would concede it for the sake of a stable Government, he said: “I was sitting next to Mícheál Martin when he reiterated his commitment to the project prior to the general election.
“Now is a time for cool heads on it, and I remain optimistic it won’t be scuppered, it’s still in situ despite years of objections.”
He suggested there was ‘unanimity’ among Kerry Oireachtas members in support of the plant. “We speak as one on it,” Senator O’Sullivan said.
Ballylongford Fine Gael County Councillor Michael Foley said the negotiations between his party and FF should have the effect of affirming the plant as a key point of any programme for Government post-COVID. “The overarching objective of Government will be to rebuild the economy and get people back to work. The LNG Project will be a huge boost to the economy in the North Kerry area and provide essential employment.”