Documentary on gas pipe saga harrowing viewing

An Piopa on TG4 made for harrowing and sad viewing as the hour and a half long documentary showed the effects the gas pipe is having on a small rural community in North Mayo.

Of course it was one sided. It had to be, because Shell refused to take part in the documentary, saying they would only do so if they had editorial veto over the project.

The documentary concentrated on those in the community whose lives were directly affected by the gas pipe. These included farmers, landowners whose property the proposed gas pipe is going through and fishermen.

The Corrib Gas Pipe controversy has been going on for eight years now, yet most people in the country are totally unaware that there is a community fighting against a powerful international company like Shell or that at one stage there were more Gardaí and security personnel in the area than local people.

The police brutality was shocking, as was the evident huge number of the men in blue when so many other communities around Ireland are crying out for more Gardaí on their streets. The overtime bill must have been enormous.

The documentary itself, filmed by Ritchie O’Donnell, who is originally from that part of Mayo and whose relatives are affected by the gas pipe, was beautifully shot. The breathtaking scenery was like another character and only made what is happening there even more poignant.

We saw fishermen defending their fishing rights in Irish waters being arrested under the Public Order Act for refusing to leave the “exclusion zone” so that the monstrous Solitaire ship could lay the gas pipe on the sea bed for Shell.

We heard their concerns about their future livelihood too. How could the salmon swim up river through Broadhaven Bay when the seabed was corrupted by pipes and other equipment? What kind of damage will be done to the sea life as a result? We heard that some fishermen accepted compensation of about €20,000 from Shell and that this had put a split in the camp.

We saw another split at a Shell to Sea meeting where one of its campaigners Maura Harrington lost her temper when she wouldn’t even contemplate a compromise, i.e., accepting an alternative route for the gas pipe.

It was sad to see a community fighting amongst themselves and sadder still to think that a woman (Harrington) was willing to die by going on hunger strike over the issue.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.