Minister for Marine Noel Dempsey is taking legal advice, following Shell E&P Ireland's response to him over the Corrib gas pipeline.
A spokeswoman for the Minister confirmed last night that he had received the company's reply to his letter of July 23rd, in which he said it had breached consents issued for the onshore pipeline.
Shell said it would be inappropriate for it to publish the details of its response in advance of Mr Dempsey's consideration. It has acknowledged a "technical breach" of consents, although the Minister has described this as "very serious". The breaches identified by Mr Dempsey involve the stringing and welding of up to 3km of onshore pipeline between a crossing at Sruwadaccon Bay in inner Broadhaven Bay and the terminal site at Bellanaboy Bridge.
A new row broke out in Mayo yesterday over claims that the company was about to start working on the offshore section of the 70km pipeline linking the Corrib gas field to an onshore terminal at Bellanaboy. Consent for this work has not yet been issued by the Minister, the department confirmed last night.
The Erris Inshore Fishermen's Association (EIFA) was told by the company yesterday that the world's largest pipe-laying vessel, the 285m (935ft) Solitaire, would arrive in Broadhaven Bay within the next fortnight. The Solitaire can lay pipeline at a rate of 4km to 8km a day, depending on the depth and size of the pipe, and can work in 4.5m (15ft) waves.
Eddie Diver, chair of the EIFA, said he was warned by a senior Shell official on the phone that the law would be enforced if the vessel's activity was impeded in any way by the fishermen.
Mr Diver said he felt "intimidated" by this comment. The fishermen's association had told Shell earlier this month that it would no longer co-operate with it while the five men were in jail.
"I advised the company that given the tensions onshore, and if they were intent on proceeding, they would be better advised to start at the well head," Mr Diver said. "However, I was informed that they would be starting in Broadhaven Bay."
The company said the Solitaire had been "optioned" to work on the project shortly, but no decision had yet been taken about laying the pipe. Any discussion with relevant stakeholders had been in the context of potential work programmes, it said.
Mark Garavan, spokesman for the five Mayo men in prison over the pipeline, said that if the company went ahead with the work offshore, it would "definitely reject" the option of an offshore platform, and would "prejudge" the safety review that has been commissioned by the Minister. The deadline for tenders for the review closes today.
Green Party spokesman Eamon Ryan, who, with party colleague John Gormley, is due to meet the five men in Cloverhill Prison today, called on the company to suspend all work, pending publication of the Minister's review.
"If the Government's independent assessment is genuine, it is possible that it may confirm some of the concerns raised by residents living close to the pipeline route. This would require amending the whole system, unless Shell is not serious about taking any of such recommendations on board," Mr Ryan said.
