PUBLIC MEETING: Protect Dalkey Island & Killiney Bay From Oil Drill - All Welcome

by W. Finnerty Wed Dec 12, 2012 03:57

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August 1, 2012

The Republic of Ireland has finally ratified the Aarhus Convention Agreement!!

The Aarhus Convention appears to be ideal for dealing with the protection of Ancient Heritage Sites (please see at http://tinyurl.com/bttv9s8), "Super Dumps/Incinerators" (please see at http://tinyurl.com/bptq3c7), "Shell Oil" type problems (please see at http://tinyurl.com/cgvrtjb), "Gas Fracking" (please see at http://tinyurl.com/cv8chan), and many other types of environmental issues and difficulties.

Introducing the Aarhus Convention (the excerpts immediately below have come from the United Nations texts on this subject):

"It links environmental rights and human rights";

"It establishes that sustainable development can be achieved only through the involvement of all stakeholders";

"It links government accountability and environmental protection";

"It acknowledges that we owe an obligation to future generations";

"The subject of the Aarhus Convention goes to the heart of the relationship between people and governments ."

The above excerpts have been copied from the following www location:
http://www.humanrightsireland.com/PrimeMinisterEndaKenn...l.htm

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by T Wed Dec 12, 2012 00:05

According to the Irish Times today in lieu of a DLR council meeting it says the council "councillors also voted to call on Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan to review his decision to grant exploration and foreshore licences off Dalkey. Last month the Minister granted the licences to Providence Resources, giving them permission to drill 6km off the coast. The work is expected to begin within weeks. In what was a unanimously proposed motion, councillors agreed to call on the Minister to review the licences and to suspend all activity pending the review."

And in the same report we find that the Minister allowed Providence to get an drilling license for a mere €10,000 for drilling just 6km off Dublin.

It was also noted that the announcement last week by Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan proposing that more than 27,000 hectares from Dalkey Island northwards across Dublin Bay to north of Swords be designated as a special area of conservation and that this overlapped with the license area.

Report can be found at link below.

by W. Finnerty Thu Feb 16, 2012 11:26

Some readers may be interested to know that the so far completely unresolved "Aarhus Convention Agreement" environmental-protection matter was raised with, among others, a selection of Irish lawyers and law firms in an e-mail sent to them yesterday.

Titled "Irrefutable Evidence of Rampant and Systemic Corruption and Crime in the Legal Profession", the full text of yesterday's e-mail to them all can be viewed at:
http://www.humanrightsireland.com/IrishLegalProfessions...l.htm

by Larry - DLR Wed Feb 15, 2012 22:17

Public consultation to follow.

by W. Finnerty Thu Feb 02, 2012 12:23

Reply to lefty at Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:09

"If these figures are correct, or anywhere near it, O'Reilly stands to make a personal profit of €1.4 billion without adding any value whatsoever to the licence he obtained (for the princely sum of €11,000 two years ago)."

"So how did Mr O’Reilly get such a lucrative hold over the country’s oil and gas wealth? He told Forbes magazine, in an unusually unguarded interview, in September 1983, that his geologist had chosen six blocks of seabed for exploration."

“Since I own 35 per cent of the newspapers in Ireland I have close contact with the politicians. I got the blocks he wanted.” That’s how.

"As is the fact that a spokesperson for the Taoiseach (Prime Minister Ahern TD) recently told a prominent Dublin journalist that he was 'terrified' of O’Reilly’s other newspaper, the Sunday Independent."

For additional information relating to the above set of excerpts, which have come from an e-mail dated 16th October 2006, and whose recipients included (among others) former Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Justice (Michael McDowell TD), please click on the following link:
http://www.europeancourtofhumanrightswilliamfinnerty.co...l.htm

by lefty Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:09

Ferdia, these are not real people. they are probably all just the same person paid to run interference for the providence agenda. The real people of Ireland know what has happened to their gas in erris and need people like yourself to help them fight against the vultures that seem to be swooping in right now to exploit the fear and economic turmoil that exists to get their hands on everything.

The traitor Tony O'Reilly should be chased out of Ireland tarred and feathered on a pole. He uses his newspapers prominent position to manipulate politicians, pays little or no tax here, and uses all that influence to get his hands on the most valuable resource licenses from our stupid/corrupt government officials. Using expensive survey data paid for mainly by Irish taxpayers.

Lets start a "don't buy the independent or any other IN&M group publication" grassroots campaign to hit him where it hurts!

more info is needed on Tamboran. I bet that rabbit hole goes deeper than we think too.

by T Wed Feb 01, 2012 23:55

I note the big emphasis on the local aspect as if the jobs would just go to Dalkey or even the oil for that matter. Perhaps you would like to list the types of jobs you expect? The fact that you put in 'anti-war movement' in the author field seems to be designed to purely imply that to be anti-war is to be pro-oil off Dalkey but no mention that these resources are being handed royalty free to these crooks.

Then you make out that somehow this would make us self-sufficient in oil. That only makes sense at all if the government owns or applies a heavy tax on the oil as it is extracted otherwise what is the difference between that oil and oil from the North Sea where most of our oil comes from. Why would Providence Resources extract this oil, get it refined -possibly in the UK and then say you must sell it in Ireland? It doesn't follow any of this oil would be sold in Ireland.

There is also the blind assumption that extracting oil is good. Why not leave it in the ground and find ways to use less.

And the final sentence of your comment is just mud slinging

by Ferdia - S2S Wed Feb 01, 2012 23:38

......that everything is going to be done properly on your side of the country, and that we now have 'our own oil'. Jesus, I thought we

encountered some obtuse people down here when we tried to alert people to everything that has since come to pass, but you guys really

take the biscuit. Does the experience we've had down here not in any way ring any warning bells for you? Or have you had a personal

reassurance from Tony O Reilly that it's all going to be grand? FYI, maura Harrington's singlemindedness and drive has been the one

thing which has so far preserved this region from environmental disaster. But the very fact that you could be so completely wrong in your

interpretation of her input here, and your astonishing credulity in terms of what this all will mean to your area makes me think that yes,

you're right - this ain't my fight. I'm off back to a war we might actually have a chance of winning.

by Oil drill supporter - anti-war movement (personal capacity) Wed Feb 01, 2012 23:20

Ferdia with the greatest of respect: Your post is irrelevant-THIS IS NOT A SHELL DEBATE. If we want jobs in our area it's nothing to do with you.
Opportunities would include the knock on effect for local business, not just local jobs but jobs for all (we are not racists here in Dalkey), money in the local economy to stimulate business, self sufficiency for our country meaning we don't have to do deals with corrupt dictors for oil (a major casuse of war). Sorry for your disturbances but isnt it better we get our own oil than have blood on our hands. It is not our fault Maura Harrington made a mess of your campaign.

by Ferdia - S2S Wed Feb 01, 2012 23:04

...and enjoy. In the meantime we'll continue to defend our turf and keep trying to highlight a capitulation by government to Big Oil that is

unprecedented anywhere on the face of the planet.. And could you possibly list the 'opportunities' you speak of and tell me how you're

goig to'take' them. Once again, this is exactly the kind of wooly-headed, formless ráiméis that pervaded Erris when Shell turned up. You

couldn't open your mouth about the dangers that the project posed because you were 'anti-jobs' and 'anti-development. I can tell you

now, after nine years of Shell, there are bugger all local jobs and even less local development. On this week's local paper, we read of

areas where various social srvices are refusing to go because the roads are so badly maintained they are virtually impassable. Our

local 'hospital ' is universally acknowledged as being nothing more than a hospice for the dying, and is in grave danger of being closed

permanantly, and alll the sewage from the town of Belmullet is discharged straight into Broadhaven Bay, where it mixes with the

chemical run-off from Shell's refinery at Ballinaboy, and forms strange, foul-smelling life foms that come ashore at Aughoose, put on

high-vis jackets and get a job with IRMS security, beating up and intimidating local defenseless people while the Garda cheer them on

from the sidelines. That's development, Shell style. But of course you're from the big city, you've been in this debate five minutes and you

already know more than me, a mere bogger. If you're going to have a serious discussion on this site, can you please give specifics

about how exactly you and your region are going to 'take the opportunities'? Or are you just another Oil company quisling getting the

ground ready for another monumental social disaster?

by Margaret - none at all Wed Feb 01, 2012 18:17

Yes Ferdia we will go for it-thank you for your support. Also more great news today re natural gas. Let's take the opportunities.

by Ferdia - S2S Mon Jan 30, 2012 13:21

FYI, Fred, I'm an Erris native, born and bred, and I've just gone through 11 years of living life under the threat of the type of abomination

that you, either in innocence or through mischief, are seeking to visit on your community and vour people. Don't talk to me about

unemployment. I was an emigrant from this country for 25 years. When I came home to Erris in the 90's, and heard about the gas find, I,

like so many others, was upbeat about the future of our region, because we thought, in our naivety, that this project would be carried out

properly with maximum benefit to this poverty-stricken, marginalised part of Ireland. 11 years later, the benefits, such as they were,

have come and gone. They mainly consisted of the enrichment of a few local businessmen who opened their doors to Shell, 18

months of 'local' jobs, and anyone who worked in there will tell you it was no picnic (I wouldn't accept being called 'Paddy' in England.

Imagine what it was like to hear that epithet used against Errismen in their own back yard. Well, it happenned). I suspect that you have

an ulterior agenda here, I think you're trolling in order to try to diminish the perception of the threat your community is under from Big Oil.

Whatever the case may be, don't you dare think you can use an emotive word like unemployment to score points off someone who can

actually point to a life as an emigrant because this country cuoldn't supply him with a job. Having said all that, if I were starving in the

want of a few pounds, I'd take the boat again tomorrow morning before I'd take a red cent from a company that met our concerns with

jailings, violence, media disinformation and bribery at local and national governmental level. Having said all that, if you want the oil that

badly, go for it and enjoy.

by lefty Mon Jan 30, 2012 09:52

It appears that Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) executive chairman Peter Whelan – holds substantial shares and is on the board of the US Oil and Gas company. The Dublin-based exploration company, founded by the late Waterford businessman Jimmy Guiry, holds assets in Nevada, USA.

Apparently he purchased 400,000 shares in the oil company and was given a further 55,000 shares for "services rendered"!!!
what services???

Simon Coveney's response to this was :
“it does not appear at this point that there is any conflict of interest issue arising in this matter”, and said he was “not in a position to comment any further at this time”

Hmmm..... Sounds "fishy" to me!

Speaking of fisheries, Nice catch Eamonn O'Cuiv!! ;-)

link:
http://www.shelltosea.com/content/minister-row-over-reg...ole-0

If we don't clean up our politicians first, we will end up having to clean up our coastline after we have given our resources away for next to nothing, and make no mistake, history suggests that nobody will be paying for any cleanup but the irish citizens.

by Fred - Dalkey for oil (new group) Sun Jan 29, 2012 21:51

The majority of people in Dalkey and Killiney want the drill. We should not let a small group of NIMBY's even annoy us:it's going ahead. In the depths of unemployment this gives hope and it will have a knock on effect on the local Economy. In response to Ferdia-if you lived in the areas you mention you might see the plight of the unemployed:walking down to the dole queue week after week knowing your money is spent before you get there. Look at the bigger picture. We need to use what we have and this oil is the medicine badly needed.

by Ferdia - S2S Thu Jan 26, 2012 13:27

If the 'Ratsllagh Residents Association' does indeed exist, could we hear from some more of its members as to whether Gretta is

expressing their consensual response to this proposal. We're well used to this type of buinneach in Erris where oil company activists

and local vested interests portray thamselves in the various media as being odrinary, salt-of-the earth Joe Bloggs local types who are

quite happy to have their future shattered because there's going to be 'jobs'. You guys who are opposing this proposal better be ready to

challenge this type of cheap advocacy everywhere you encounter it. Providence are obviously up and running on this as evidenced by the

types of comments we find here from these people, all of whom sign on with a 'local' name - 'Bray', ' Bray Head', 'Ratsallagh', etc. Get up

to speed fast on how your'e going to respond to this so-called local 'support' for the project, or before you know it you'll be fighting

amongst yourselves. And having been involved in the Erris story from day one, I know whereof I speak.

by lefty Thu Jan 26, 2012 07:20

"We can protect the environment and still have real jobs. "

And the tooth fairy exists, as does santa and the sky is filled with oinking noises as flocks of pigs glide overhead!
Get real. We all know how these projects go down at this stage. There are always messy spills when dealing with oil. Its inevitable. especially when the companies involved often have a culture of cutting corners, overworking the slaves and minimising expensive safety measures to increase profits as much as possible.

As for the few leftover crap temporary and hazardous jobs they'll make available for paddies? well good luck fighting for those. And even more good luck if you actually get one. You might need it to survive with your health intact.

Of course you won't make enough out of your temporary job on the rig to retire in luxury somewhere with clean water, air and beaches though, unlike the shareholders. And the reduction in the value of your local property as a result of the area becoming an oil shithole may even offset all your earnings.

And the meagre tax money paid (if there's any after all the exploration expenses have been "creatively" written off of course) will just go straight to german banks.

Whatever argument could be made for a nationalised oil company extracting the oil for the full benefit of the Irish people, there is absolutely none under the current circumstances and we are best served leaving it under the sea until such a time as we can benefit in this manner instead of giving it away and taxpayers having to deal with any filthy mess greedy sir Tony and co. inevitably make.

by Gretta - Rathsallagh Residents Association Wed Jan 25, 2012 23:28

We can protect the environment and still have real jobs. Bray Head makes a good point and most of us here in Shankill could do with jobs for our sons. Was at the meeting and it was like a middle class function or the TV show "Midsommer Murders".

by T Wed Jan 25, 2012 22:13

You must be deluled to think this is going to provide jobs but then that is not what your post is about. It is actually about trying to polarize the debate and setup a false choice of jobs or environment. This is the type of rubbish we've heard for years.

In such contrived debates the idea is to reduce the role and importance of the environment to zero. That way it makes it easier to destroy it and when the inevitable damage does occur, the media 'debate' has already sidelined such that it gets no real coverage.

Another interesting point is that this sort of argument is made in the context of the financial meltdown in this country where just 10 or so individuals are responsible for about 10 to 20 billion euros and the population is being screwed to bail them out and the social structure of our society is being sacificed and of course our natural resources are being given away for free, and yet we have this Bray dude wants to work on a dangerous oil drilling platform, for probably long hours and little pay and is prepared to see his coastal environment trashed and polluted so that he can pay a whole pile of taxes to bail out these gangsters. Let there be no mistake that the people behind this oil deal are from the same class as the ones we're bailing out -the criminal elite.

If anything it is more likely you will get a job cleaning the beaches of oil when the owners of the rig cut corners

by Bray (unemployed) - ex swp Wed Jan 25, 2012 18:14

This would offer me a great oppurtunity to get off the jobseekers allowance. The people of the areas need to open there minds with experience in this field I will be applying for a job here if their are any available. Sorry if this upsets the know alls but we need to use our natural resources and at the same time in this recession find jobs to feed my children. Drill? Hell yeah!

by W. Finnerty Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:33

If I were a local resident in the Dalkey area, the first thing I would do is to respectfully ask all of the local TDs to raise the issue -- again -- in Dáil Éireann, of why the Republic of Ireland Government (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial), still has not taken the necessary steps to have the international United Nations Aarhus Convention Agreement ratified.

Well over 13 years after we (i.e. our Government), signed this extremely important, and extremely democratic environmental/human rights agreement on June 25th 1998, and as can be seen at the UN address just below, the Republic of Ireland seems to be the only full member of the EU which still has a completely blank space in the "Ratification, Acceptance (A), Approval (AA), Accession (a)" Section":
http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREAT...ng=en

General Information about the Aarhus Convention Agreement can be found at:
http://www.unece.org/env/pp/ratification.html

The full text of the Aarhus Convention Agreement can be viewed at:
http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/pp/documents/cep...e.pdf

by lefty Wed Jan 25, 2012 05:02

Actually I thought opus was being quite clever and funny here!
asinine echo ..... bray .... ass sound .... an echo comes off a big rock(like bray head)... asanine=obstinate or stupid like a donkey etc etc... heh!

and I think maybe you spelt the first part of your name wrong too richard!!! And I presume you use the short version like cheney does.

Jobs my ass. At best some temporary bad jobs. They bring in mostly experienced guys from aberdeen etc. Maybe a few locals will get the dog work dangerous temporary jobs for low pay. then they finish up building it and all that's left is to steal all the oil by sucking it all away from us through their pipe, leaving the place in a mess and doing a runner afterwards and letting their highly paid lawyers (and no doubt paid off politicians) tie it up in court forcing us to live with the consequences. Standard oil company policy.

the people of dalkey should invite S2S up quickly in order to learn more about their experience.

I think it'll be easier to mobilise more people in dalkey than in ballinaboy though, as it's far less isolated.

Here's some links about sir tony o'reilly who has a 40% stake in providence oil and runs independent news and media group:
http://politico.ie/component/content/article/2126.html.

bio:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_O%27Reilly

I think we need to start a "don't buy the independent or any other IN&M group publications" campaign
Hit him in his pocket. Buy other Irish newspapers instead if you are bothered about saving jobs.
Although why anyone would want to save the highly overpaid jobs of this motley crew, I really don't know!! :
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/

by Bray Head - Honest Man Tue Jan 24, 2012 21:18

@ Ferdia-we have every right to use our natural resourses.
@ Opios-you have an opinion on everything yet never substantiate.

The people of Bray in need of jobs would love a drill in Dalkey. We could even get some of the local solicitors involved.

Support the Drill.

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Tue Jan 24, 2012 13:28

'Whats the problem...'?

Which rock have you been snoozing under, or was it a Shell?

Bray-head..well it does have a nice asinine echo.

by Ferdia - S2S Tue Jan 24, 2012 09:45

Like I said, welcome to our world. You'll have to get used to gobshites like this one very quickly.

by Bray Head - none Tue Jan 24, 2012 01:06

Whats the problem with drilling for oil or is that too much disruption for the toffee nosed wealthy elite in Dalkey and Killiney? some of us need jobs

by Ferdia - S2S Mon Jan 23, 2012 14:21

.............If you need any help don't be afraid to ask your country cousins.

by T Sun Jan 22, 2012 22:34

Some of the recent press coverage on this can be found at:

This is the 'unsightly' oil rig that's got Dalkey residents up in arms
http://www.herald.ie/news/this-is-the-unsightly-oil-rig....html

Campaign to Stop Planned Oil Drill off Dalkey Island
http://afloat.ie/port-news/coastal-notes/item/17762-cam...sland

There has been some discussion over on boards.ie on the thread: Major Oil Find Off Dalkey!!!!!
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=76540385

And there is already an online petition going on facebook at this link
www.facebook.com/protectdublindalkeykilliney.nooildrillspill2012

Below is a video of Dolphins in Dalkey Bay in Sept 2010

Caption: Video Id: I_R2z7HUzNo Type: Youtube Video
Dolphins, Killiney Bay, Dublin, Ireland, September 11th 2010