Mayo County Council has rejected a motion asking it to call on Shell to build an offshore gas terminal. The motion was rejected by 13 votes to 9.
The council had been advised that passing such a motion could leave it open to being sued by Shell. The motion had been proposed by Fianna Fáil, Labour and Independents on the council.
Afterwards the Shell to Sea campaign and relatives of the five men jailed for contempt over their protests against the controversial gas project said they were disappointed with the outcome.
They said they did not see it as a setback to their campaign which would continue.
Earlier Mary Corduff, the wife of one of the men, had appealed to councillors to support their campaign. She said they could not trust Shell any longer.
