There has been mixed reaction to the news that the controversial Corrib Gas pipeline in Co Mayo is to be allowed to go ahead, subject to meeting new safety conditions to eliminate the risk of accident or injury along its route.
Shell Ireland has welcomed the announcement, but the Shell to Sea Group, which has been opposing the pipeline, says the minister's decision is a 'countdown to conflict', and local people will continue their opposition to it.
The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources said work on the pipeline will be allowed to start as long as the new safety conditions are met.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio's News At One, Noel Dempsey said the Advantica report, which is published today, showed the danger to people from the pipeline is minimal.
But Mark Garavan of the Shell to Sea campaign said the report was irrelevant. It wants the pipeline re routed or the gas processed at sea before being taken ashore.
One of the key recommendations in the UK-based risk management assessment firm's report is that the gas be piped ashore at considerably less pressure than Shell had originally intended.
In a statement issued earlier this afternoon, the minister said he believed that provided it could be demonstrated that pressure in the onshore pipeline will be effectively limited and other recommendations followed, there would be a substantial safety margin in the pipeline design.
He added that the pipeline design and the proposed route should be accepted as meeting or exceeding international standards in terms of acceptability of risk and international best practice.
It means that after almost six months of deliberation Mr Dempsey has now effectively given Shell the go-ahead to build the onshore section of the pipeline if it meets the series of conditions from Advantica and the technical experts in his own department.
