The Tánaiste meets representatives of Greenpeace on board the Cederlea in Dublin.
The Greenpeace ship the MV Cederlea is in Dublin to highlight a campaign against the discharge of nuclear waste from Sellafield nuclear processing plant directly into the Irish Sea.
The environmental conservation network has called on the Irish government to ratify membership of the Paris Commission technical working group due to meet in Dun Laoghaire later this month.
This international commission is the body which considers the technical merits of nuclear installations. It will consider a proposal that the most up to date technology should be used in plants like Sellafield (previously called Windscale), to cut radioactive discharges from nuclear plants to zero.
Representatives from Ireland, Britain and twelve other countries will take part in negotiations. They will formulate detailed submissions for the meeting of the Parish Commission in Oslo next June when international legislation relating to land-based polluters of the seas will be reviewed.
Tánaiste Dick Spring and Minister for Energy, visited the MV Cederlea today with Labour party colleague Frank Cluskey is broadly supportive of the work of Greenpeace to raise public awareness about
The dangers of dumping radioactive waste into our seas.
Greenpeace director Pete Wilkinson who has had talks with a Dáil cross-party committee as well as Dick Spring says the Irish government now acknowledges the extent of the issue and believes they will engage with the commission to ensure that the resolution is passed,
Everyone is concerned that we have clean waters and clean seas.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 16 March 1984. The reporter is Michael Fisher.
