‘It's a death sentence for us if frack gas comes in here' Leitrim councillor condemns Dáil bill

Earlier this month, the Dáil pass 'The Planning and Development Bill 2024', which was widely condemned by climate activist groups in the lead up to the vote.

Leitrim Councillor Eddie Mitchell, who is a long time anti-fracking campaigner, organised a protest against the bill before the vote. He believes the bill “sets up the decision making process that's going to introduce frack gas imports.”

The government has championed the bill as a way to make building developments easier to get across the line by reducing the power of government organisations to object to projects by restructuring An Bord Pleanála, which, if the bill is made law, would then be known as An Coimisiún Pleanála. 

“This is a pivotal moment for (the) Government in our efforts to ensure we have a planning system that is fit for purpose, both now and into the future,” Said Darragh O’Brian TD, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

However, Climate groups have argued that a late amendment to the bill which gives “strategic infrastructure” stutus to a LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) terminal, means that it could potentially be built while circumventing normal planning processes, making it more difficult for campaigners to object.

“It's sort of like a power grab, it's taking away powers from the local authorities and it's taken away our right to public participation,” claims Cllr Mitchell.

The bill comes a week after a high court ruling overturned An Bord Pleanála’s decision to block a bid from Shannon LNG’s for the company to get planning permission to build a Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in Kerry, which could be used to house an emergency store of imported fracked gas from the US. 

Cllr Mitchell feels that the bill is, in part, a means of getting infrastructure in place to import fracked gas into Ireland which would be a stepping stone to the domestic extraction of gas in places like Leitrim in order to satisfy the growing demands of industries, like technology.

Fracking was banned in Ireland in 2017 after a lengthy campaign against the practice and since then the government has made no indication that it would restart the practice.

The burning of natural gas, though generally better than coal, is still damaging to the environment, especially when it is transported long distances. “The combustion of natural gas produces nitrogen oxides, which are precursors to smog, and small amounts of sulphur, mercury, and particulates,“ according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), an NGO that focuses on healthy solutions to global issues.

The negative effects on the environment and people where natural gas is fracked is widely documented according to UCS. “We've got a few trillion cubic feet of gas in Leitrim. They will argue in the future that it would be better for the environment to stop using the dirtiest fuel on the planet and extract our own frack gas,” claims Cllr Mitchell.

The current position of the Minister for the environment, Eamonn Ryan, is that it is not “appropriate” for LNG terminals in Ireland to be permitted, however, Cllr Mitchell feels that he needs to clarify and harden his policy position before leaving office to ensure that fracked gas import do not begin.

“I don't know if Eamon Ryan cares about his legacy, but we backed him going into government because he promised that he would keep frack gas inports out of Ireland,” says Cllr Mitchell. 

“They want this frack gas from America. If that happens, we will have to build a campaign like we did to stop fracking here. We will have to build a campaign like that to stop frack gas coming into the Irish energy mix … I think we will have to fight it,” he adds.

For him, it will take a massive campaign to keep imported gas out of the Kerry terminal if it is built, like the one aimed at to keeping fracking out of Leitrim and eventually to be banned in the country which he helped lead in 2011.

“It's a death sentence for us if frack gas comes in here … Our job now is to rebuild that campaign and get thousands of people if necessary. And we're talking about a Rossport situation, we're talking about people barricading themselves, being out on the estuary in boats, we're talking about a serious challenge. If we fail to stop this, it means that I'm going to end up locked on to a lorry,“ he says. 

Though the bill has passed a Dáil vote, it must still go through the Seanad, then back to the Dáil before it would come into effect.

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