Gardaí in Rossport

Foreshore Licence award disputed – How will media report?

In Blog, Politicsby Fedayn4 Comments

 

Gardaí in Rossport

Gardaí in Rossport – photo Andrew Flood

An Taisce has alleged the Government acted unlawfully in how it granted a foreshore licence to an oil and natural gas exploration firm for the Dalkey Island prospect in Dublin Bay.

In High Court proceedings, An Taisce claims the Government wrongly concluded an environmental impact assessment (EIA) was not required to be carried out prior to awarding the licence to Irish-listed company Providence Resources Plc. We wonder how this will be reported in our free press.

Providence Resources is run by Tony O’Reilly Jr (for a Phoenix article on Tony’s litany of disasters read here) the son of the ‘Bean Baron’ Sir Anthony O’Reilly (former Irish rugby international, former CEO of Heinz, formerly of Waterford Wedgewood and most famously on his way to becoming Ireland’s first billionaire he led the Independent News & Media Group from 1973 to 2009).

Well worth remembering that public opinion is shaped by the media. Own the media, shape the opinion. It is understandable that the Independent was always regarded as pro-oil. Some of their reporting on the protests at Rossport was as bad as a Paul Williams piece. For more on all that have a read of this .

Williams did a special report on Rossport ‘The Battle of the Gas Field’ and companion pieces in News of the World, both claiming without evidence that the ‘IRA take control of protests’ at Rossport. Interestingly, Williams the son of a Garda, was a guest of Shell’s corporate box for rugby internationals such as the first Ireland v England match at Croke Park in 2007. Denis O’Brien, whose TV3 commissioned the Rossport ‘documentary’, was also a major shareholder in Independent News & Media throughout Williams’ reports on Rossport.

We’ll see how this one turns out…

 

Comments

  1. That’s true Paschal Nee but the omipotence of the owner of exploration company Sterling Energy over much of Ireland’s media (radio, TV & press) doesn’t bode well for a more expansive debate on our national energy policy or it’s reporting. We highlight him in the article as Mr.Williams worked for 3 of his outlets. Bearing in mind mr O’Brien’s litigious bent it is very difficult for us to be critical. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_O'Brien#Threats_to_personally_sue_journalists

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