Castlebar councillors refuse to support fracking ban

Cllr Ruane said that she is  'shocked' and surpised that her colleagues did not support her motion, considering that there was unanimous support for the banning of fracking in County Councils in Roscommon, Leitrim, Donegal, Clare and Sligo.  

Cllr. Ruane said: "I have to say I am shocked that not one of the members of Castlebar Town Council supported this motion, calling for a national ban on fracking.  Local authorities in Roscommon, Leitrim, Donegal, Clare and Sligo have given unanimous and cross party support for the banning of this controversial process that if allowed, has the potential to cause irreversible disaster to us and our environment. 

“The use of fracking has been outlawed in France and in Bulgaria. In England, near Blackpool, fracking has been suspended due to strong evidence that it was a contributing factor to a number of earthquakes.

"The practice, if introduced into Ireland, will have serious environmental and health implications for people in the vicinity of the fracking activity. Fracking involves the extraction of natural gas (shale gas) from the ground by a horizontal drilling process which pumps millions of gallons of water at high pressure, mixed with hundreds of highly toxic chemicals, thousands of feet deep into the ground.”

Serious pollution

"In USA and Australia, there has evidence of serious pollution to land, to air, to surface water and groundwater as a result of fracking, causing countless cases of death to wildlife, livestock. There has been a litany of serious health problems for people in communities where fracking has been used.

"A number of oil and gas companies who have already been granted exploratory licences, are preparing to use this process to profit from shale gas in the Lough Allen and Clare Basin Regions. At present in Ireland there is no regulation in existence that covers this extraction method, and there has been no research published into the potential consequences of such activity here.

"I will continue to support the campaign of opposition to fracking that is growing throughout the country to bring about a national ban on hydraulic fracturing  before any irreversible disaster for us and our environment is caused. I am very disappointed and surprised at the lack of support from Councillors in Castlebar and that Castlebar Town Council has not added its name to th elist of Councils showing their unanimous opposition to fracking in Ireland."