A Black Day for Ireland.

Today, February 14th, is a Black Day for Ireland. A year to the day when the previous Government issued preliminary licences to 3 companies to explore for gas in several counties, it is the day when Tamboran, an Australian company who have licences for the north-west, are allowed to “brief” the TDs (MPs) in Dail Eireann(Irish Parliament). Members of the public are not allowed to attend this “briefing” and it will not be broadcast.

Whilst the companies do not yet have licences to drill, people are worried. The gas is sitting in shale rock. To release the gas from shale a process called hydraulic fracturing is used. Commonly called fracking this process has proved controversial wherever it is used. The next stage of licensing would allow exploratory drilling using fracking. We here in the north west do not want this to happen. Why? Just look at the photo above. This photo, taken just outside Drumshanbo, shows our beautiful river Shannon. This river, the longest in the country at 214 miles, is precious to us. We do not want it contaminated with escaping methane and chemicals.

I’m not going to try to prove the case against fracking here. More qualified and able people than I have done that…many times over . If you want to read and listen to the evidence go to www.whatthefrack.org.  This area is known for it’s beautiful scenery and tourism. Tamboran have promised many jobs… up to 1,500. The question is…how many farmers and tourist industries will be out of business if this abomination comes to pass? It does’nt make sense!

In America many wells and aquifers have been destroyed by escaping gas and chemicals. There is no reversing this damage. I have seen heartbreaking footage of people whose health has been destroyed forever. Cancer, respiratory diseases and damage to reproductive and nervous systems are just some of the problems people are left with. All to line the pockets of the already rich. Is this the destiny of Ireland and it’s people? This is’nt just the concern of the people here in the north-west. Licences have also been issued for Clare, Limerick, north Cork, north Kerry and over the border in Fermanagh. The Shannon runs from Cavan to Limerick, it touches on many counties along the way. Dublin is expected to be taking some of it’s water supply from the Shannon in the near future. Do the million or so people living there matter? Of course they do! We all matter! This is our land, our water, our air, our future. Why destroy it for short-term gain?

What can you do to help stop this happening?  Get informed, then inform others. Tell your TDs and councillors that you want a ban on fracking throughout Ireland. Highlight the issue with local and national media. Help spread the word on social media.

Recently Enda Kenny, our Taoiseach (Prime Minister), called on us all to “put on the green jersey” in the face of current austerity measures. Now I believe it is time for Enda and the rest of his cronies (sorry I meant government) to wear the green jersey.

Stop this madness…BAN FRACKING NOW!

(Black Day for Ireland logo designed by Tracey Jean Yappa (Tatty).

Artists against Fracking.

Last night I attended an exhibition in Carrick on Shannon which was a collabaration between 5 artists using various media working to create an awareness of the issue of hydraulic fracturing.The Engage Collective is made up of Stephen Rennicks, David Spense, David J, Brigitta Varadi and mentor David Michaelek.  Regular visitors here will know that the threat of hydraulic fracturing has been a worry for the people in counties Leitrim, Cavan, Sligo, Roscommon and Donegal since our Government (in their infinite wisdom) give preliminary licences to 2 companies earlier this year. Whilst these licences do not permit drilling…desktop studies only…the next step would permit test drilling. These licences could be applied for in 2012. I won’t give info on hydraulic fracturing here…or fracking as it is more usually known…there are lots of websites with info available. One of the most informative is www.what-the-frack.org . The most striking exhibit last night…for me anyway…was a series of portraits of people living in the area. Beautifully captured by David Michalek the pictures were starkly displayed around the white painted brick walls.

The portraits were also available as a set of postcards free to take home…that’s what I have shown above. On the reverse of each postcard each person…children, farmers, artists and students to name but a few expressed what aspect of their lives they felt was threatened by the threat of hydraulic fracturing. Air, health, water, family and land were a few of the things people thought at risk. So much at risk and for what? To continue to line the pockets of  rich men in high places who don’t care about us here on this little island…don’t care about the last wilderness left in this country…don’t care if we become ill…don’t care if our air is destroyed. All to continue to line the pockets of already rich investors and provide the energy that could be obtained from solar, wind and wave power.

 If the companies get the go ahead for test drilling that will be the beginning of the end of all we hold dear. Agriculture and tourism…our 2 main industries will be destroyed. Who would want to tour the fracklands? The diagram above shows the possible scenario for North Leitrim if this madness goes ahead. The red squares show frack pads with the tentacles of the rigs fracking the earth reaching underneath the beautiful Lough McNean. Crazy? I think so. A huge campaign has been mounted to have a ban on hydraulic fracturing applied to Ireland. Hopefully the politicians will awake from their stupor of ignorance and not allow this to go any further. If not… well…we’re not called the fighting Irish for nothing!

For more info on the project and the artists involved check out www.engagecollective.wordpress.com

Greaghnageeragh Forest.

On Sunday last Andy and I together with our 3 dogs went to Greaghnageeragh Forest which is about a mile and a half from our house. It is an eerie, sad and poignant place. On a small hillock within the forest is a communal grave where people who died during the Famine of 1845-46 are buried.

There were small homesteads here at that time. Poor people trying to eek out a living on this harsh mountain side. Being heavily dependent on the Potato crop it was a disaster when blight struck.

The survivors were too weak to bring the corpses to the local graveyard for burial so they buried them here on this remote hillside. One can only imagine the feelings of despair that this brought…all on a hungry belly…and all the while food was being exported from Ireland by the rich and powerful landlords.

November in Ireland is the month when we remember our dead relatives. Remember…remember lest we forget. We…one day will   be the dead relative. It is a time to realise our own mortality. Visiting places like this reminds us of the fragility of our lives. At least these people were trying to grow their own food…it just was’nt diverse enough…they were too dependent on the easily grown Potato. Nowadays we are dependent too…dependent on the supermarket to provide our daily nutrition. What happens in the event of some disaster when the stocks cannot reach the gleaming shelves. Something to think about perhaps?

 The local people here tend this area…all the while remembering. Mass is celebrated here every September…the locals come to pay their respects…and remember the ancestors. Others come here too. One can see the pathways worn by visitors. As we walked away from this forest we were struck by the silence…but… we were heading home to a nice warm house…a cup of coffee and a little snack. A flick of the switch turns on the TV with news of terrible famine in Africa. How awful and so sad that this should be happening still on planet Earth. Ireland now has so much food that one-third of food purchased ends up in the bin. Every country has the same waste…while others starve. So much is spent by the rich and powerful on war…while people die from starvation.

Forgive my solemn ramblings but these sites send my mind into these realms…but it is reality…it happened…is still happening.

Let us not forget.

Petition to Ban Fracking in Ireland.

On May 9 th of this year my life and the lives of many others in this country was changed dramatically. On that day we discovered that the Irish government had issued licences for gas exploration in the Lough Allen Carboniferous Basin. This is some of the last remaining wild counryside in Ireland.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  The underlying rock bed in this area, which covers an area of 432,000 acres, is shale. The only  way to release gas from shale is by fracking. Fracking is a process whereby millions of gallons of water together with a cocktail of almost 600 chemicals is pumped under enormous pressure into fractures caused by underground explosive charges. A cement casing is made which is used as a shaft for the frack water and gas extraction. However in America, where fracking has been extensively used, there has been problems with breaches in these casings resulting in water contamination and the toxic cocktail being released into the earth.

A well can be fracked up to 18 times using 140,000 lbs of this chemical cocktail per frack. Formaldehyde, toulene and benzene are some of the chemicals contained in this formula which was developed by the American company Halliburton.

Even if all goes well and everything is brought to the surface, what happens then? The gas that comes to the surface is “wet” gas. This has to be processed in large condensers. These condensers give off Violatile Organic Compounds invisible to the naked eye. When these mix with diesel fumes from the trucks and generators on site you end up with ground level ozone.  I wonder how long after this process starts in an area is it safe to eat fruit and vegetables from one’s garden?

We, the Irish people did not give permission for this violation of our beautiful countryside. Indeed we were not asked. This was presented to us as a fait accompli.

Please help to overturn this. We are petitioning the government for a  total ban on this process in our country.

You can help by signing and encouraging other people to sign the petition at www.what-the-frack.org . There is also a lot of additional information on fracking and its disastrous consequences on  this site.