An Open Letter to Minister Ryan

national | consumer issues | opinion/analysis

Saturday April 04, 2009 04:19

by Concerned Irish Citizen

This is a copy of a letter that I sent a few days ago to the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Mr. Eamon Ryan. This letter was copied to all TD's, Senators and MEP's. The response I received from Mr. Ryan's office was that "the Minister of State, Mr Seán Power, T.D., has responsibility for this area."

Dear Minister Ryan,

I see that you recently visited New York over St. Patrick’s Day. I hope that you enjoyed the trip and that it was a success from a business point of view. I’m sure you’ll agree that New York is a fantastic and vibrant city with so many interesting things to do. Clearly, it is also a very wealthy city.

Unfortunately, Ireland does not display such wealth and after spending a number of years living in New York I have to admit that, in so many ways, Ireland is such a long way behind. However, it does not have to be that way.

Seeing Ireland from afar offers a perspective that those living in Ireland do not have. My visits home generate a whole range of emotions; joy at seeing my family; happiness while wandering around the beautiful countryside but anger and disbelief when I see our poor infrastructure, temporary school facilities and ailing health system. I cringe when I see what is, knowing what could be. I could never understand and reconcile these shortcomings with the much vaunted success(!) of the “Celtic Tiger”.

You may be wondering what this has to do with you; well, let me get to the point! You are the Minister charged with overseeing the exploration and exploitation of our natural resources. We have found some in the last few years and may find more as time goes on. However, we as a nation will gain little if anything from these finds; I am referring specifically to the Corrib gas field. Why do we have to hurt so much while companies that are bigger than our own country take the spoils? Why do we make life difficult for ourselves? It angers me very much to imagine the Boards of Shell, Statoil and Marathon laughing at the stupid Irish people while we fall over ourselves and bend over backwards to facilitate them.

Our original offshore exploration terms were set out in 1975 by Minister for Industry and Commerce Justin Keating. These were subsequently altered in 1985 by Minister for Energy Dick Spring, in 1987 by Minister for Energy Ray Burke and in 1992 by Minister for Finance Bertie Ahern. Mr. Burke has since been convicted of receiving corrupt payments and was sentenced to six months in jail.

You were not responsible for these decisions and should not feel compelled to stand by them nor reluctant to alter them. Clearly, past Ministers have had no problems diluting terms and short-selling Ireland. There is no reason that the opposite cannot also be the case. I would like to draw your attention to Article 10.1 of the Constitution and more specifically to the two following passages from the briefing document prepared for you when you became Minister in 2007.

“To maximize the benefits to the national economy from exploration for, and production of indigenous oil and gas resources…”

“Strategic objectives are to maximize the level of petroleum exploration and production activities in Ireland and optimize the returns to the State from such activity.”

Clearly, I am focusing on maximizing the benefits to the State. You might retort that you have a competing goal of promoting exploration and making Ireland investor friendly. Agreed, but can I draw your attention to the following passage from the report “The Great Corrib Gas Controversy” - an excellent report - prepared by the Center for Public Inquiry in 2005.

‘Although the 1992 terms were supposed to improve conditions for exploration, oil companies only drilled 26 exploration wells between 1993 and 2004, compared to 100 exploration wells between 1975 and 1992.”

And as for making Ireland investor-friendly: I would question the point in creating a friendly environment for investors if our own interests become secondary to theirs and if the benefits accruing to the nation are so insignificant?

Minister, I urge you to stand back and look dispassionately and objectively at this. You said it yourself in 2002, “We need to change the current policy of letting the exploration companies have their own way in Irish waters and start setting the same standards which other sovereign governments seem able to enforce.” You have the authority to renegotiate this deal and to right this extreme folly, and now would be an apt time to do so. Should you do so, in this time of leadership-deficit, you will be lauded and can be assured of the support of four million people. Yes, the oil companies will not be happy – but you represent the people of Ireland, not them! They’ll get over it, just like the energy companies did in Bolivia, Ecuador, Russia and Venezuela. Additionally, let me remind you that we already have a renegotiation-precedent in an Irish context: In 1985 Marathon sued Bord Gáis to allow them to renegotiate terms.

Wouldn’t you like to live in an Ireland which was more affluent? Wouldn’t you like to live in an Ireland where public services and infrastructure were not sub-par? Wouldn’t you like your children to grow up in an Ireland with more hope?

Mr. Ryan, allow me to use an Americanism. It’s time to “step up to the plate” and to maximize the benefits to the national economy, just as your Ministerial brief directed.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Sincerely
A Concerned Irish Citizen

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Comments (6 of 6)

To Concerned Irish Citizen

by Arm-a-Gedden

Sat Apr 04, 2009 23:39

The response I received from Mr. Ryan's office was that "the Minister of State, Mr Seán Power, T.D., has responsibility for this area."
Dear Minister Ryan.

This is an excellent piece, and well done to you for compiling it and the distribution of same.

There is one comment I would like to make re Mr.Ryan, your response from his office is typicial, pass the buck, well he is the so called Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources,and the buck stops with him, by trying to avoid responsibility for this matter will not get him out of the loop, he knows this issue is not going to go away and when the Court cases and investigations begin he dosent want any of that smelly stuff sticking to him, but it will, he is trying to play safe. He is currently a Minister like the rest of the crew that call themselves a Government, but that will not always be the situation thankfully,when they come knocking for the vote show them the long, and winding road.The Greens have turned Yellow, they have been infected with a disease called F/Fail, and thats the rock they will perish on, hopefully sooner than later.Thanks for your contribiution.

responsibility

by chrissie

Mon Apr 06, 2009 11:26

Mr Ryan's responsibility should be to the People of Ireland, the land of Ireland, and the vestigial good name of his Party (what harm does Ireland's Green Party inaction on their environmental duty do to Greens internationally?), NOT to multinational companies with a filthy record, nor to ongoing corrupt deals which are underpinned by human rights abuses.

Reflection

by CL

Mon Apr 06, 2009 11:59

If the Greens are abondaning its morals as some seem to think, and are going to be punished at the next election. then why are they gaining support from the people of Ireland?
In the most recent Red C poll shows The Green Party gained a point to 7 per cent, Sinn Féin dropped 4 points to 10 per cent and Independents were on 10 per cent, a fall of 2 per cent.
Support for Fianna Fáil was at 28 per cent, up five points since the last such poll. Fine Gael support was up by one point to 31 per cent, while the Labour Party fell five points to 17 per cent.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0329/...7.htm

It seems the Greens are more popular now that when they came to power in 07, then they had 5% support in a red c poll http://www.redcresearch.ie/documents/SBPMar2009PollRepo...t.pdf so is it any wonder they are smug in relation to the corrib project!

Overly Pessimistic.

Mon Apr 06, 2009 21:30

C L
Opinion polls are not crystal balls into which we can gaze to predict events in the future. But what they do accomplish is to provide an accurate read of the political landscape at a Point in time. What will the polls show this time next week? its very obvious that a lot of those who got the phone call were not old age pensioners.

They may appear to have gained support, 1,000 people surveyed out of a population of almost 4 Million,these polls suit those in the politicial arena,and thats about it.
Nothing stays the same forever fact, and a split second can change ones life forever.

If the Greens are abondaning its morals as some seem to think,
Mr. Ryan has done just that, so it is morally right to preside over the hijacking of a nation by greedy property devolopers, speculators, and rouge Bankers who acted with impunity and went undeterred, and with the authority of the current Government and the Greens being accomplices to this, and has also brought the reputation of Ireland into total disrepute around the World this is a fine record indeed, the Greens have absoutely nothing to be smug about, more ashamed than anything else.
http://www.indymedia.ie/cache/imagecache/local/attachme...n.jpg

so is it any wonder they are smug in relation to the corrib project!
This is a ridiculous statement I can only assume you are aware off how the Corrib project came about, the great Gas robbery as it is refered to,how the Irish Government stands over this does question their credibility, and motives on this. To say the Greens are smug over the corrib project indicates that as Government Ministers they are happy to preside over the giveaway of our natural resources to a Multinational who has a track record to say the least is highly suspect,these people could not be Irish citizens, but that of traitors,dont be to smug because issues can and do come back to haunt you.
Every vote counts dont count on mine.
Obey thy Masters F/Fail.

Vote

Tue Apr 07, 2009 09:38

I totally agree with Arm-a-Gedden when he says “But what they do accomplish is to provide an accurate read of the political landscape at a Point in time.”
And that is my point, the greens have increased their support by 2% since joining with FF, and all that time they have supported the Corrib project, and the great giveaway. One would have to ask does Joe public really care that much about the perceived giveaway?
There is a simple test that can be taken to confirm this one way or another and it was suggested on Indymedia before, and that is for opponents to stand in June’s elections on this single issue.
The local elections are a perfect opportunity, but for those who see this as a national issue there are the European elections where one could stand on this issue!
John Monaghan, Vincent McGrath or even Maura Harrington could stand in either and give the people a chance to speak clearly on the subject.

The Last Word.

Tue Apr 07, 2009 23:36

Unlike you I do not have the luxury of trolling around here in the early morning as I like many others have more important issues to attend to.

I can only assume that you do this from maybe a Shell office, or a Political Party office, this of course is only an assumption.

We have a population who are grossly ill informed about the situation, the Corrib gas the great giveaway as you have nicely described it.

The lack of real information, misinformation, propaganda, lies, spin, these are just some of the tools that an oppressor (Shell & the Irish Government) uses to suppress the real facts/truths of an event/issue that they know, and fear, if the truth gets out into the Public domain people will begin to ask some very difficult questions, and then the can of worms is open, and crawling all over the place.

It is well known that the Irish media is controlled by its Political Masters, it does what it is told by them unless it is something negative then they add what they like to it to make it look like the crime of the century, thankfully there are still a few independents that do believe in the truth.

Shell/Topaz who has been aided by the Irish Corporate media has managed so far to keep the truth from an unsuspecting Irish public, but for how long more one can only guess.

These are just some of the reasons why Joe Public is not aware of how his inheritance was given away by his own Government to a Multinational called Shell/Topaz, but in these harsh economic times and particularly after to days harsh budget it wont be very long before he starts learning.

It is ironic that you should mention Maura Harrington standing for either the Local, or European elections, after her release from Mountjoy Womens Prison to day she ended up in Dail Eireann, so you may be correct on that point.

I have attached some links, I do hope they will be of interest to you and any other surfer that passes this way, it will help to further your knowledge, or lack of it, on the Corrib Gas, inform your friends and colleagues about their content.

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/91833

http://www.corribsos.com/

http://mayogasinfo.com/

http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&tas...id=40

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/apr/05/shell-sa...arges

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An Open Letter to Minister Ryan

Comments (6 of 6)