A new North-South ‘We Deserve Better’ campaign was launched in Enniskillen on June 4 with the aim of stopping on-shore oil/gas exploration drilling or fracking in Northern Ireland.
The campaign is directed at the Northern Ireland politicians and aims to get them to follow the example of Ministers Pat Rabbitte and Fergus O’Dowd in putting a stay on exploration while the joint North-South government research into the environmental impacts of fracking is being carried out.
The campaign initially asks all citizens, North and South, to email Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness (First Minister and Deputy First Minister) with a strong message.
Launching the campaign, Dr Carroll O’Dolan from Fermanagh Fracking Awareness Network (FFAN) said: “Given that the research study is a north-south initiative and is actually publicised as being an all-Ireland study, it is completely unacceptable that the Northern Ireland Executive has not suspended the licencing process and halted the work programmes of all exploratory companies in line with the Dublin government. Fracking is associated with a high risk of environmental contamination and has not been proven to be safe in the long term.”
“The situation is very serious,” said Dr Aedín McLoughlin of Good Energies Alliance Ireland (GEAI). “We in the South have successfully lobbied for an effective moratorium on exploration for 2 years. However, the Northern authorities have not followed suit and Tamboran have publicly stated they plan to start drilling later this year in an area in Fermanagh only six kilometres from the border. What is the point in stopping exploration in Leitrim if it is to go ahead in Fermanagh, part of the same shale area? Water knows no borders, especially in the Lakelands of Fermanagh & Leitrim! And why should the people of Northern Ireland not be given the same protection as people in the South?”
“This campaign is a joint initiative between FFAN [North] & GEAI [South]. We want it to be a really strong campaign and to have thousands of emails reaching Robinson and McGuinness immediately. This will be followed up by a letter-writing campaign to be directed at all politicians, North and South. We see this as a necessary step on the road to a long-term moratorium on fracking in Ireland.”
For more details – and to get involved – see here.