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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
— October – November 2013
perform and coordinate small-scale contract-
ing works”. On September , however,
OSSL began to release emails and information
in which it claimed that its services extended
beyond just site-construction-
related activities, to dealing
directly with key members of
the receiving community.
In the first email published
on the Shell whistleblower
website, royaldutchshellplc.
com, OSSL alleges that a Shell
contracts manager for Corrib
“used OSSL to make payments
of cash and gifts to various par-
ties in Erris and beyond” and
“gave instructions regarding the
purchase of various items to be
gifted to local householders with
a view to advancing the project
in a particularly difficult part of
the construction program”. The
email, from OSSL and addressed
to the ‘contracts manager’ is
dated August . It goes
on to claim that another mem-
ber of Shell Ireland subsequently
“disguised” the nature of these
purchases, and demanded that
the relevant invoices be “falsi-
fied and diverted to Roadbridge
[the main contractor on Corrib]
so as to avoid any connection
with Shell directly”. Some of
these items are stated by OSSL
to be cookers and televisions,
and OSSL claims that it was
ordered to transform the con-
tents of the invoices to instead
represent ‘safety wear’. The
identities of ‘Project co-operators’, ie local
landowners who were engaging or who had
“Shell was using OSSL to win hearts and minds
in Mayo to progress the project but sud-
denly things changed, and tracks needed
covering”
Desmond Kane, OSSL
S
EVENTEEN years ago this month,
the Petrolia drilling rig hit a natu-
ral gas field miles off the west
coast of Mayo. According to Briain Ó
Catháin, MD of Enterprise Energy, who made
the find, “It was one of the biggest well-tests
that Enterprise had ever done”. For Ó Catháin
and other Irish people working in oil and gas
around the world, it represented great hope
that finally they could come home to work in
the emerging Irish industry.
Ó Catháin, now heading the successful oil
company, Petroceltic, did not get to see the
Corrib project to fruition. Following Shell’s
takeover of Enterprise and planning difficul-
ties with Corrib, Ó Catháin moved on. With
hindsight, it was a good move.
Shell might now feel a little unfortunate to
have inherited the project in . It came
as part of the larger Enterprise portfolio, and
by this time it was already encountering dif-
ficulties. Following a lengthy oral hearing, An
Bord Pleanála inspector Kevin Moore rec-
ommended that permission to build a gas
refinery on a bog be refused: “From a stra-
tegic planning perspective, this is the wrong
site; from the perspective of Government pol-
icy which seeks to foster balanced regional
development, this is the wrong site; from the
perspective of minimising environmental
impact, this is the wrong site; and conse-
quently, from the perspective of sustainable
development, this is the wrong site”.
Shell sought and was granted a meeting
with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Government
Buildings on the September . At the
meeting Tom Botts, CEO of Shell E&P Europe,
received assurances that the Government
would seek to facilitate the project, and
that a re-submitted application would be
processed “with all possible speed”. After
amending proposals relating to the disposal
of peat, planning permission
was granted for the Bellanaboy
gas refinery on the original site.
Corrib was back on track – or so
it thought!
A decade later and still no
gas is flowing from Corrib into
the now-complete Bellanaboy
refinery. The project is set to
eventually cost quadruple the
original $ million estimate,
but the reputational dam-
age internationally for the oil
giants Shell and Statoil may be
much higher.
Corrib has been beset by
problems and controversies
over the last ten years and, most
notably the jailing of five land-
owners in , who came to
be known as ‘The Rossport ’.
As of the time of writing, Shell’s
onshore tunnelling operations
are suspended, following the
death of a German maintenance
engineer on the ‘Fionnuala’ tun-
nel-boring machine, some
metres below Sruwadaconn
estuary.
As if Shell had insufficient
headaches at the moment, the
latest controversy in the long
running Corrib saga has come
from a most unlikely source.
OSSL, a small services provider
in the oil and gas industry, was
taken on early in the project to provide per-
sonal protective safety equipment and “to
Shell and OSSL dispute whether inducements
were given to Gardaí and named individuals.
By Risteard Ó Domhnaill
NEWS shell TO sea
The invoice,
drawn up ve
years after
the event,
and less than
one month
after the
settlement,
outlines
how two
consignments
of alcohol
costing
€29,500
were
purchased
in Northern
Ireland by
OSSL
“
A lone
Erris
farmer
looks
out over
Broadhaven
Bay,
landfall
of the
Corrib Gas
pipeline,
Pic: John
Monaghan
Bogs and booze
in Bellanaboy and
Belmullet
reached agreements with Shell regarding
the use of their land for the pipeline, were
to be disguised also. Finally, OSSL claim that
it was threatened by the Shell employee who
ordered the falsification of invoices. OSSL
claims it was told that if this activity was
ever disclosed, it “will result in OSSL never
working in the oil and gas industry again”.
The email is signed off on by the three main
members of OSSL – Neil Rooney, Des Kane
and his daughter Amanda.
The origins of this dispute go back to late
/ , when OSSL was informed by
Shell that its services were no longer required
because construction on the Corrib Gas
project was nearing completion. According
to communications manager with Shell E&P
Ireland, John Egan, “OSSL subsequently
raised a court action against SEPIL (Shell
E&P Ireland) and Roadbridge, claiming that
there had been excessive tax withholding on
invoices from ”. Then, in early ,
Desmond Kane of OSSL contacted An Garda
Síochána; not to report a crime, but to seek
help in recovering payment from Shell for
goods delivered to Belmullet Garda Station in
. In a letter to the Chief Superintendent
in Belmullet, Kane asked the Superintendent
to confirm the “safe receipt” of “festival gifts”
from the Christmas period.
According to Shell it was only in , as
the dispute dragged on, that OSSL pursued
allegations against Shell regarding non-con-
struction-related activities. According to John
Egan, “OSSL alleged falsification of invoices
and further, alleged delivery of alcohol to the
Gardaí, as well as non business-related works
and gifts for some local residents”.
Despite these very serious allegations, no
action was taken by either Shell or An Garda
Síochána. On August , Shell reached
a settlement with OSSL. According to Shell’s
John Egan, “a full and final settlement was
entered into by the parties”. Des Kane of
OSSL agreed to discontinue court proceed-
ings against Shell Ireland and Roadbridge.
The terms of the settlement remain confi-
dential but OSSL received a glowing reference
from Shell in order to help OSSL secure fur-
ther contracts in the oil and gas industry. Shell
felt it had finally ended the affair.
But as has been the case with much that
happens in Corrib, the end is only ever a new
beginning. Just a month later, OSSL decided
to take its campaign public and posted its
allegations on the anti-Shell website roy-
aldutchshellplc.com.
Six months later John Donovan, who runs
royaldutchshellplc.com, received an invoice
from OSSL. The invoice, drawn up five years
after the event outlines how two consign-
ments of alcohol costing €, were
purchased in Northern Ireland by OSSL. They
were then allegedly brought across the border
in a commercial vehicle on the instruction of
a Shell E&P Ireland employee and stored in
OSSL premises in Bangor Erris. According
to the invoice, two thirds of the alcohol was
then removed and delivered by OSSL to
Belmullet Garda station and the remainder
to a member of the Garda sub-aqua division
in Athlone. Curiously, Garda figures promi-
nent in the policing of Corrib including two
Superintendents are named as the contacts
and recipients of the alcohol. If this invoice
does represent a genuine transaction, it raises
serious questions regarding the undeclared
importation of large quantities of alcohol into
the state. By bringing this to the attention of
the Gardaí, albeit by asking them directly to
clarify that they were the recipient of these
‘festive goods’, there must surely be an onus on
the Gardaí to launch a criminal investigation
or prosecute OSSL for wasting Garda time.
According to Shell: “The production of
this invoice coincided with the commence-
ment of a campaign by OSSL demanding
further monies from SEPIL associated with
their former contract despite having signed
a full and final settlement agreement on
August, ”.
John Donovan of royaldutchshellplc.com
who, along with his father, Alfred, worked
with Shell up until the early s, has
pointed to the reluctance of Shell to take
court proceedings against OSSL and of An
Garda Síochána to investigate as very curi-
ous: “It would follow that if the allegations are
false and the items on the invoice false then,
bearing in mind that OSSL has been press-
ing Shell for payment on false grounds, Shell
must surely be legally bound as a public com-
pany to call in the Garda and/or the UK police
to immediately investigate the relevant Irish
or UK citizens responsible for what would
undoubtedly be a very serious criminal act”.
Gardaí
outside the
gate of the
Bellanaboy
Gas
Renery,
Pic: John
Monaghan
— October – November 2013
NEWS shell TO sea
It also puts OSSL in a very difficult position,
where a claim it is making cannot be backed
up by hard evidence. There may, however, be
logic in Shell not taking action against OSSL:
even if the allegations are untrue, a court
case against OSSL would still bring much
unwanted bad publicity on the oil giant at
a very delicate time in the final phase of the
project. Being seen to take action against
these allegations might give the impression
that there is some truth in them, and Shell
wants as little publicity at the moment as
possible. Surely, however, the Gardaí were
not constrained by such dilemmas? If what is
being claimed by OSSL appears to constitute
a criminal offence, were they not obliged to
take action on these very serious allegations
that OSSL has levelled at their members?
Indeed, there is a precedent: one of the
Gardaí named on the OSSL alcohol invoice of
August took very swift legal action
against a fisherman who, within earshot of
only a handful of Gardaí, accused the Garda
in question of stealing diesel from a local pier.
Despite no further publication
or dissemination of this claim,
the Garda in question insti-
tuted defamation proceedings
against fisherman Pat O’Donnell.
Within two weeks Mr O’Donnell
had received a solicitor’s let-
ter demanding an apology for
the alleged remark. When the
apology was not forthcoming
from Mr O’Donnell, the Garda
secured a judgment of €,
plus costs against Mr O’Donnell.
Neither he nor any of the Gardaí
accused by OSSL of accepting
delivery of the consignment of
alcohol has taken any action
against OSSL to date.
In early June , Shell
agreed to sit down once again
with Desmond Kane of OSSL.
According to Shell no new infor-
mation was supplied by Mr Kane
and Shell remained “satisfied
that the contractual dispute
between the two companies had been closed”.
The following month, and despite a continu-
ous barrage of damaging public accusations
against Shell, Neil Rooney of OSSL sent Shell
an email detailing their demands. In the email
Mr Rooney demands “€, of our own
money” along with €, for stock in
Shell’s possession, €, for himself
and €, for Amanda Kane, described
as “ex-gratia”, as well as a payment to Des
Kane at Shell’s ‘discretion’ but including the
“disguised” alcohol money owed (calculated
by OSSL to be €,.). While the text
of the email is a little ambiguous, the total
demand is €,., excluding Des
Kane’s ‘discretion’ payment.
Neil Rooney of OSSL feels extremely
aggrieved by its treatment at the hands
of Shell since late . He claims that
Shell dropped it as Shell wanted to dis-
tance itself from those who carried out its
instructions “to pay for favours you [Shell]
now deem to be corrupt”.
Why Shell would take such a risk as
neglecting to pay off its ‘Mr Fixit’ may
make sense if one can understand the very
fractured nature of the management struc-
ture within Shell Ireland. A breakdown
in communications or understanding is
always likely between various person-
nel with their own separate views on how
best to further the project. The alterna-
tive is that Shell is refusing to give in to
OSSL demands simply because they are
unfounded, and OSSL is involved in what
can only be described as extortion. If this
is the case, and there is no reason to think
that OSSL has behaved any-
thing other than honestly,
one would be left question-
ing why both Shell and An
Garda Síochána have not
taken strong and decisive
action against such aggres-
sion. Why the reluctance to call
the bluff of the tiny ‘Mr Fixit’
contractor who has dragged
the reputation of the Corrib
project and its policing oper-
ation through a bog of murky
questions?
It is now a matter of record
that there are many residents
in the villages surrounding the
project - Bellanaboy, Glengad,
Rossport and Aughoose, who
received ‘gifts’ because of their
non-opposition to the project.
One wonders what the long-
term impact of these specific
‘local benefits’ is and ultimately
whether they have helped
Shell’s attempts to present Corrib as a good
neighbour, a local employer and an economic
saviour in times of severe financial stress.
In her book on the Corrib Controversy
‘Once Upon a Time in the West’, Irish Times
journalist Lorna Siggins recounts the attitude
of Enterprise Oil, under Briain Ó Catháin, to
“financial inducements” in the locality. When
the project was first mooted, a local Fianna
Fáil county councillor suggested that the oil
company should pay for and build a -me-
tre swimming pool for the local people. This,
the councillor felt, would help to diffuse local
opposition, while providing an amenity to
the locality. The response from Enterprise
at the time was clearly disapproving – “the
company had demurred, believing it would
give the wrong signal”.
Whatever the credibility of OSSL’s
claims, and to date it has provided no con-
crete evidence to back them up, the practice
of ‘inducements’ for certain sections of the
Erris community did not solve Shell’s PR
problem.
Shell’s toughest battle is, and always has
been, for the souls and minds of the receiv-
ing community. The lure of ‘inducements’ for
certain sections of the Erris community has
helped smooth the path of the Corrib pipeline.
Now, with the project nearly complete, and
landowner assistance no longer important,
the flow of ‘inducements’ has been shut off
just as surely as the flow of gas opens up. With
Shell public relations already moving to a new
battlefield over their taxation and offshore
licensing, this latest Corrib debacle will have
to be dealt with by Shell at the lowest level. As
the small OSSL business acrimoniously slugs
it out with the Gardaí and local residents, the
Shell PR machine will be far over the horizon
to further battles and further fields.
Risteard Ó Domhnaill is the director of the
award-winning documentary ‘The Pipe’
invoice
to Shell
for the
alleged
of alcohol
OSSL
subsequently
raised a
court action
against Shell,
claiming
that there
had been
excessive tax
withholding
on invoices
from 2007
“
