This week the people’s hopes and dreams of The Shannon Region have been dashed once again, this time by our democratically elected TD’s and Senators of the two main parties Fianna Fail & Fine Gael. They seem to have taken the side of the unelected lobby groups like Friends of the Earth, Safety Before LNG and the Anti-Fracking filmstars and celebrities from around the globe.
It seems that their opinion is more important than that of the citizens of Kerry, Limerick and Clare who are the voting fodder of the area. When these parties asked the people for their vote in the General Election, they were not told their vote would be contributing to the detriment of their area. In fact many politicians used the project as a tool to steal your vote.
There is an intense feeling of being let down once again after over 60 years of hope that a project such Shannon LNG would rejuvenate an already struggling area. In Kerry alone the Green Party only received 5% of first preference votes yet have managed to persuade Fine Gael and Fianna Fail to completely ignore the vast majority of voters in the region. Motivated by power and the generous salaries afforded to our T.D.s and ministers, the priority of the voters seems forgotten.
Another LNG project in Cork has been given the green light and one wonders, would this have anything to do with Taoiseach elect Michael Martin being from the area…
The coastal regions of Kerry, Limerick and Clare have been crying out for help and this was the beacon of light for so many. It gave the possibility of sustained employment and that maybe for once we would have real hope that we may not be raising our children only to watch them leave.
However, 70 million has been spent by LNG with no state aid and now our region has been robbed again. The people of the area hope its not too late and the politicians we trusted will negate this agreement and proceed with this extremely valuable project.
To quote Brendan Kenelly in his poem ‘The Crooked Cross’ – “If life in little places dies, Greater places share the loss”.
Piece written by The Advertiser on behalf of the silent majority
