The decision by the Minister for the Marine, Mr Ahern, to visit the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior when it docked at Dublin Port this week, is yet another indication of the depth of Government concern over an expansion of the British nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield in Cumbria.
From a position where polite, diplomatic overtures were made to the British Government some years ago concerning safety standards and the development of the facility, we have reached a position where international law has being formally invoked in an attempt to close it down. Because official representations were ignored for years, the Government now seems prepared tacitly to recognise the more unorthodox methods utilised by Greenpeace.
The transport of two shipments of nuclear fuel from Japan to Sellafield is the source of the present controversy. Nuclear rods were rejected by the Japanese authorities on safety grounds after it was discovered that British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) had falsified quality control records relating to them at Sellafield. The ships carrying the materials, the Pacific Pintail and the Pacific Teal have been in transit for some time and are due to arrive in the Irish Sea in early September. Mr Ahern recognised the ships were entitled to "innocent passage" on the high seas but said his officials were in discussions with the UK authorities to ensure they did not enter Irish territorial waters.
Last year, Ireland joined with Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in objecting to the commissioning of a new €550 million MOX reprocessing facility at Sellafield on the grounds of health, safety, pollution and environment protection. The then Attorney General, Mr McDowell, argued against it at the United National International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea in Hamburg. And, in the aftermath of September 11th, the Taoiseach spoke of the threat of international terrorism to the plant and to the transportation of fuel through the Irish Sea, when he met with the British Prime Minister. It made no difference. The British Government was essentially uninterested in the Government's views and concerns.
The depth of public concern on this matter has the capacity to poison Anglo/Irish relations and the sooner the British authorities recognise the need for co-operation the better. In the meantime, Greenpeace plans to lead a protest flotilla of boats from Britain and Ireland when the ships arrive. There should be no interference with their safe passage.