August 3, 2012
Willie Corduff was briefly arrested at a protest near the site where, a 160-ton truck carrying equipment for the Corrib gas project has been stuck on the road since Monday. A farmer in Ireland’s rural town of Rossport, Corduff won the 2007 Goldman Prize for his courageous fight against a natural gas pipeline that threatens the community’s safety and environment.
In light of the latest disaster, local residents are calling into question the technical competency of Shell, as well as the May County officials’ failure to consult the community about the project. “This whole fiasco is further proof that this community is under siege and has had valid worries for 12 years about Corrib gas. We cannot trust the people in authority and there is no transparency,” said Mary Corduff, Willie’s wife.
Willie Corduff was one of the Rossport Five, a group of local residents who were jailed for 94 days in 2005 for their refusal to let Shell access their property. “The Pipe,” a documentary film released in 2007, chronicles the Mayo County community’s David-Goliath campaign against Shell and the Corrib project.
