Today (24th May) the ‘Quantified Risk Assessment’ (Q.R.A.) of Shell’s Rossport pipeline has finally been released. This was sought by campaigners through Dail Questions (from Deputies Ferris, Higgins, and Cowley) and Freedom of Information Act requests (including one by local T.D. Michael Ring). However this is only a new version of the Q.R.A. Versions A,B,C,D and E will not be released, nor will the research documentation which forms the basis of the Q.R.A.

Earlier, in Shell’s case to bring injunctions against Rossport residents and owners of the land upon which their pipeline will go, the President of the High Court described it as “inconceivable” that the Q.R.A.s would not be before the court. This was in reference to the earlier versions.

Meanwhile a review into the safety of the project, commissioned by Minister Noel Dempsey in the middle of March this year, has been revealed to have been carried out by a company, British Pipeline Agency LTD, established in 1969 as a joint venture between British Petroleum and Shell. So effectively Dempsey’s “review” was another tax payer subsidy to Shell!

In related news the Irish Times of Friday May 20th reports that the High Court judge Fidelma Macken has been nominated to the Supreme Court. Macken’s decision on the application for a judicial review of Shell’s development made by Martin Harrington will be made and announced by the middle of June.

While on the ground Shell have re-started, they say, transiting removed peat from the refinery site at Ballinaboy to the bog storage place at Srahmore. This process had been halted due to accidents, the trucks started to roll again on Tuesday the 17th.

Giuliano Giuliani is a leading Italian Trade Unionist whose son Carlo was murdered by the Italian Police during the July 2001 protests in Genoa against the G8 Summit. Since Genoa, Giuliano and his wife Haidi have become stalwarts of the international anti-globalisation movement, speaking at countless events and protests as well as campaigning for justice for their son. He will speak at a public meeting organized by G8 Mobilise on Thursday 26th May in Dublin.

Four years on from Carlo's murder, do you feel any closer to achieving justice for him?

It is very difficult after waiting for four years to even think about achieving justice. But we are doing everything possible to ensure that the truth be acknowledged. Carlo was killed while he was trying to defend the others and himself from being shot at by the police. Carlo tried to resist: this is the truth. Along with this truth, we also want to find out the exact chain of command on those days, and we want someone to take political responsibility for Carlo's murder. This is absolutely necessary for our country, for democracy, and in particular for all the other young people who are looking for a better world.

How have the police behaved during the investigation?

Terribly, no investigation has really been carried out, not even into the most disgraceful and violent behaviour of the police. After he was hit by a bullet, Carlo was kicked while he was lying on the ground and then one policeman broke his forehead with a stone. This is the behaviour of Nazis. So was what they did at the Diaz school or at the Bolzaneto barracks or in the streets: torture, extremely violent beatings, both physical and mental. These facts are unworthy of a civilized society and they cannot remain unpunished. Instead they are trying to cover, to hide and to mix up everything. Some Judges are also not doing their jobs, because dismissing a case, like Carlo's murder, contributes to the truth being hidden.