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REPRESENTATIVES OF SHELL to Sea have called for an independent inquiry into allegations by a company that it distributed alcohol to gardaí while working on behalf of Shell in Co Mayo.
In an article in The Observer yesterday, Glasgow based company OSSL, which procured materials and services for Shell, claimed it was tasked with providing “a tennis court, cookers, television sets, agricultural equipment, school fees, home improvements, garden centre visits, forestry equipment” for local residents on behalf of Shell, to keep them on side.
The company also alleged it delivered €35,000 worth of alcohol, which came from Northern Ireland, to Belmullet Garda Station in December 2007.
Superintendent John Gillian is quoted by one of the managers of the company as saying “it’s lucky these walls are high”, as the consignment of alcohol was unloaded from an unmarked van.
Commenting on the accusations, Shell to Sea spokesperson Maura Harrington said that as well as the issue of “alcohol-fueled police violence”, this raises “serious concerns” for the auditors of Shell E&P Ireland.
“It seems that Shell are intent to pay absolutely no tax in the State whatsoever, as even this alcohol was smuggled across the border,” Harrington said.
Shell to Sea are now calling for a “fully independent international inquiry” into the allegations.
In a statement, gardaí said that allegations were made to the district officer at Belmullet in 2011, that alcohol was distribute to officers on behalf of Shell but inquiries found “no evidence” of this.
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