Cork County Council Approves AONTÚ Motion Supporting Barryroe Oil and Gas Field Development
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
11/05/2026
Cork County Council has voted in favour of an Aontú motion to write to the Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy, Daragh O’Brien, urging him to prioritise the development of the Barryroe Oil and Gas Field off the Cork Coast, citing the crucial need to protect Ireland’s energy security.
The motion, put forward by Councillor Peter O’Donoghue, received overwhelming support with 32 councillors voting in favour, 3 against and 5 abstaining.
Councillor O’Donoghue says
“Barryroe is recognised as one of Europe’s largest undeveloped oil and gas fields .
We have our own energy resources to ensure affordable energy for all and maintain a reliable supply.
This is all the more critical in light of the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Barryroe Oil and Gas Field, situated approximately 50 kilometres from Cork, is believed by energy experts to contain up to 1.6 billion barrels of oil and billions of cubic feet of natural gas.
Of these, at least 300 million barrels of oil and 207 billion cubic feet of gas are considered recoverable.
However, development has been stalled due to licensing restrictions, with the Department of Climate, Environment and Energy so far refusing to grant extraction licences.
This is madness in my opinion.
300 million barrels of Oil in Barryroe would supply Ireland with Oil, Petrol and Diesel for at least 6 years, however if all 1.6 billion barrels of Oil could be used, this would supply Ireland with fuel for over 30 years.
The Oil in Barryroe is a light crude oil.
Whitegate refinery is set up to refine light crude Oil. The Oil for Whitegate currently comes from the west coast of Africa, Norway and the USA.
It would make far more environmental and economic sense for Whitegate to be supplied with light crude oil from only a few kilometres away than from foreign countries thousands of kilometres away. This Oil and gas field has the potential to provide energy security for many years to come. It cannot be accepted any longer that the Irish nation and its people are refused and denied this energy security.
“I am delighted that my motion was passed. It is essential that Ireland uses the energy resources it has to keep the lights on and the energy prices down for all the people of the nation”.I
