Tributes have been paid in Ireland to the Norwegian oil industry union official Stein Bredal who died earlier this month at the age of 71.
Bredal, who was a safety representative, shop steward and board member of Statoil – now Equinor – died at Stavanger University Hospital after a long illness.
Bredal had visited Ireland several times and expressed his support for the north Mayo community’s concerns about the Corrib gas project.
At the time Statoil was a shareholder in the gas project, led by Shell, and now owned by Canadian company Vermilion Energy.
In 2010, Bredal said that a new ombudsman trusted by “all stakeholders” may be the only route to resolution of the Corrib gas dispute in north Mayo.
He said the Irish government should never have permitted the construction of the gas infrastructure at that location in north Mayo.
Bredal spent 25 years working on offshore rigs. He took a keen interest in health and safety following the capsize of the Alexander L Kielland semi-submersible drilling rig on the Norwegian Ekofisk oilfield in March 1980, killing 123 people.
He had been due to fly out to start a shift on the rig when the capsize occurred.
“Accidents do happen, even in Norway with our experience and tight regulation,” he told The Irish Times.
He was elected to Statoil’s board as representative of the Federation of Offshore Workers’ Trade Unions in 2000 and served until 2006.
He also unsuccessfully opposed the semi-privatisation of Statoil, as he believed semi-privatisation would dilute the emphasis on social responsibility.
“Statoil’s approach in Norway was to ask the community first what it wanted from a project, and to listen,” Bredal said.
“It was only when it joined with BP to work in other countries that it moved away from this model.”
During a visit to Galway in 2013, Bredal said the city needed to look "10, 20 or 30 years ahead" to make use of the vast potential of the marine sector amid plans for the redevelopment of its port.
He posited his home city of Stavanger in Norway as an example for Galway to follow as service hub for Norway's energy sector.
North Mayo resident Micheál Ó Seighin of the Rossport Five said that Bredal’s passing was “a loss to Ireland and to the whole North East Atlantic community”.
“He was aware of the common experience of the Scandinavian, Scottish,Irish and Icelandic communities and of our common responsibility for its protection and future, an awareness sadly in short supply in our collective leadership,”Ó Seighin said.
“His spatial placing of Galway as the anchor of the Atlantic approach was a major insight,” he said.
“On his passing we must remember him in gratitude as a link in a chain of Norwegian visionaries, many from the maritime community, who generously gave of their time and energies to advance the potential of the region which Ireland and Norway share,” Ó Seighin continued.
“Those of us who opposed the unsustainable Corrib project got steady support from Stein Bredal, and from much of the fishing community in the Norwegian islands, even though Statoil was a major shareholder in the development. We thank you yet again,” he said.
“Nothing ends but everything changes, moving on. But sometimes we must in honour say ‘Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann’,” Ó Seighin said.
Former oil industry worker and union representative Padhraig Campbell said that “when the people of Rossport and the surrounding areas of Co Mayo needed support in their struggle against the highly contentious raw gas refinery being pushed through by Shell, Bredal did not hesitate to answer their call for support”.
“Because Statoil had a minority share in the Corrib gas refinery operation, Stein felt that Statoil was falling way below the standard that he had helped to set during his earlier period as a worker director there, “Campbell said.
“He was a great support to Ireland when he broadened out the whole resources issue in more wide ranging interviews, and was true champion for justice with a great mind who courageously inspired many people in many lands,” Campbell continued.
He recalled Bredal as a man of “great humour with a great charismatic presence”.
Filmmaker Risteard Ó Dómhnaill, who interviewed Bredal for his documentary Atlantic, said that he became a “great friend to and ally of the community opposing the Corrib gas project”.
He said Bredal also “supported Irish oil rig workers and others seeking to highlight Ireland’s natural resources giveaway”.
“Bredal put the weight of the powerful Norwegian oil workers’ union behind opposition to the jailing of the Rossport Five, “Ó Dómhnaill said.
“He spoke powerfully in the Norwegian media about what was happening in Ireland in Norway’s name by their state-owned oil company, Statoil,” Ó Dómhnaill, whose film The Pipe (2010) documented the Corrib gas controversy, added.
“He was a huge character in every way and had a kind and gentle heart, never once refusing any request from Ireland, “Ó Dómhnaill recalled.
“Our sincere condolences go out to his family and colleagues, and the help he gave to those fighting the good fight will never be forgotten,” Ó Dómhnaill said.
