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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
‘Mercenary’ was Corrib gas guard
By: Keith Bourke
THE Corrib gas controversy took another bizarre twist Monday evening when it emerged that the Irishman killed in Bolivia in an alleged presidential assassination plot worked as a security guard on the North Mayo project before leaving for South America.
According to his personal page on the social networking website, Facebook, Michael Dwyer worked for a security firm that is contracted to provide security for the Corrib gas project.
A spokesperson for Integrated Risk Management Services (IRMS), who handle security for Shell, refused to comment on the matter while Shell Ireland was unable to confirm or deny whether Mr Dwyer worked in Mayo. The 24-year-old from Ballinderry, Co Tipperary, was killed on Thursday in Santa Cruz in Bolivia.
He was one of three men shot dead by a specialist police unit. Exact details of what happened on Thursday remain unclear but, after the shooting, the Bolivian police said they had foiled an alleged plot to assassinate Bolivian President Evo Morales.
It is understood that Mr Dwyer spent a summer working in Glengad for IRMS security. IRMS is a private security company based in Naas, Co Kildare. It is owned by Terry Downes and James Farrell, both former members of the Irish Army Rangers.
IRMS provides security for the compound surrounding the intended landfall of the controversial Corrib gas pipeline at Glengad beach in Erris. It has been the scene of several protests.
A former colleague of Mr Dwyer’s told the Irish Daily Mail that he was involved in the security of the Shell pipeline. The ex-co-worker described Dwyer as “a likeable sort of guy, a bit naïve but certainly not a killer”. “He was just a young man fascinated by all things military. He loved to dress up.
“He was involved in the security of the Shell pipeline and there he would have come into contact with people from Poland and Hungary with a military background and could have had his head turned, but he wasn’t a leader, he was a follower.”
Michael Dwyer’s body will be flown home this weekend for burial after an official from the Irish Embassy in Argentina secured its release.
Yesterday Irish diplomats met with senior Bolivian government officials to discuss the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Dwyer.
His Facebook site was closed down last night (Monday).
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