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plaque to be placed on Rockall

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    #2
    meditraitor
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,207 ✭✭✭meditraitor


    Its closer to Scotland than Ireland? Let them have the rock, (mineral rights will only go to big petro chem companies anyway)


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    #3
    Fuhrer
    Registered Users Posts: 4,661 ✭✭✭Fuhrer


    meditraitor wrote: »
    Its closer to Scotland than Ireland? Let them have the rock, (mineral rights will only go to big petro chem companies anyway)


    Its closest to mainland Ireland.


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    #4
    delop
    Registered Users Posts: 490 ✭✭delop


    Fuhrer wrote: »
    Its closest to mainland Ireland.

    +1


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    #5
    LordSutch
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,078 ✭✭✭✭LordSutch


    Taken from Wikipedia.

    The nearest point on land from Rockall is 301.4 kilometres (187.3 mi), or 162.7 nmi,[8] east at the uninhabited Scottish island of Soay in the St Kilda archipelago. The nearest habitated area lies 303.3 kilometres (188.4 mi), or 163.8 nmi,[13] east at Hirta, the largest island in the St Kilda group. It is however only populated at certain points of time year-round at a single military base.[14][15] The nearest permanently habited settlement is 367 kilometres (228 mi), or 198.1 nmi,[16] west of the headland of Aird an Runair, near the crofting township of Hogha Gearraidh [17] on the island of North Uist at NF705711 (57°36′33″N 7°31′7″W / 57.60917°N 7.51861°W / 57.60917; -7.51861 (Hogha Gearraidh / Hougharry)). North Uist is part of the Na h-Eileanan Siar council area of Scotland.


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    #6
    sceptre
    Registered Users Posts: 19,608 ✭✭✭✭sceptre


    Apart from mineral rights (and as a result of the CFP, fishing rights), nothing's changed with regard to Rockall claims for years. The Danes are due to finish their continental shelf claim in 2014 or so. As the delineation line agreement wrt mineral rights on the Rockall shelf was concluded in 1988 between Ireland and the UK, almost nothing's been done since.

    The plaque is replacing one that was placed there by the British Royal Navy in 1955, which has since gone missing. So no change there either.

    The one outstanding issue (apart form territorial claim over the rock itself, which was largely only important for mineral rights, settled between UK/IE in 1988 as mentioned above) has been fishing rights. With the common fisheries area since the 1988 agreement, this has also pretty much disappeared as an issue. As Ireland always made its continental shelf claim ignoring the presence of the island, the one outstanding issue is the territorial claim over an uninhabitable rock. I wouldn't say that no-one cares but all the benefits of owning that rock, apart from the intrinsic value of the rock itself, have essentially been settled between Ireland and the UK. Denmark has an outstanding claim, as does Iceland, particularly based on the continental shelf (Iceland's is a bit whacked and Denmark makes its claim on the basis of an undersea continent) so the Danish/Iceland claims are likely to be completely ignored by the international community.

    tl;dr version: The short answers to the initial questions in the OP are: "it's replacing a previous plaque and almost no-one cares as all the value stuff has been settled for years" and "no, but almost no-one cares as all the value stuff has been settled for years".


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    #7
    FTA69
    Registered Users Posts: 9,252 ✭✭✭FTA69


    At the end of the day what would it matter if Ireland did receive the mineral rights? They'd probably just hand it over to f*cking Shell anyway.


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    #8
    The_Minister
    Registered Users Posts: 10,255 ✭✭✭✭The_Minister


    meditraitor wrote: »
    Its closer to Scotland than Ireland? Let them have the rock, (mineral rights will only go to big petro chem companies anyway)

    Even if that was true, we still get taxes worth millions.


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    #9
    Sulmac
    Registered Users Posts: 1,021 ✭✭✭Sulmac


    Wasn't there a conference in the past year or two between Ireland, the UK, Denmark and Iceland over the status of Rockall?


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    #10
    meditraitor
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,207 ✭✭✭meditraitor


    The_Minister wrote: »
    Even if that was true, we still get taxes worth millions.

    I'd be very happy if this was the case but claiming a rock that is not even in Irish territorial waters always struck me as a bit odd. I had this discussion with an uncle of mine a few years back and the jist of the discussion was we have nothing to gain from this claim and its closer to scotland than Ireland.......


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    #11
    Manach
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,664 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manach


    I presume that there is some type of international court (in the Hague?) that deals with these legal disputes. AFAIK, it tried to settled a border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia?


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    #12
    Darsad
    Registered Users Posts: 679 ✭✭✭Darsad


    I remember the words in song !
    Oh rock on rockall youll never fall to Britains greedy hands !

    But I suppose that was when we had a bit of fight in us !


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    #13
    smcgiff
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,943 ✭✭✭smcgiff


    Darsad wrote: »
    I remember the words in song !
    Oh rock on rockall youll never fall to Britains greedy hands !

    Sounds like a Shíte song in fairness


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    #14
    mike65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88,978 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    Wolftones I presume!


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    #15
    Darsad
    Registered Users Posts: 679 ✭✭✭Darsad


    mike65 wrote: »
    Wolftones I presume!

    Correct actually its not that bad if you like the odd rebel song !!!! :)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1maOiysZe-4


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    #16
    Run_to_da_hills
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,009 ✭✭✭✭Run_to_da_hills


    mike65 wrote: »
    Wolftones I presume!

    Here. :)


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    #17
    FlutterinBantam
    Closed Accounts Posts: 14,576 ✭✭✭✭FlutterinBantam


    FTA69 wrote: »
    At the end of the day what would it matter if Ireland did receive the mineral rights? They'd probably just hand it over to f*cking Shell anyway.

    :eek:

    So they would have the wherewithal to explore it themselves:confused:.

    Would you get a grip pal, What could Ireland do ??

    Jeeesh.


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    #18
    mike65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88,978 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    Given the tiny size of Rockall what would be the position if it was "accidently" blown up so no part of the structure was above water?


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    #19
    The_Conductor
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,278 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    sceptre wrote: »
    The plaque is replacing one that was placed there by the British Royal Navy in 1955, which has since gone missing. So no change there either.

    Guess how long the replacement plaque is going to stay in situ before it too goes missing? On a related note- I wonder how much it would cost to charter a small fishing boat for a little offshore fishing.......?


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    #20
    DJCR
    Registered Users Posts: 986 ✭✭✭DJCR


    On 18th September 1955 at 1016 GMT Britain claimed Rockall, apparently to stop the Russians spying on Corporal missile tests. The islet was within reach of a planned guided missile range on South Uist, Outer Hebrides and the British government feared foreign spies could use it as an observation post.

    See here for the history of rockall according to one source

    http://www.rockall2011.com/History_of_Rockall.html


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    #21
    Victor
    Registered Users Posts: 78,245 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Fuhrer wrote: »
    Its closest to mainland Ireland.
    Nope. Closer to mainland Soay.
    mike65 wrote: »
    Given the tiny size of Rockall what would be the position if it was "accidently" blown up so no part of the structure was above water?
    AFAIK irrelevant. Likewise, expanding your shoeline doesn't affect the EEZ (not sure if it affect territorial waters).


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    #22
    CoalBucket
    Closed Accounts Posts: 971 ✭✭✭CoalBucket


    mike65 wrote: »
    Wolftones I presume!


    Oh rock on Rockall, you'll never fall to Britain's greedy hands
    Or you'll meet the same resistance that you did in many lands
    May the seagulls rise and pluck your eyes and the water crush your shell,
    And the natural gas will burn your ass and blow you all to hell.

    Classic lyrics, my favourite bit is the seagulls rise and pluck you eyes, they must have been up all night thinkin bout that one :D

    And the wolfetones even give evidence that Rockall is ours

    For this rock is part of Ireland, 'cos it' s written in folklore
    That Fionn MacCumhaill took a sod of grass and he threw it to the fore,
    Then he tossed a pebble across the sea, where ever it did fall,
    For the sod became the Isle of Man and the pebble's called Rockall.


    See Fionn MacCumhaill made it from a pebble of Irish soil, and in fact the Isle of Man is our territory too.
    We should go to the United Nations with this !!


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    #23
    FTA69
    Registered Users Posts: 9,252 ✭✭✭FTA69


    FlutterinBantam wrote: »
    :eek:

    So they would have the wherewithal to explore it themselves:confused:.

    Would you get a grip pal, What could Ireland do ??

    Jeeesh.

    What could Ireland do but hand over millions of suros worth of gas to a company for a song and then have them charge you expensive market price for the same product?

    Of course.


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    #24
    ManFromAtlantis
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,483 ✭✭✭ManFromAtlantis


    i saw it first.


    dont expect our govt to do anything that involves a spine.

    look what they gave the brits off teh coast of mayo.


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