Groundswell (2021)

Filmmaker Johnny Gogan first learns about hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") from his sister in Pennsylvania. In 2011, the Irish Government award an exploration licence to an Australian company, Tamboran Resources, to explore the border region where he lives for Shale Gas. Simultaneously, the same company are licenced in the Northern Irish (UK) part of the gas-field that straddles the border. Fracking is a new technology in its current form and very little is known about its effects. The film Gasland (Josh Fox, 2010) is a source of insight for the community when they go to see it in the region's mobile cinema. A unique groundswell movement emerges. There are tensions within the movement on tactics, but a "positive" campaigning approach prevails. Ireland has recently experienced a financial crash and there has been a major confrontation with Shell over another gas project in nearby Mayo with serious community fall-out. In response to opposition in this new gas project, the company use the border setting to its advantage by appealing to the UK government's more open attitude to fracking. For campaigners on the ground, their strive for success may take years, but they also have the potential to have an impact beyond their community and beyond Ireland's shores.