The startling bill for just one month was run up as the energy giant called in the world’s largest pipelaying vessel, The Solitaire, and protesters took to the sea. The total cost of policing Corrib since 2003 is at least 13.5 million euro.
The Department of Justice defended the costs. “We are a sovereign state and we have a duty to protect people’s safety. If there was a peaceful protest there, things would be fine,” a spokesman for Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said.