Is this story making it's way into Norway?

Can't really say it is, no. I'd never heard of it before.

Am I correct that Statoil is a publically owned company in Norway?

The state owns 70,9% of the shares. However, it does not interfere with managerial decisions, so petitioning the Norwegian government will probably not be effective.

Would they be allowed to run a first of it's kind high pressure unrefined straight out of the seabed pipeline up one of the beautiful fjords you posted pictures of?

No. Why does the Irish government allow the equivalent?

And if the jailed people are in fact innocent of the 'paramilitary style' death threats and so on, why have the Irish courts agreed to jail them?

I don't mean to sound dismissive about this, and in substance I'd expect to sympathize with the locals upon studying the issue more closely. But it seems to me that the crucial decisions here have been made by Irish authorities and courts, for whatever reasons.

Obviously, when the country in question is a corrupt military dictatorship, that's a vacuous point. Such was the case with Shell Oil's involvement in Nigeria during the 90s, for example. But Ireland is an affluate democracy with the rule of law. So the question Norwegians would ask themselves is, If the Irish have allowed this stuff, why should we care?

I don't know about so many specialized environmental reporters, but this guy writes on environmental stuff in Aftenposten, Norway's 'paper of record':

ole.mathismoen@aftenposten.no

Aftenposten's news suggestion e-mail:

mmred@aftenposten.no

Or you could contact the head of the foreign affairs section in Bergens Tidende, a quality paper with solid petroleum coverage:

Atle M. Skjærstad (Skjaerstad)
Fax +47    55 21 46 81
utland@bt.no

Or the news editor for the liberal tabloid Dagbladet:

Eivind Ljøstad (Ljoestad)

elj@dagbladet.no

As with all journalists, the story should be presented as concisely as possible, preferably with links to local coverage that doesn't require registration.

For more tips and info you might shoot a mail to Bellona, a well-connected environmentalist group: info@bellona.no

Good luck.

The world's northernmost desert wind.