Top Oil On Amien Street Picketed..

dublin | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Monday November 03, 2003 20:36

by antrophe - global action

antrophe at hotmail dot com

Dishevled and lost looking, we sat perched on the concrete wall outside Top Oil on Amien Street. With no banners, and no leaflets, if there was a bus top there at least it could have done something of a job in justifying our presence outside a seemingly random petrol station in the city centre. We didn't spend the whole evening looking lost, eventually somebody showed up and we preceeded to leaflet people as they passed and cars as they went in.

Dishevled and lost looking, we sat perched on the concrete wall outside Top Oil on Amien Street. With no banners, and no leaflets, if there was a bus top there at least it could have done something of a job in justifying our presence outside a seemingly random petrol station in the city centre. We didn't spend the whole evening looking lost, eventually somebody showed up and we preceeded to leaflet people as they passed and cars as they went in.

We were joined by a procession of eight people led by pacisficist nun, who played some wierd little drum. A decent number of cars decided not to drive in and at the height of traffic, say around five oclock, business did look like it was being affected adversely.

Top Oil is not just a random petrol station in the middle of Dublin. While the medias war may be over, for the people of Iraq, the war of aggrssion being waged to seize the natural resources of their country continues unabated. All in the name of democracy of course, instead of Saddams there are now 150, 000 american troops involved in suppressing the population on a daily basis. Already there have been two attacks on demonstrations by soldiers which rate on a similar scale to bloody sunday here. With attacks on american installations increasing since the actual war, there is a growing sense of demoralisation within the military. Families have begun to speak out on behalf of their relatives serving. As one member of the group Military Families Speak Out says

'I believe George Bush lied to us to get us to go along with this war. I also believe the continuing occupation is only necessary so that Bush can pay back the corporate sponsors who put him in office. I think this is very close to class warfare, too. The young men and women George Bush sends to die are far removed from him and his circle of elite friends.'

In Ireland, resistance to the war has abated, the marches and demonstrations have subsided but war planes are still refuelling in Shannon, and we are still implacated in what is happening in Iraq.

Meanwhile, down in galway there was a picket of the TOP OIL offices by NUIG Eco Society and a leafletting of the main shopping areas. The Catholic Worker heads were on trial today, so thats what prompted the pickets as much as the actual need for a boycott of top oil. Now there is a need to regularise the pickets, one hour once a month at the vaious stations, thats all it takes.

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Comments (10 of 10)

IS there any chance of some action at the top oil depot in Kildare?

by a suggestant

Mon Nov 03, 2003 21:08

It's got narrow gates that could fairly easily be blockaded and if the trucks can't get in or out their it could disrupt business fairly significantly

Yes

by Waiting

Mon Nov 03, 2003 22:04

Yes, I suppose there is a chance of a demo in Kildare. When are YOU going to organise it?

Great stuff!!!

by Desmond Farrell

Tue Nov 04, 2003 02:30

How are members of the public reacting, have we won any converts?

Troll spotting

by Santryperson

Tue Nov 04, 2003 04:11

"have we won any converts?"
We are not the Legion of Mary, or even the Jehovah's Witnesses.

bordering on the racist and sectarian

by mmmmm

Wed Nov 05, 2003 09:03

"some weird little drum" borders on the racist and sectarian when describing a Japanese Buddhist nun, but we'll put it down to the churlish adolescent anarchism of the author!

mmmmm

by c

Wed Nov 05, 2003 10:40

quiet you!

Quite good...

by antrophe

Wed Nov 05, 2003 16:47

Yeah, because there was no banners and no real visible presence as to why a load of people were standing around outside Top Oil, it meant that people were coming up out of curiousity and asking what we were doing. The general reaction was positive, even from some of the people that nonetheless filled up, they still took leafletts and said they'd read the case. One or two people did point down the road and suggest we blockade the main top oil depot..

A chilly but worthwhile evening

by Anthony

Wed Nov 05, 2003 19:23

I arrived at about 4.45 soon after Laurence arrived with the leaflets. I considered the boycott / picket of Mr. Stafford's garage to be a reasonably successful venture. There was quite a good presence from Catholic Worker and friends such as the Buddhist monk whose drumming provided a good atmosphere on a cold evening for standing around. At one stage, there was about 15 of us but for most of the time, it was around 10.

I thought the response from the public was quite good although the manager seemed a bit peeved. A couple of gardaí passed by but as we weren't blocking the entrance, they were happy to leave us be. One garda seemed to show a genuine interest when he came up and asked us a few questions about what we were doing and why.

You could hardly blame people for not filling up when they arrived at the petrol station as we were there during rush hour and no one likes to travel more than they have to at that time of day. But the main reason I was there was to inform Top Oil customers of what Top Oil are up to in Shannon so that their customers could choose to buy elsewhere (and let the Top Oil headquarters know why they were doing so).

It's worth noting that about 6 (at least - I wasn't watching all the time) cars turned away after pulling in and the majority of these were taxi drivers - something I've noticed at previous pickets on Amien St. It's good to see that the concept of solidarity isn't lost on the taxi drivers.

True

by Fintan Lane - IAWM and Cork Anti-War Campaign

Wed Nov 05, 2003 20:18

087 1258325

Anthony is absolutely right about the taxi drivers, and this should encourage the campaign to directly approach their unions and ask for a blacking of Top Oil throuhout Dublin. During the time that I was there I saw at least four taxis turn and leave once they had been informed of the boycott.

Nice one!

by Sylvia Pankhurst

Wed Nov 05, 2003 21:25

Fair Play Dub heads! (from a Galway picket with too many leaflets and too many banners for the people)

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Top Oil On Amien Street Picketed..

Comments (10 of 10)