Programme and Travel Information for Solidarity Gathering in Erris, Co.Mayo

by tom - concerned Fri Jun 24, 2005 14:25

G8 Camping Space Invite
by l - dissentireland Thursday, Jun 23 2005, 9:39pm
international / anti-capitalism / opinion/analysis

The radical convergence in Stirling is happening now!

the following message is from the very nice convergence space crew:

We will be sharing the space with People and Planet, who will be hosting a student activist village and we are working alongside them to provide a safe and lovely space for all to enjoy.
Below is an invitation to the HoriZone please circulate as widely as possible, to all lists your on and even the ones your not

Hori-zone
A zone of self-organisation, horizontal decision-making,
ecology and autonomy in action.

This is an invitation to a radical convergence in rejection of the G8 summit.

This one of the many projects of the Dissent! network.

While the G8 leaders hold their summit, hidden away in a golf course hotel, a fortress protected by barbed wire and patrolled by thousands of police, we will be presenting real alternative ways of organizing in an open and participatory way, inviting all to take hold of their own lives and take a part in the creation of their own futures.

Convergence 2005 invites all those interested in exploring radical non-hierarchical decision-making and autonomy in action to come to an eco village, camping and convergence site near Stirling, Scotland. The Hori-Zone will be a space for meeting, planning, for conspiring, for practicing horizontal organizing and consensus decision-making. A place to experience sustainable systems that do not bleed our planet dry. A place for building the foundations of the world we know is possible.

The zone is open to all those who wish to see a world free from the shackles of power and who wish to start laying the foundations of a peaceful, just and ecologically sustainable society in the here and now.

The site will operate on a ‘neighbourhood’ system, with people living eating and meeting together. Each neighbourhood will strive for self-sufficiency, in both political and practical terms, but will also contribute to the running and well-being of the entire site. All neighbourhoods will form part of the whole eco-village.

Come, and share your music, your art, your skils, your joy

Bring a tent and sleeping bag (and a sleeping mat if you can), good shoes, map, warm clothes, waterproofs and suntan lotion – you never know!

Hori-Zone will be a place where we eat, sleep, dream, live, love and enact our resistance.

For more information and to register:
www.g8convergence2005.org

e-mail info@g8convergence2005.org

We still need loads of help. Things are going along swimmingly with the neighbourhoods but we need a more people for set up and build site wide stuff we still need more tatting to be done – we specially need loads more timber and buckets, tools would also be handy. We really need more alt tech as well. If all neighbourhoods could contact to say what they are bringing structure wise it would be splendid.

The clanger (there’s always a clanger) is the TAKE DOWN.

Our contract states that we must be off the site by Tuesday the 13th at 9am. We have already negotiated for an extra day (they originally gave us two days) and they have contractors arriving the next day to start making a cricket pitch. Obviously this is a bit tricky and will need all hands on deck, so everyone who can possibly stay to help, please do! There will be a big ol’ party somewhere after the hard work.
In solidarity
The convergence crew

by oliver C - shermanm4 Mon Jun 06, 2005 06:55 ocunningham at mayococo dot ie castlebar

I'm not going to get into a slagging match with anyone here i'm just going to leave my comment. Anyway I was in Shermanm4 that played at the protest gig at the weekend. Had a great time, well organised and all the locals i met were sound as a pound. I did not know much about the event until i got there, but after researching about the issue and listening to many different opinions I find it amazing that is wasn't more opposition to this thing. I believe that the protest won't do any good because the pipe line is going ahead, end of story.

On gloria's points, shell will come in, feck up the environment, maybe employ 2 or 3 local people to do security, run the pipeline for a few years, then when it's all used up you'll be left with a disused pipeline. Anybody who believes anything shell says is a fool. Repeat a FOOL. No company in the world has caused as much damage to the environment as shell FACT.

The comments about people not from rossport or blow ins as you might call us dosent require comment as it's not a valid point. I'm from castlebar and if you came to a protest in castlebar for any reason it would be your right to protest, it does not matter where you are from.

Lastly hopefully the pipeline won't ruin the landscape because it is one of the most stunning places in Ireland and
For the people who took the money from Shell (the easy way out) 20 years down the road i wonder what your children will think of your decision if Shell feck up.

by Gaeltachter Fri Jun 03, 2005 19:16

Are the 'locals' who live wherever you have moved to as small-minded and xenophobic towards 'outsiders' as you appear to be saying that 'your' people are?

Do you walk around in your adopted home with your head bowed and refrain from expressing your opinions as you are a lowly outsider?

Presumably not, because very few people actually live up to the stereotypes of small minded locals that you are putting about. People in small towns all over the world are often very interested in the world around them, global issues and their impact on the locality. Go to a small town in Connacht and you will find a wide range of opinions, interests and outlooks on the world. Thankfully the myth about small town communities being all close minded drones is just a myth.

by G Fri Jun 03, 2005 19:07

Thanks for the lecture!! yeah yeah heard it all before from ye. I wont need to be looking for a job from Shell unfortunately Shell came too late for me and I have already had to move to another country and settle there to find employment. Thoughts are with locals this weekend who wont be able to enjoy their long wknd with this invasion and nonsense in the village again.

by Sergio Fri Jun 03, 2005 17:42

There won't be much left of the Village/Area/Landscape you love, after Shell have put their monster up, if that's feasible that is, very likely that the project is wrong at inception, and then the trouble really starts, leaks, fires, accidents...

Let alone the fact that such a plant would be illegal in most of Europe (check Shell to Sea for details) if you look at areas of Wales and Holland, where refineries are placed, it turns places into hell and people into deamons...

When the big guys move into small places, they take what they can and leave when they want to, just look at the hundred of oil platforms scattered all over the globe, they're closing one by one, and are left abandoned after 10 or 20 year use, how old is the area we're talking about? How long more will it last?

Just to end, you're sharing your village with animals and plants, I know they don't need money to survive, but they probably won't make it any way...

Good luck in getting a job with Shell, I hope they go bankrupt really soon, along with another few "Big" players...

by G Fri Jun 03, 2005 15:56

Picking on my words makes no difference to me.......... pretty pathetic if you ask me.

Yeah shop and church close by as long as you are driving.

by Major Woody Fri Jun 03, 2005 13:28

This "Former Rossport resident" starts off telling us that the protesters are "outsiders who don't even care about the village of Rossport" and that "I love my village" but then (as G) moves on to say that "ye are only encouragingly locals and busy bodies and preventing them accepting that Shell is coming whether they like it or not."

Isn't 'like it or not' a funny expression of love to be coming from a 'former resident'!

by seashells Fri Jun 03, 2005 12:51

thought it was more of a townland than a village. maybe Gloria if you know the are you could explain. I'm heading there this weekend. are there any shops there? Church? School? or is it just an area?

by G Thu Jun 02, 2005 23:23

I am not getting into a slanging match and we are not being exploited . Do you think we have no idea about shell or the gas coming in. Do you think we need ye to come and educate us well you are very wrong we have our reasons for wanting this gas and I think we know better than ye what our village needs. Have a lovely time in the village this wknd because it is one of the most beautiful places on the planet but don’t think yer invasion will have any effect ye are only encouragingly locals and busy bodies and preventing them accepting that Shell is coming whether they like it or not.

by Global Village Thu Jun 02, 2005 11:42

Funny how at every protest the locals say the same same thing. Your village is our country in a planet I love filled with people I love being exploited by people who only love themselves.

by Gloria - Former Rossport resident Wed Jun 01, 2005 20:52 gloria_mcg at yahoo dot co dot uk

If you had any idea the employment level in mayo you would leave shell to get on with its work so they can start creating some jobs in the area. Only a handful of protestors who claim they are from rossport really are from Rossport they are outsiders who don't even care about the village of Rossport just want stick their nose in other peoples business make themselves look good. I love my village and know in my heart this gas has brought hope to a small village and can only be benefical and has my backing and ye protestors have no right going into my village making decesions about a place you never knew.

by Terry Wed May 18, 2005 21:43

Also contact info@shelltosea.com if you want to come but camping is unsuitable for you.

by Terry Tue May 17, 2005 16:26

Also it would be nice if people could donate dry vegan food for the kitchen.