Shell picket in Harold's Cross
dublin |
environment |
news report 
Saturday July 09, 2005 01:26
by anarchaeologist - DGN (personal capacity)
Members of DGN and other concerned citizens tonight closed down the Shell station on Parnell Rd. in protest at the continued jailing of the Rossport 5 and the continuing collaboration of the FF/PD coalition with this multinational.
12 activists (and 2 kids) operated a successful picket on the Shell station along the canal on Parnell Road between 5.30ish and 7 this evening (Friday).
We were protesting at the continued imprisonment of the Rossport 5, behind bars at the behest of a multinational which has undue influence with the crooks and incompetents in government and the wigs in the Four Courts. The consortium exploiting the Corrib gas field will continue to screw the Irish taxpayer thanks to a series of deals made on our behalf by Ray Burke and Bobby Molloy, among others.
The tribunals established to investigate government corruption have so far failed to explain how oil and gas exploration companies such as Shell, Statoil and Marathon pay the lowest tax rates of any such concerns in Europe, while maintaining the power to impose untested technologies on the people of Erris and the apparent influence to imprison those who stand up to them.
We will continue to oppose the high pressure gas pipeline and demand the immediate release of the Rossport 5 and the cancellation of any deals made with the consortium. This is money which will fund hospitals, schools and crèches. It's ours.
Comments (6 of 6)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6A petrol station can be easily shut down by relatively few people. The first shot was taken at 6.40, the second an hour later after the picket ended.
More such pickets are planned for as long as it takes...
Before...
and after
For all of you who are protesting outside the shell stations, in Dublin, as the pictures show, and throughout the country, I thank you. I am a native of Erris and am horrified by the events that have occured since it was discovered that we had "fuel" off our coast. I can not believe that in our country we have five men in jail for breaking an injunction that contravened the ministerial permission given. Does a judge not have to have independent clarification of information being presented to him by a multi-national privately owned company? If one doesn't is it time that we, the Irish people, insisted that this be the case? We have already said that we won't have ANY financial benefit from this through our very generous deal for oil and gas exploration. Do we really need to sacrifice our peoples safety as well? Why can't Shell go to sea? At least then we may have some safety!!!
i want to do this too....!
I think as well as the Protesting and picketing out side shell and statoil stations we should bring the men who started this scandle into the picture.
Namely!!
Des O'Malley
Ray Burke
Bobby Molloy
Michael Lowry
Frank Fahey
Dermot Ahern
Bertie ahern
Noel Dempsey
In answer to Daithí, a Day of Action in terms of pickets and protests at stations was announced at the demonstration in Dublin on Wednesday but I have heard nothing about it since.
The only thing I know for sure is definetly on is the Wednesday picket outside the High Court.
But as one of the guys says, you don't need a lot of people to shut down a station. The first closure in Dublin I think was the Statoil on Usher's Quay and there were only three people present when that began.
Grab a couple of mates, a few placards, and shut the fuckers down.
It's easy. The public support for the pickets has been far in excess of anything I've ever experienced over the years. People are pissed off a) that there are 5 people in prison and b) that the government would willingly throw away offshore gas revenues for... for what?
That's what we've gotta focus on. What exactly have Burke, Molloy, Aherne and more recently Fahy been up to?
It takes 4 people minimum to shut down a petrol station. The cops can't stop you if you let potential customers in ...(after say 30 seconds, by which time they have a leaflet in their hands and someone on the line is willing to tell them why they should talk their business elsewhere). The vast majority of motorists the other night supported what we were doing; several drove up to the pumps and then drove on after reading the leaflet.
Maybe though the focus on Shell/Statoil might make people consider, just for a minute, why and more importantly who, is responsible for the situation at the moment.
A FF/PD government was elected to look after the citizens of the country, to provide adequate standards of health care, education etc. etc. etc. They've fucked it up big time here. Can there be any other reason, apart from the greed of several individuals, why our natural resources are not funding a civilised compassionate society? I don't think so.
So Daithí, get a few mates together. Put in a fiver each and copy off a few 100 of the fliers up on the web. Hit a station for an hour (they're conveniently listed on the various websites). Don't intimidate the workers within. But remember at the end of the day it's the 'elected representatives', through various combinations of cowardice, greed and ignorance, that have sold out the people of Erris and the rest of us. These are the people we should really be targeting.
This is one we can win. Support the Rossport 5!
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