Statoil on usher quay shut down by protest

by Bonzo Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:43

I too was there and was happy to answer the call to protest at the Station from an SWP member even tho I am not one myself. I passed this call on to a number of fellow activists ranging from anarchists to labour members. They responded and we had a very successful protest.

This campaign is one that we can all unite on and one where all of Ireland is exposed to the reality of corperate greed.

As for the manager he remarked to me in a joking way that the last time there was a protest the doors of the station were chained shut and he joked that if they had have asked first he would have closed the door for them. He definitly supported the protest and gave us all an icecream at the end. He shook hands with us all at the end. This is not the actions of a man who feared violence. Previous comments relating to this are merely attempts to sow the seeds of division in this movement. Don't allow this to happen ignore this drivel.

by S Prunty Wed Jul 13, 2005 14:36

I was at the statoil station as i needed petrol (!) and then searched the web for references to the protest and came across this website. i have visited this site before when i was a member of the students union. theres no conspiracy theory i'm afraid! nothing strange about it at all mayoman!

i'm just repeating what i was told by the station manager. and if you have any further questions as to my honesty i can refer you to the two passengers in my car who will verify what the manager told us. in addition, i stand by my submission and i am happy to sign my full name to it, unlike you who make your submissions under the tag "mayoman" ;-)

i would also like to add that i sympathise with the plight of the residents of rossport.

by Paul Mac Giolla Bán Wed Jul 13, 2005 13:53

Michael - "people from different political ideologies coming to work together in fighting the things that we are ALL against"

This is something the 'broad left' needs more of. I believe there is too much knee-jerk criticism of the SWP (just one example) etc. on indymedia. Of course there are real differences between different sections of the left, but rather than wasting energy criticising each other we need to unite on the basis of what is common to all of us. If other sections of the left have a different method to you just let them do their thing while you do yours. If you do want to address the differences it should be done behind closed doors in a calm and rational way. The sniping etc. damages everyone.

After all, the left have a long way to go to become dominant force in society. Maybe at that stage we will have the luxury of sniping at each other, but not just yet.

Let's keep this thread free of back and forth unproductive criticism between different 'leftist' elements.


Well done on what sounds like an effective and visible protest.

by Michael Wed Jul 13, 2005 13:22

Should mention that the owner gave us all free ice creams as well in solidarity with our actions! Cops came along to check things out. Not much they could do when the owner of the station was backing us up! Good support from cars on the quay as well.

As mentioned already in was a great protest in terms of people from different political ideologies coming to work together in fighting the things that we are ALL against. Twelve people there yesterday was far more effective than if it had been 6.

Keep up the protests!! This is a classic example of State/Corporate/Legal dominance over ordinary people. The mainstream media are pulling in behind us as well.

Hopefully we have em' on the run on this one and it will help to show up some of the grave flaws of the system that we all live in.

by mayoman Wed Jul 13, 2005 13:01

There have been no violent scenes at any of the station protests, and certainly not at the one to which you refer. That calls into question the honesty of either yourself or the manager. Strange too that you just happened to be there at the time and then to wander on to indymedia to find the report!! Are you clairvoyant?

by S Prunty Wed Jul 13, 2005 12:56 dublin 15

I was present at the closed statoil station during the protest and spoke to the manager. He said that he decided to close the station because he was afraid that there would be violence, a previous protest had ended in violent scenes. I dont think this qualifies as a "surprisingly successful protest." The threat of violence to achieve your aims (even if only implied) is nothing to be proud of.

by Dave Wed Jul 13, 2005 12:01

....with a lot of the sh1te on this site but the efforts by a myriad of people to highlight this issue is impressive and my fleet (10 trucks and 16+ vans) will not be filling up on Statiol and Shell North or South of the border until this is resolved to my satifaction.

by R. Isible Wed Jul 13, 2005 02:05

Any pics of the action?