Pictures of the Shell to Sea demonstration at Leinster House last Thursday

by Bobo Brazil Thu May 18, 2006 22:51

These folks could teach Americans a lot about protesting. The signs are on topic. Here in the U.S., most signs are stupid -- but they rhyme!! The people are dressed normally. Here, you would think it was Mardi Gras with all the dopey outfits people wear at protests.

There are also a lot of people who bring signs for their pet causes, having nothing to do with the issue under protest.

I love my country, but I hate the way we protest. Nobody takes these fringe loonies seriously. They damage their own cause if anything.

by Tadhg - Shell to Sea Tue Feb 07, 2006 19:56 dublinshelltosea at gmail dot com

John, sorry to be so slow responding to you, I haven't been keeping an eye on this discussion.

When you say-
"The reason Shell don't build their gas processing plant at sea is that it carries a far higher risk to life and limb than building it on land, since it would necessitate thousands of helicopter flights annually, these being by far the most dangerous form of transport around"

you realise that you're asking us to accept that the people of the community of Rossport should live with a dangerous experimental gas pipeline pumping odourless, unprocessed gas right from the sea bed past their houses, so that the Shell contractors won't have to make helicopter flights?

Don't you think your reasoning is a little bit flawed there?

by Dazzled Fri Feb 03, 2006 16:32

This is a quick snap I took from outside the steps of the French Institute on Kildare Street- I'd say there were about 5,000 people there.

by Cynic Thu Feb 02, 2006 15:45

The guy in the cap who John dislikes is Cllr Daithi Doolan of Sinn Fein. You can read releases by Daithi relating to the Rossport Five at these links.

Doolan- Trade unions must get active on Rossport 5
http://www.dublinsoutheast.com/news/482

Doolan-Supporting Rossport 5 Dublin protest
http://www.dublinsoutheast.com/news/452

by John Thu Feb 02, 2006 14:42

Obviously I was dazzled by the beauty of the lady in two of the photographs. Anyway, it looks like there has been a less than overwhelming response to Tadhg's request for people to post photographs of the assembled throng. Perhaps Tadhg was also dazzled by this lady's beauty and couldn't see how few people were present.

by Coptor Thu Feb 02, 2006 00:55

You need to check your specs John- the "attractive lady" in three pictures is two different people.

by Topper Tue Jan 31, 2006 20:35

John, I think Tadhg was giving you more credit than you deserve. He assumed that anyone who spent all their time making such silly, immature comments on Indymedia MUST be getting paid to do it. But apparently you waste your own time free of charge. Oh well, one day you'll grow up I suppose...

by John Tue Jan 31, 2006 20:31

Typical leftist silliness to assume that anyone who disagrees with them must be on someone's payroll. I certainly neither work for any PR company or for Shell. If you believe otherwise, please supply your proof. Perhaps you work for one of Shell's competitors? The reason Shell don't build their gas processing plant at sea is that it carries a far higher risk to life and limb than building it on land, since it would necessitate thousands of helicopter flights annually, these being by far the most dangerous form of transport around. But, obviously the safety of the workers who'd be working on a gas processing plant built miles out in the Atlantic is of no concern to you. As for your explanation for the paltry attendance, maybe they should have started the protest at 12.30pm to give the SWP members more time to get out of bed.

by Tadhg - Dublin Shell to Sea Tue Jan 31, 2006 19:39

Krossie, John gets paid by a PR firm for making disparaging comments whenever the Shell the Sea campaign is mentioned here. If you look back through Indymedia archives he appears in the comments section of every news story, always deriding the campaign.

The way to shut him up is ask him why Shell can't position a rig offshore and do their stuff at sea, so safeguarding the people of Erris from accidental death.

I didn't count the protesters last Thursday, but there were plenty of people there who aren't in these pictures.

The photographer who took these shots was only there at the beginning, from about 12-12.15PM, so you don't see very many SWP people there for instance, because they arrived at about 12.30.

There must have been quite a crowd there by then because the Gardaí asked us to move to the opposite side of the gates of Leinster House, because they reckoned that our presence was blocking the sightlines for drivers turning right onto Kildare Street, so I'd say there were a few more than 10.

Perhaps if other people have other photos of the protest they could post them here, since John is obviously worried that the campaign is losing its momentum...

by krossie - wsm Tue Jan 31, 2006 15:21

Who did ask you as a matter of interest?!?!

by John Tue Jan 31, 2006 15:15

No matter how many times you re-photograph the same people, you can't get round the fact that there are only about 10 people there. The rather attractive lady appears in 3 of the photos and the somewhat less attractive man in the cap appears in 4 of them. One group photo showing all the protestors would have been enough. Since there were so few of them, they'd easily have fitted into one photo. A waste of film, if you ask me.

by panzraam Mon Jan 30, 2006 23:08

Great to see you lads getting out there showing Shell that they can’t bully the ordinary people of Ireland.

You don’t need a degree in physics or any knowledge about pipeline engineering to know for sure that he shell pipeline is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode and kill hundreds of the ordinary people of Ireland.

Dr. Dave Aldridge, and there a man who knows what he is talking about (despite what the scientific community might say) has done a study into this matter which proves that the pipeline is guaranteed to explode inside 19 years and the explosion will be the biggest non nuclear explosion the world has every seen. It will incinerate everyone within two miles.

Hope there are more numbers at the next protests as we have to keep the numbers up and keep public support by telling them exactly what this pipeline will do.

by Tadhg - Shell to Sea Mon Jan 30, 2006 19:24

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