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Rossport Solidarity Camp visit to the Earth First! Summer Gathering
 mayo |
environment |
news report
 Saturday September 02, 2006 21:42 by Terry - Rossport Solidarity Camp
Report on this years' Earth First! Summer Gathering, an annual radical ecology get-together in Britain. This year’s Earth First! Summer Gathering took place in Glaneirw Housing Co-operative in West Wales, beside Cardigan Bay.
The Earth First! Summer Gathering has been a yearly event since 1992.
Numbers were significantly down at this one, most likely due to it close proximity in timing to the camp for climate action.
However, on the positive, something like 80% of attendees had never been to an EF! Gathering before.
The Gatherings are an important networking and learning hub for radical libertarian environmentalism in Britain. The event took place over four fields, two for camping, one for car parking, and the final one where most events were held. This field held a circle of marquees, geodomes and other large tents, including five or six for meetings and social events, one very large kids space, a cinema, a Veggies stall for snacks, and an Anarchist Teapot marquee which was the kitchen for lunch and dinner.
Workshops and meetings ran over five days from the 16th to 20th of August. Every morning there was an introduction to the EF! Summer Gathering workshop for people who had not been at one before. There were a whole bunch of meetings on different issues such as ID cards, road and airport expansion, nuclear power, and climate change, as well as practical workshops on things like squat electrics and blockade techniques.
The age range was more diverse than similar events in Ireland, and there were many more people there with their children. The social side of things was also better, with a folk singer one night, and a very good open mic night. All of which happened spontaneously due to new licensing laws in Britain. Stuff got started every morning at around 9 so there also seemed to be less drinking till dawn as sometimes happens at gatherings here.
Meetings:
I attended a couple of meetings of particular interest.
Firstly there was one on the ‘Welsh gas pipeline’, a pipeline which actually goes through England as well.
This is a development where a liquefied natural gas refinery is to be built in Milford Haven, a port city in Wales, and a pipeline to be constructed to bring the processed gas from there to south east England and the continent. There is some community based opposition along the route in Wales. This development is being carried out by Transco, who are the owners of Advantica, which carried out the government’s ‘safety review’ into the Rossport pipeline. I exchanged contacts with these folk with a view to linking up in the future.
As well as this there is a campaign against oil exploration in Cardigan bay.
There was also a meeting about a proposal for a ‘nuclear alert tour’, which roughly means a project to travel around the country raising awareness about nuclear power and nuclear weapons. The British government currently plan an expansion of nuclear power, building many more new plants, as well as the replacement of Trident, their nuclear missile system.
The tour seems to be a project to build up support in order to get ready to challenge the building of such developments in the future (this will be some years away). I felt there would likely be support for this tour here, given previous campaigning around Sellafield, if anyone is interested in linking with the nuclear alert tour, whom I’m sure could do with practical support, you can contact me at room101ucg@yahoo.co.uk
Haringey Solidarity Group led an excellent workshop on doorstep politics, looking at community action carried out by the libertarian left. There were particularly inspiring stories at this meeting from Haringey and Hull, and some debate about how ‘political’ such action should have to be, e.g. a social centre whose main role is recreational, and also how working in residents associations and the like to improve an area can open up the threat of gentrification.
Rossport Meetings:
Participants in Rossport Solidarity Camp held 3 workshops and 2 film showings.
The first was an introductory talk where we gave a potted history of the campaign, talked about the environmental damage which would be caused by the refinery, and outlined what the camp does.
Myself and Niall spoke at a meeting on ‘popular resistance in Ireland’, where I spoke about the Irish Ferries strike, the Dublin riot, and the Justice for Terence Wheelock campaign, and Niall spoke about Bantry and Pallaskenry.
We also held an open meeting about what people in Britain could do to contribute to the struggle against Shell. We got a lot of offers of practical support through this and through informal networking.
The next gathering:
The gathering changes location and organising collective each year. I was so impressed by this year’s one (I hadn’t been at one previously) that I undertook to promote the event in Ireland. I’m interested in hearing from people who would like to participate in next year’s EF! Gathering, particularly people wishing to offer workshops, practical support, etc…, and interested in helping to advertise it here. You can contact me at room101ucg@yahoo.co.uk
Earth First!:
Earth First! isn’t a cohesive organisation. Two entities carry the name Earth First!, the gathering, and the Earth First! Action Update website. From time to time there is also a ‘winter moot’, which is the winter version of the gathering, which appears to be more like a plenary to discuss big strategic issues.
Participants at the gathering seemed to come from a fairly wide range of the libertarian left in Britain. There no longer appear to be Earth First! local groups as there was in previous years, and the journal Do or Die! is no longer published.
Apart from the far greater number of people into ‘animal rights’ and a bookstall selling primitivist tracts the gathering was much like a bigger and longer version of a Grassroots Gathering, in a field rather than a hall.
Some folk who identify with the Earth First! banner have been a great support for Rossport Solidarity Camp.
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Jump To Comment: 1 2 3this sounds like a really great idea, but maybe it would be better if it also talked about climate change and capitalism.
'Some folk who identify with the Earth First! banner have been a great support for Rossport Solidarity Camp'. - Terry.
I think that's what hit me most about my trip to the gathering. The willingness of those in Britain who want to help us here in Ireland, in Rossport.
We were watching films one night about the camp in Rossport and the Shell to Sea campaign. There was one short film I hadn't seen of an action which blockaded and shut down a Shell service station in London. A few people also managed to occupy the roof and dropped a huge banner - 'Stop Shell Hell in N.W. Mayo, Ireland'. Flyers were handed out to passers-by who stopped to talk, which included two Mayo lads living in London who were pretty blown away by the solidarity of their British neighbours. A few people were arrested after this demo and released later without charge, thankfully.
Some of the faces I was seeing on the film were either sitting there watching it with us or outside sitting at the fire, and I'd been chatting briefly to some of them earlier about other things other than Rossport. Apart from some who've been and worked on the camp and were there also watching the movie, I'd never met those in the film and at the gathering before this. I found it quite moving that these quiet strangers were doing stuff for us in Britain, with little fuss ... no bother ... happy to do it ... and prepared to get arrested for it. And the 'Rhythms of Resistance' political street band who make a beautiful noise at these demos, and who stayed at Rossport Solidarity Camp ... if you click on there website below, the main front page link is to the Shell to Sea campaign. Thank you so much folks, all of you.
Terry, as usual, had planned well to make sure there were good workshops on Rossport at Earth First, thanks to him, Ruth and Tracey. Ruth put some photos together on posters with flyers and info to make a Rossport stall in the main tent. It was great. But I think we'd forgotten about the power of 'word of mouth' also. The fact is this ... people are being drawn to Rossport and the campaign. Friends in Britain who've been at the camp love it, and are telling their friends when they get back home. As a result of this we had a lot of people at Earth First telling us ... "We'll see you in Rossport, as soon as we can". And at the last Rossport 'Solidarity' Workshop, more people came to offer more practical support, from Britain, to the camp ... this at 9AM ON THE SUNDAY MORNING!!
I think this says a lot about the spirit of Earth First and the nature of the people involved. Not just that they are happy to help us ... more than that ... it's just their nature ... this is what they do ... this is their role ... it's their fuckin' job. There are some serious and dedicated people here folks, very experienced and unassuming ... willing. I enjoyed discovering that for myself. We can learn a lot from our friends in Britain.
It's also nice to reminded that 'anything can happen' at these kind of gatherings and to discover that 'another world is possible' ... literally!!
That's why I'm including photos of Thierry Sallantin. (Photos were taken off-site with Thierry, as cameras are not allowed at Earth First Gatherings). Thierry is a French man who has spent many years in the virgin rainforests of French Guiana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Guiana), living with indigenous tribes and supporting them in their fight against illegal gold-miners who are poisoning them with mercury run-off from the gold-refining processes. The French authorities who turn a blind eye to the illegal mining, arrested and charged Thierry with 'incitement', when they heard about this white man in the jungle who was supporting these indigenous communities. Thierry spent six years in prison in Guiana and since his release he has been planning his return there ... with company this time. Thierry is gonna spend the next year doing a speaking tour of Europe talking about his plan to return to French Guiana and his hopes to gather a team of people who are prepared to into the jungle with him and pioneer a number of new eco-villages in, and for the protection of, the Amazonian Rainforests of French Guiana which is after all ... wait for it ... in the European Union! Bet you didn't see that coming! It's a pretty hard-core plan by a hard-core individual looking for some hard-core people who are prepared to do it. It's doable, I hope it works out for him. I’d like to get Thierry over to Ireland at some stage to talk about this.
Anyone interested can contact Thierry at: tsallantin (at) hotmail (dot) com.
Closer to home and to the EF gathering, the Glaneirw housing co-op who generously hosted us and the gathering, are a small community of individuals and families who share responsibility for the mortgage of a big old country house with sheds, barns and workshops on about 50 acres of green fields, woodlands and old fruit and vegetable gardens. All living and working together to create sustainable self-sufficiency. Thanks a lot guys for having us.
Back on the gathering site, I especially enjoyed (as a meat-eater) spending as much time as I could in the 'Veggie' tent, overlooking the main field, just chatting and drinking tea and eating the lovely delicacies being constantly produced from the 'Veggie' oven. I wasn't the only one who enjoyed just hanging out there and enjoying the good company of the 'host with the most' from the Sumac Social Centre, (http://www.veggies.org.uk/), in Nottingham ... Vincent. Thanks a lot pal, what a pleasure.
And Special Thanks to the Earth First! organising collective who put so much work into making it all happen. And to the Anarchist Tea-Pot for feeding us with great food. Thank you all very much, see all you soon I hope.
What a plan? Build your canoe at the 'weekend in the woods' and head up-river with ...
Thierry Sallantin. tsallantin (at) hotmail (dot) com.
Sounds like it was a great event!!! - Any chance of having the next one over here - at Rossport or Tara maybe???