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|
Showdown with Shell
 mayo |
environment |
feature
 Tuesday September 26, 2006 17:12 by Ruth - Rossport Solidarity Camp rossportsolidaritycamp at gmail dot com
You have ten minutes to move
People power and peaceful resistance effectively completely defeated Shell’s first concerted effort to break the picket at the refinery site at Bellanaboy this morning.
Early signs that a confrontation was imminent were apparent by the dawn arrival of seven carloads of extra security guards who sped into the compound. People on alert began to determinedly gather in front of the gates and banners and placards were distributed in readiness for the long prepared for initial showdown.
At 7.40 a.m., 8 local Gardai and 2 special branch arrived, videoing and viewing the crowd of up to 150 protestors from across the road. Superintendent Joe Gannon approached and addressed the now shoulder-to-shoulder protestors comprising of women, children, men, old and young, who were effectively blocking the gate entrance. He announced the Gardai responsibilities to protecting the protestors from harm and enabling the legal right of people to access their place of work. He informed us that the workers would arrive at 8 a.m. at which time the Gardai intended to facilitate their entrance onto the site. He then gave us 10 minutes to discuss our course of action, in light of the information he had just imparted, and retreated to the line of waiting Gardai. He did not return to collect a verdict on this statement. Nobody moved as people stood resolute. His speech served only to reinforce the word amongst the picket that we were maintaining our right to peaceful protest. It strengthened our resolve and emphasised that peaceful resistance was our objective.
More: Past Indymedia Coverage | Rossport Solidarity Camp website | Shell to sea campaign
At 8 a.m. the convoy of workers, headed by 2 jeeps containing men in dark glasses, obviously essential for a grey, wet, morning, and 5 minibuses drove at the crowd, barely stopping short of ploughing through the front line of women and children. At this second, an historic, awesome and brave act of non-violent direct action began as the front line women began to say the rosary, accompanied by everybody on the picket line. The initial reaction by the Gardai and the convoy of workers was one of stunned silence, nobody knew what to do, and shocked disbelief was obvious as the prayers that were loudly said witnessed the opposition paralysed. The Gardai huddled in discussions seemed confused as to how to deal with this line of resistance and unclear as how to proceed. The protestors stood in unity, resolute and unmovable in sincere prayer – the seriousness of this mass demonstration of solidarity and sincerity undertaken by all the people cannot be overstated. A brief attempt by the Gardai to infiltrate the crowd appeared half-hearted, and they quickly retreated from this course of action as the praying continued.
Finally, the Superintendent approached the convoy of workers and after a brief discussion the, vehicles were reversed and they all retreated. The stand off had lasted for 20 minutes. At this point, there was no cheering, no levity, in respect for the prayers, which continued for another 10 minutes after their departure.
A long awaited event in the Shell to Sea campaign had finally occurred. This morning was a clear victory for people power employing peaceful resistance, using the respectful application of prayer. It was a major achievement, in winning a further battle in the war being waged against the destructive hell of Shell.
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Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60Photo Report, part one.
Night time vigil
Waiting for them to get the message
Anticipation
Pat and Maura
Terence ever vigilant
Cops and media arrive
Cops, second on the left recognised as Dublin protest ‘specialist’
The State versus the People
gardamedia.ie
Super intendant Joe Gannon 'You have ten minutes to move'
Photo Report, part two
Not moving
Keep Out
Reciting Rosary
Gardamedia.ie focus on indymedia.ie
Private security, Shell’s second line of defence after the Garda
The world is watching
Upwards of 50 Shell hired sub-contractors attempt entry (mostly Roadbridge)
Garda Intelligence: An Oxymoron
We Shall Not Be Moved
Photo Report, part three
Garda attempt to push group, starting with Mary and Marie Corduff
Overheard Garda decide to obstruct photographers
Going out the....
...same way you came in
Battle won, war continues
Resistance is Fertile; Maedhbh, the new daughter of Brid ni Sheighin and John Monaghan makes her first visit to the picket, some hours after the action
Just to say you're all doing an amazing job and so many of us who support the campaign but can't be there with you outside Bellinaboy are there in spirit supporting you all the way. There is no way they are going to build this refinery. This is one campaign that is winning, Shell will have to realise that their multinational corporate rape of the planet cannot continue, and ordinary men, women and children are prepared to stop them.
The cause is right. The morality is right. The politics are right. The tactics are right. The time is right. Everything about this campaign is right. We're going to win this one!
So, the man identified as a "protest specialist", wearing the black/dark-grey jacket with GARDA written on the back is very clearly not wearing any identification numbers, yet is obviously intimately involved in not just a supervisory role, but actual interaction with the public.
Is it a complete myth that Gardai are supposed to be wearing their identification numbers or is he breaking a regulation?
I've been told that the numbers are only used in the cities but are not required in small towns and villlages where in theory everyone knows the local guard. How that works when a load of cops get bussed in no one seems to worry about.
As far as I understand it common or garden cops must wear the badge numbers, Special Branch not so - but must show id on request - which means they flash an id card faster than you can read it.
Congratulations. Our thoughts and best wishes are with you all. This is just the start of the huge, inevitable moral backlash against corporate greed and the insensitivity by transnational companies and governments to the needs of both the common man and of the environment.
You have the power and the mental resources....go to it!
Paul and Sarah, Cornwall UK
Heartening to see that ordinary people can make such a significant impact - if there were the same determination to see off the exploiters in other contexts.....
Great report and pics. Here are a few extras.
(nice info on dealing with burly security, hopefully not needed for a good while yet).
Indymedia on the case
Dr Jerry Cowley TD standing with the people
Protestors recite the Rosary as Seargent Gill pretends not to notice (unsuccessfully)
Shell's John Egan turns his back on the Ogoni Nine again
RTE observe as protests continue
Excellent Pic's there again John - The one of Egan with his back to the cross's says it all!!!
PS - Well done with keeping your cool when dealing with the scum-bag this evening on Today FM!!
It is just ten or so years ago that John Egan reported on the people whose Ogoni names are on the white crosses behind him at Bellanaboy when on BBC assignment in Nigeria. He visited and wrote on villages of povery and destruction. He surely knows the Niger Delta story better than most. Why does he not tell it again? How sure is Shell of his silence?
The pictures are excellent as befits indymedia Ireland coverage & help show our commitment "since the beginning". I congratulate ye on illustrating the sequences of "mini-events" during the day.
There really are a lot of people involved on that little stage, aren't there? rank & file gardaí, superintendents, branchers, protest specialists, vid-head, and all in front of the "private security men" amongst whom some are regulars & sure yet others brought down for the day who would really like a real job like a garda gets, just like the regional papers looking on, not wishing to suck their pencils & hold a jotter, hoping someday they too will arrive in style like the RTE hacks who must have bluetooth IT facilities at the v-e-r-y least on paid for expenses. & so the abandoned breakfast of long ago becomes a media lunch. "Ok I'm the superintendent and know the law of the land - ye have ten minutes to move. At the 11th minute you've all got stand still, have you got it? if any one of you is still moving around, you're out & might get arrested. We'll do that for a while & then go back to playing tag.... or is anyone up for rounders?
The vast majority of people who protest Shell end up on the wrong side of the law or worse a gun. Shell is a corporation who when charged at the highest US level to explain its stoppage of energy supply to the USA this summer - "didn't have to answer". Their Pr department said sorry, their directors reassured share-holders, & their man at the US congressional hearing when asked was he not only going to explain the damage to the US economy but talk a little about the full extent of the ecological destruction and illegal pollution of one the planet's last wildernesses (Alaska) which caused that stoppage, took the 5th amendment.
Once upon a time, when we all played rounders & wanted someone to give us a tiny bit of money for the gas rumoured to be out in the Mayo sea - corporations like Shell didn't have the right to take the 5th amendment. That's what globalisation means. Companies have rights like people, can choose not to incriminate themselves, can pave every ten minutes movement to Hell with the best of intentions immune from protest or justice. For at end no Irish Garda superintendent can arrest the Shell corporation just as at end no US senator (hot even Ted Kennedy) can get a straight answer from them. That is the law of all lands now - made far away from Mayo in capitalism's name & now extended to Ireland's natural resources as it is to much of Africa's.
But put it this cheery way - in Nigeria people just die. They don't get to move around for ten minutes & play tag.
Hey there good people of Mayo. Its great to see your locals out there in support of this campaign to STOP Shell from bullying there way onto ordinary peoples land and destroying it. I am glad to see so many people on the photos Niall, as usual you are there to record history where ordinary people are put under pressure from there local gaurds to allow their health and safety to be put in jeopardy. It is also good to see Dr Jerry Cowhy TD on site to lend his support. Its a pity more of his compadreas are not there, but maybe they are trying to hide some accounts from the people they are supposed to represent like others have done, eh Bertie. But anyway enough about them, what about the real people in this dilema. Have they to stand up for themselves or will their ELLECTED REPRESENTITIVES come on board and help them or will they just wait for the general elections next year and come knocking on their doors looking for votes. Well lets hope these people are at home then and not locked up. Oh yes about the karate kicks, I don't think it's a good idea to use violance, leave that to the real criminals that the gaurds should be protecting us against.
Keep up the good fight.
Exxon (Esso) took the 5th as well when asked to explain how they managed to leak damage (irreversibly) over 2 million hectares. (That's bigger than county Mayo) Oh well you know how it is! I'm slow & get confused, they're all the same to me these Oil & Gas corporations. B.urning the P.lanet, going to Hell & getting away with it. But in Mayo "the people" have the chance & the right under Irish Law to take them on & focus attention not only on local malpractise or the global abuses of Shell but to talk about their competitors & accomplices as well. We need to wonder "how in our national & european long term strategic, economic & other interests we ought take them on". & that starts by stopping them. Neither oil nor gas are going to become unpopular down the retail outlets, Ireland has a great amount of hydrocarbon resources & just like the Russians we might afford to welsh on our previous deals & make betters one afresh. If we don't like the idea of corporations having such impunity (as given them by the MAI agreement and other globalisation free market deals) then we stop them every time & provoke their "down-sizing". And this is something if acheived which will help the poorest & most oppressed people of the planet. It shouldn't just be county Mayo that's carrying Ireland's moral responsibility on this game.
hi everyone well done and congratulations for holding them back again,its great to hear that they are still out hope you can keep it that way and without violence........ that is one thing ye can all hold yere heads up for.wish we could be with ye all but distance prevents that still we are praying for all of ye its stronger your getting and they WILL get weaker good luck
Congratulations on a job well done, folks. Keep up the good fight. I was heavily involved with the Glen O'Downs and Carrickmines Castle campaigns. Am currently busy with Save Tara Hill. And the Tara campaign is the dominant reason why I haven't got involved with Rossport. But my thoughts are with you guys out there on the front line.
Best wishes to the many protesters who braved the rain, standing up to shell= what fools they are.
don't they rellised that the more lies that go out on the radio the more people power show up at gate one ballinaboy. We know that the gas refinery is not safe, shell knows , but tries to convince the people, that don't know or don't care. Two engineers working with pipelines over many years have published a report that states , In essence, if you operate a pipeline you are going to have an accident. Well the protesters wont allow this to happen to the land they love. We will win this with our hearts and minds. For the lands of romance are the fields of gold,Where the earth we have is the wealth we hold,
Greened and watered by each little eddy,Fruitful each year with the seasons steady; And home to the coots and the pair of swans, Who nest in the reeds or glide along, Searching for trout or gleaming salmon, Those citizens who stand proud and tall, see you in the early mornin fog.GOD BLESS.
That's great work guys. Keep it up. Solidarity from 8,000km away!
Allowing for the extremely powerful, greed-ridden, and corruption-ridden combination of forces I believe you are up against, this in my view is an amazing and wonderful achievement. May there be many more such achievements throughout the length and breath of Ireland from now on.
Information on what I strongly suspect you are fighting against (and now winning against!!) can be found via the following link:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Bilderberg%2C+...earch
great stuff, well done everyone
ill spread the word here in genova and to friends in africa
Well done!!! That was beautiful. I'm dying to get down there and add my voice to the numbers.
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/78639
If you want to be kept informed of Shell to Sea events in Dublin- send a text to 0871323369 or email dublinshelltosea@gmail.com
Gardaí protecting Donnybrook Shell Station
As an ex Transport Manager in Africa , I remember how a disgruntled individual reversed the head ache by putting SAND in the oil filler cap of a Truck. The result?
Well, it took nearly two full years to import a replacement engine. It took less than an hour for the Project to literally ....GRIND.....to a halt.
Guess what? It happened again! Yea , again , and then the insurance Company would not insure the fleet.
So, what happened then was , the whole thing just went away and the indigenous population lived happy ever after.
All gone away. Day Day , gone away.
As is usual on these mornings there were around 100 protestors at the gates of Bellanaboy since before dawn today. Yesterday’s failed attempt by Shell to regain entry had left people wondering what would happen today. After 7am, Roadbridge (civil engineering contractors) vehicles were seen gathering a few miles away in Bangor before disappearing shortly after. News items yesterday reported Shell expressing ‘disappointment’ and the ‘need to consult with police’ before deciding what to do next. There’s no point trying to second-guess them and the bottom line is this … Shell did not show up for work today.
John Egan from Shell and Jim Mulcair, director of Roadbridge, have both been on radio regurgitating the same old bullshit about ‘national interest’, ‘local jobs’ and ‘pipeline safety’ but it really is starting to wear thin now. The cat is out of the bag lads and the truth is in now well established in the public domain. The will to keep you out which is overwhelming for all involved, nationally and internationally (as expressed in comments here), has proved to be your undoing and will continue to do so.
At this stage, it’s important to highlight an issue of concern to protestors and local residents. The first photo below is of two plain clothed individuals on-site at Bellanaboy this morning. They are Police Officers Sergeant Gill from Belmullet and our unidentified Special Branch ‘Protest Specialist’ from Dublin. There have always been issues of Health & Safety surrounding this proposed project as a whole. With regard to the site at Bellanaboy specifically, major problems and breaches of regulations were identified as a result of a ‘walk on’ site inspection by Shell to Sea local residents last winter. A Shell confidant confirmed to Shell to Sea that measures to improve on these constant sub-standards, historically associated with Shell always, were never taken until local Shell to Sea residents, after completing ‘Safe-Pass’ courses, continued to demand and secure their rights to continually enter the site for the purposes of monitoring site security and safety first hand.
At the very moment when Roadbridge Director Jim Mulcair was on radio this morning praising Shell’s commitments to exceeding the highest standards of Health, Safety & Security, why were there two men on-site without the appropriate clothing described in the ‘big sign’ right beside them? Why weren’t they accompanied by Security when they proceeded to walk up through the site without even signing in? Who’s taking responsibility for that?
By the way … that ‘says it all’ photo of John Egan above (who should no better, in more ways than one!) … he, as a journalist at the time, interviewed Ken Saro-Wiwa’s wife the day after he was hung by Shell. Mary Corduff told me that today.
I heard Sgt. Gill (left) express empathy with Willie Corduff at June Solidarity Gathering ’05 before the ‘5’ went to jail. Yesterday, as predicted, he was pushing Willie’s wife and daughter around.
Yeah Right!
The Devil is a Liar and the Father of Lies ...
... Be Gone!
http://www.radioireland.ie/lastword/2692006-16.wmv
John Manahan and John Egan and hostile Matt Cooper
anymore
Congratulations on a magnificent protest .
So many brave supporters. Though we can not be with you, we support you all the way, distributing leaflets and information. Wish we could do more.
Your efforts to keep Rossport and Bellanaboy green and free deserve the highest praise.
Your wonderful campaign is a role model
to the countries intimidated by Shell.
Bertie should send the money he borrowed to Shell to Sea.
It would be a small recompense for giving away Ireland's natural resources to greedy conglomerates for nothing.
He may soon have more time on his hands. What better thing for him to do but to head to Rossport to the Solidarity Camp to get it ready for the winter and to join you all at the picket line!
As usual O'Reilly's rag showed typical bias in their reporting of Tuesday mornings events. Apart from a brief quote from Willie Corduff they gave over most of the report to Shell and their partners in crime view of proceedings. They quoted a well known Shell apologist from Bangor-Erris who claimed he was intimdated by protestors despite the fact that he didn't get within an ass's roar of the demonstration at the gates to Bellanaboy due to the gardai holding up traffic to faclitate Roadbridges attempted entry onto the site. Still, as the Indo motto go's , why let the facts get in the way of ones own warped agenda?!!
Let's cut the semantics , stop wasting precious time and grind this operation to a halt. Period!
Sand Sand everywhere.
Listen all ,
Thanks for all you support over the past few years , however i think it is now time that we should sit down with shell and sort this issue once and for all.As from today i will not be taking part in any protests at the terminal . I think you should all follow me in this action.
Thanks
Ah I guess yer right there Jim,sure what was the point of 5 men going to jail,100s of locals and thousands of Irish,not to mention people in several other countries getting involved in protest and direct action,100s of meetings nationwide and internationally and innumerable hours of freetime spent by so many to get this issue sorted-
Sure we may as well all sit down and have a cup of tea and adopt the age-old "sure what are ya goin to do about it" attitude.
You're no more a member of Shell to Sea-I shouldnt even have taken your tokenistic trollish bait.
Onwards! -Victory for the Irish People-not the Multinational Murderer!
Well & bravely done yez all - keep up the pressure! Hoping to be there soon (living in UK) - till then praying for yez & the Erris environment. Supporters - please come & support Mayo people's rights if yez can!
A positive mood of anticipation and readiness was again present among the crowds gathered at the Bellanaboy picket at daybreak today. Despite the no show by Shell yesterday, the people here remain determined, defiant and undeterred. The numbers of people turning out at dawn to picket the site remains consistently high each day. At 7.30 a.m. a flurry of activity as 2 Gardai cars pulled up opposite the gates saw people reacting by gathering to block the site entrance. There was no media present and the Gardai made no attempt to approach the crowd, staying instead on the opposite side of the road, extensively videoing the proceedings. It was suggested they were there as requested by some members of the picket who called into Bellmullet Gardai station yesterday, requesting protection from the dangerous driving of the workers who nearly ploughed into the front line of the picket on Tuesday morning. A brief conversation was had with the Gardai thanking them for their attendance.
At 7.45 a.m. the rosary was said. A solemn, respectful event, which it seems, may be done each day. It is an act of worship, which is appropriate to turn to in times of adversity and woe, and for the people of Erris, struggling to protect their families, lives and homes, this can only be considered appropriate. At 8 a.m. the Gardai drove away, and by this action informed the picket that the workers would not be attempting to access the site today. However, with or without Gardai protection, eventually Shell will have to acknowledge that workers will not be accessing this site at any time. The tireless tenacity of the opposition to its insane polluting project is, and will continue to be, demonstrated daily with the formidable force of people power. This is a protest of national importance, loudly declared by a banner, which stated is Ireland ‘A Country or Commodity?’ Our national resources may have been sold, but the community of Erris will never be bought.
Country or Commodity
Thanking the Garda
Morning Rosary
Here are some pictures of cliffs and seal caves around Broadhaven bay. Into this bay, should the refinery be built, will be pumped waste from it. The bay has a circular tidal pattern which means such waste will accumulate within it.
Shell are reported by RTE to be now claiming to want to "modify the route" of the pipeline "in consultation" with the local community and have requested that all legal proceedings against them be dropped. This seems like a last ditch effort to hoodwink the Irish taxpayer into accepting an unprecedentedly dangerous extraction method so that Irish natural resources can be squandered.
I wonder what it is about "Shell to Sea" that is ambiguous and confusing? Possibly the Shell executives seeing the venality and cupidity of the Irish politicians made the mistake of thinking all Irish people were so easily deceived.
See you all at the gates tomorrow folks... and the day after, and all the days after that, until this project of lies and torment is extinguished once and for all. Truth will prevail.
Yr comment is inaccurate & does not respect or reflect the hard-working people of Erris who are campaigning for their homeland, nor the hard-working & inspired people at Rossport Solidarity Camp who are not only AGAINST Shell's unrighteous land-grab, but also working creatively FOR solutions to the environmental chaos created by consumerism & corporate greed.
some other problems facing Royal Dutch Shell
http://indymedia.ie/article/78086
http://indymedia.ie/article/78065
By the sounds out of it you sit down with Shell everyday - How are all the other fiction writers at Shell PR - Busy these last few days I bet!!
Indications are that later this morning Shell and their state security puppets intend to get really stuck in to lawfull protestors at Bellanaboy. The garda filming of protestors yesterday morning was an obvious attempt to indentify individual's who they feel they can target for extra special treatment when events kick off in only a few hours from now. Similar tactics have been employed in the recent past at other peacefull demonstrations. The turn-out this recent week has been impressive given the often bad weather and early hours. We will show Shell that were are determined as ever to halt this attack on our families safety, heath, and local environment!!
Numbers of demonstrators reached a new high this morning outside the gates at Bellanaboy and it become obvious by 8am that Shell were not going to show given the absence of their friends in the media. 2 squad cars did arrive earlier on and it was very apparent there were sent out to check how many demonstrators turned up. Suiteably overwhelmed they headed back to tell their masters at Shell that there was no point in forcing things today!
WE all know whats happening at the gate, but do we really know. How will the game will go.
It's not what it seems, five brave men had to walk away, from all they loved, to show us the way. We search and search and learned and learned, that lies are lies that shell does turn .Shell will not gain one inch of our lands and families future. All though out the world , shell has destroyed what they say is safe, is lies. We all know the truth, thats why we stay. God bless all of you, I'll be with you all next week. A poem; But the gold sun of freedom grew dark over Rossport. And it is set by shells red wave,[so they think,]
And old Erris will not be the same, Her heart pierced by traitors and shell slaves,
We will pervail and let shell finally set sail, shell to sea and the rest shall see. I really hope that they [ shell] go away, you will never win , all eyes, all over the world are watching you, when you finnaly do say goodbye*
This is a really marvellous action you all are keeping on doing!
Good luck for the next rounds,
all my support in mind from Brussels, Belgium.
Hi,
Just like to say that i am behind you folk all the way..
God Bless.
Forest Taff.
LAST Tuesday we saw the law being flouted by protesters at Bellanaboy. The Shell terminal there has been granted permission by Bord Pleanala, having gone through the process twice. What was at issue last year, we are told, was a Shell pipeline through Rossport. But work at the terminal site was terminated due to protests, with workers going to the site having to get “permission” from objectors. Shell stopped work and did not force the issue, giving space to all concerned. The minister appointed a firm to examine the safety of the pipeline and it got a clean bill of health.
That should have been enough, but Peter Cassells, a mediator, also tried to find a way forward and failed.
For any reasonable person that should be enough if the safety of the pipeline at Rossport was the only issue. Workers were stopped going on site at the terminal by protesters who also obstructed gardai on Tuesday.
Where stands the law now? Does mob rule prevail? The spectacle of people reciting the rosary while obstructing gardai was totally hypocritical, a sort of local jihad, and Bull McCabism at its best. Ar aghaidh leis an obair.
I might be wrong but isn't the post people are complaining about a qoute from the sunday times - which the poster disagrees with.
http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&tas...id=38
“When I drove to the gate there was a car in front of me. People were shouting verbal abuse at me, they knew who I was. All this type of muck has been going on for a long, long time. The security called the Gardaí, I did not because, as I told one of them, Shell were paying me and I could stay there for weeks. The Gardaí arrived and they [the protesters] backed off and when I left they had a big clap and a jeer. There must have been 20 cars if not more at 10.20pm on a Friday night and up to 30 people there,” he explained.
He arrived the next day at the site with his fitter and said he was there only ten minutes when a car and trailer arrived to cross the gate. He said up to 17 people there starting giving him abuse.
This clapping and jeering and saying the rosary is terrorist intimidation of the highest order. I feel for that poor man. The poor wee fella. I hope he sues them. It's a good thing the gardai have the riot squad in the area it sounds like some desperate troublemakers are there.
For Disgusted and all the other relegious hypocrites out there, they may like to know that the rosary was said pretty much everyday this summer at Bellanaboy wheter Shell or their lackies were present or not.
PS - Ever seen the Film "Gadhi" - prayer was used as part of his peacefull protest's that got the Brits out of India.
well done to all. keep standing against them and they (hopefully) will fall!
Obviously my sense of sarcasm is not expressed clearly enough in text.
Wish we could be there to show our support! Fair play to all involved in the protesting, you may tell the Gardi that their time would be better spent down in Moyross and Southhill in Limerick instead of harressting people and attempting to deprive them of their constitutional right to protest! It is a supposed democracy we live in, not Germany of 1940!
Just wanted to know how if any of the protesters have jobs or is the rest of the country paying taxes so they can be on the dole and sit around the terminal all day. Also it is sad to see garda resources being wasted down there when they could be at something worth while is it any wonder they done what what they done yesterday. This is not directed at any one just my view on the matter.
Your trolling but there is a point here.
Yeah it is hard working nine to five as most of the protesters do and also finding the time and energy to take precious holiday time off and cross the country to stand in solidarity beside the people of Rossport. From Dublin its a 7 hour journey each way which means people travelling down Thursday and camping overnight (in November!) so they can get up at 6am and face a battering at the hands of the state.
I can only salute those who have made this effort and say I'll also try and get a couple of days off so I can stand alongside you next time. If a lot more people were willing to stand up in a similar manner this world would be a lot better place, will you join them?
Hi all, I was one of many who travelled from Belfast to support the Shell to Sea campaign in Ballinaboy. This was an exhausting and costly journey. I am a young professional who had to take holidays from my office job to attend the protest and show my support. I am not affiliated with any political party; I am just an outraged citizen. I was brutalised by the Gardaí at the protest despite not raising a hand in violence or insulting any gards. I was moved by the courage and solidarity of the protestors and was not intimidated by special branch's endless photographing of the protestors - I have nothing to hide. Also I intend to be present at all of the international day of action events.
Shell to Sea is doing a great job,
Hang in there,
Un pueblo unido hamas sera vencido!
-- A people united will never be defeated!
a people united will never be defeated??? sounds like something mr bush would use. Not surprising really. A Message to the 'Eco Warriors' The battle has been lost. go find some other lost cause to chase or god forbid, actually find a job! The you can moan about the tax payer having to pay for the garda presence at the terminal aswell. Because at the moment your causing it and not paying for it! Shell to shore.
Letter in the Western People by Sinn Fein Councillor Gerry Murray.
http://www.westernpeople.ie/news/story.asp?j=33955
Did anyone get to read the irish times on saturday in which it emerged that there is a shin feinn member working on the corrib project? interesting huh? even more interesting and amusing is the partys response where it said that it had spoken with this member, a Mr Ruddy, and said that work is work and every man has a right to go to work. Ha ha ha ha ha ha, oh Shin fein and the their involvement in the corrib gas project, great stuff!
I'm sure you're being well paid by your PR company to post that drivel on Indymedia, but don't imagine anyone takes it seriously. This site has been deluged with posts from anonymous "actual erris residents" for the last year, expressing hostility to the campaign. Funnily enough, nobody who has gone down to support the S2S campaign has encountered any hostility whatsoever. As indeed you'd expect, seeing as opinion polls, door-to-door canvasses and anything else you'd care to mention have shown that S2S is supported by a clear majority of local people.
The day local people stop turning out for the protests and stop asking people to come from around Ireland to support them, is the day people from the rest of the country will stop going down to support S2S. Don't see any chance of that happening yet. Go off now and snort a few lines with your workmates, brag about the shoes you bought at the weekend or maybe go to a tanning booth.