Press Release: Shell to Sea Event in Dublin at Norwegian Parade Next Thursday MAY 17th

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Tuesday May 15, 2007 14:34 by Shell to Sea dublinshelltosea at gmail dot com c/o 134 Phibsborough Road Dublin 7 0871323369

May 17th 10.45AM College Green Dublin

PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release

Shell to Sea Event at Norwegian Parade Next Thursday MAY 17th, 10.45AM, Trinity College Dublin

Every year the Norwegian Community in Ireland have a parade through the streets of Dublin to celebrate their national day. It's becoming traditional now for activists from the Shell to Sea campaign to join in, and point out how the government of Norway are doing a much better job of looking after the interests of their citizens than our representatives are looking after us.

Through ownership of Statoil, the Norwegian people will own 25% of Corrib gas. The people of Ireland will gain nothing.

On Thursday morning, Micheál Ó Seighin of the rossport Five will be present to talk to the media and answer questions about how a scheme like the rossport/Bellanaboy pipeline and refinery project would not be allowed in Norway for health, safety and community consent reasons. Nevertheless the Irish government insists that the scheme must go through.

Speaking about the event Micheál Ó Seighin said: "The people of Ireland will see no lasting benefit from the exploitation of their oil and gas, but the government of Norway has managed to make sure that that oil and gas revenues will help that country long into the future. What people find difficult to understand is why money from Irish resources should form part of that revenue, and how it can make economic sense for the Irish government to give away the Corrib gas field which is worth billions of euro."

The purpose of Thursday's event is to applaud Norway's attitude to its citizens, and ask why the same care and attention can't be applied to the Corrib scheme. No criticism is meant for the Norwegian govt taking advantage of the terms of the Fianna Fáil deal- rather, protesters ask, why can't the people of Ireland get as much out of the resources off the west of Ireland as the people of Norway will?

Event details: Shell to Sea campaigners will meet at Main Gate (College Green) Trinity College Dublin at 10.45AM on Thursday 17th May. Parade will go up Nassau Street, Kildare Street, and to the bandstand at St.Stephen's Green.