Sit Down Blockade: Bellanaboy

by Dublin Shell to Sea Fri Aug 24, 2007 22:00

For anybody going from Dublin, Dublin Shell to Sea are organising a bus down and accommodation. See http://www.indymedia.ie/article/83911 for details, tickets on sale in Connelly Books next week.

by WH - Dublin Shell to Sea Fri Sep 07, 2007 12:57 085-1609850

Dublin Shell to Sea has made a poster to advertise the sit-down protest at Bellanaboy on 14th September. An A3 version is being printed. If you click on the image here, you will see a 200dpi JPEG of an A4 version of the poster, which should be fine for A4 printing (colour!). If anyone wants it as a PDF, or wants the A3 version (it's a large file), email:
dublins2s AT gmail DOT com
or call:
085 1609850

A4 poster as a JPEG

by finally Fri Sep 07, 2007 19:22

It is a timely development that S2S has called this sit-down protest for the 14th. as Mr. Monagahan says in the Mayo Advertiser "This protest will give people the chance to clearly show their opposition to the Corrib development, and anyone is free to attend as either a participant or observer."
that statement is totally correct! especially the piece "will give people the chance to clearly show their opposition to the Corrib development,".
I for one will be watching very closely to see how much opposition there really is to this project. I suggest that our local politicians have assessed the level of opposition to the project and discovered that the vast majority of local Erris people are not opposed to the project.
And that is the reason there isn't one of them supporting the S2S campaign.
Having said that, I commend the leadership of S2S for having the courage to call for such a protest, knowing fine well that the attendance at the protest will determine the future (if any) for the campaign.

by mj - . Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:03

If the john monaghan shell to sea crew are looking to hold a mass peaceful protest in order to give people the chance to clearly show their opposition to the Corrib development, why not hold the protest on Saturday.
Friday is a normal working day , some how I can not see hoards of people giving up work on Friday to attend a shell to sea stunt.
The smoke and mirror trick will not wash with the public, the true reason why the protest is on Friday is simple , its to cause trouble with the guards and give shell to sea another chance to play the victims hand.

by Fearbolg - S2S Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:27

Dear Sir ,

As usual, in advance of a scheduled S2S demonstration, you have resorted to playing the numbers game. How, exactly, in your world, is the success or failure of a day such as this quantified? Would you, for instance consider it to be a failure if 200 turned up, but a success if there were 201? We certainly don't have a magic figure to go by, maybe you have. Regardless of how many are there, and I have to say we are extrermely thankful to the people who turn up here regularly to help us, I'd like you to take a look at these 'numbers'

Ownership of Ireland's Natural Resourses:

Shell: 45%
Statoil: 36.5%
Marathon 18.5%

Ireland 0.00%

Tax return to the Irish Exchequer from Corrib (even after Minister Ryan's measly 15% increase) : 0.00%

Estimated value of the natural resourses in Ireland's offshore: Anywhere between €500 Billion and €1 Trillion

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. Meanwhile, we the people of Erris, are expected to sit back and allow our community, environment and way of life to be destroyed in the interests of multinational superprofits facilitated totally by national and local Government, to the extent that innocent people have been, and will be, jailed and physically assaulted. We're not going to stand for it.

By the way, you mention the issue of local support. I don't know if you're a native or if you live here, but I can only tell you that support for this campaign is very strong throughout the community, but not everyone can face the prospect of being confronted by a force of guards often bent on physical confrontation, moreso since the day in June when the Gardai used a mechanical digger to attack us on private land. This area is acknowledged everywhere as the most crime-free part of Ireland, and it's just not in our nature to confront Gardai, many of whom we know socially. Unfortunately, the whole Corrib fiasco has brought about the need for us to do just that.

So crunch the numbers on Friday if you want to. I've given you the numbers that should really concern you as an Irish citizen.

Read 'em and weep.

by D Sat Sep 08, 2007 14:39

I have to correct once again the ridiculous and wholly disproven statements from Fearbolg.

"Tax return to the Irish Exchequer from Corrib (even after Minister Ryan's measly 15% increase) : 0.00%" -- The tax return to the Irish Exchequer will be 25% of profit from Corrib, less 25% of any costs spent by Shell and Statoil on exploration elsewhere in Ireland (it can be assumed that Marathon will already have deducted their exploration costs against tax liabilities from Kinsale Head).

"Estimated value of the natural resourses in Ireland's offshore: Anywhere between €500 Billion and €1 Trillion" -- The only commercial discovery offshore Ireland is Corrib and that has an after-costs of value of about €4-5 billion. All the rest is speculation, although the Government has estimated the risked reserves at 10 billion barrels oil equivalent; that would cost € billions to explore for and have an after-costs value of perhaps €400 billion. So a reasonable statement would be: "Estimated value of the natural resources in Ireland's offshore: Anywhere between €4 billion and €400 billion." This would give a return to the Irish Exchequer (at high cost and risk to exploration companies but negligible cost and risk to Ireland) of anything between €1 billion and €160 billion."

THOSE are the figures.

by tnc - tnc cocaí Mon Sep 10, 2007 09:35

if your estimations are lower than the previous - why are they building a huge refinery site for such a little amount of gas - they would simply build the refinery off shore scrape as much profit as possible and disappear! stop codding yourself shell aren't building the bellanaboy site for the craic - i know deep down shell only consider the well being of others and sur maybe their just building it to employ a few locals so they can send their kids to school - what a charitable and noble deed!

by cool j Mon Sep 10, 2007 21:52

After their well deserved summer break the Shell PR crew are starting to get going again in anticipation of a busy autumn. You can measure the general levels of activity within this neferious entity by the levels of bull their pathetic little minions spout on here

by Mad Mick and friends Tue Sep 11, 2007 14:35

On our way up for the protest. looking forward to this for a while. a lot interested in coming but tied to work sending their solidarity.