Mayo no events posted in last week
North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi?
US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty Anti-Empire >>
Indymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.
Army Sergeant Travis Decker Murdered His Three Children After Being Denied Mental Health Care at JBL... Sat Jun 07, 2025 04:52 | JBLM Whistleblowers A corrupt military police force and incompetent Commander who denied emergency mental health care and crisis counseling to an American service member resulted in the murder of the sergeant's three young daughters
Gaza doctor grieves her nine children killed in Israeli strike Sun May 25, 2025 20:00 | imc Israeli regime continues it's slaughter
'The children were completely charred'
Paediatrician Alaa al-Najjar was treating victims of Israeli attacks when her children were killed by an Israeli strike on their home
British doctors working in Gaza describe territory as a ?slaughterhouse? Sat May 24, 2025 00:23 | imc There?s no food getting in so people are starving,? surgeon Tom Potokar says
British doctors working in Gaza have described the territory as a ?slaughterhouse,? where the patients they are treating are severely malnourished.
Plastic surgeons and orthopedic specialists from the UK are based at the Amal and Nasser hospitals in Khan Younis in the south of the territory.
Dr. Tom Potokar, a plastic surgeon specializing in burn injuries, has worked in Gaza 16 times but said this mission had revealed a level of destruction far greater than his last visit in 2023,
It is time to talk about the Out of Control Immigration. Mon Mar 31, 2025 22:12 | imc For the last few years since the CV19 scamdemic undocumented immigration into Ireland has surged. No one is allowed discuss it because they do not want any rational debate about it. If you do you are labelled an extremist. However this out of control immigration is fully facilitated by the Irish government and the EU and the shady figure behind the Neo Con movement pushing for endless war, wokeism and globalist agenda.
[Dublin] National Demonstration for Palestine: End Israeli Apartheid & Genocide Thu Mar 06, 2025 22:35 | ipsc Sat, 22 March 2025, 13:00 Assemble at the Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square, Dublin 1
The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, supported by over 150 Irish civil society organisations, has called another National Demonstration for Palestine on Saturday 22nd March.
The march will begin at the Garden of Remembrance at 1pm and finish outside the D?il on Molesworth Street/Kildare Street to bring our demands to the Irish government?s doorstep. The Saker >>
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony
Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony
Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony
RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony
Waiting for SIPO Anthony Public Inquiry >>
Voltaire, international edition
Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en
Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en
The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
Shell to Sea cases 10/10/07
mayo |
miscellaneous |
news report
Friday October 12, 2007 17:33 by whoeva

account of Belmullet court hearings on 10th october Court in Belmullet today saw the case of Terrence Conway and Bob Kavanagh who stopped work at Bellanaboy for seven hours through the use of a lock on tube attached to the underside of a car http://www.indymedia.ie/article/83416. It also saw the return of the case of John Moynahan accused of assaulting a Garda on the day of the election which had been heard the previous month (http://www.indymedia.ie/article/84199).
The proceedings began once again with counsel for the defence asking Judge Devins to disqualify herself from presiding over the cases. He cited an open letter to the President of the District Court from Shauna Gillian an Irish barrister asking to ensure that an alternative judge is allocated to sit at Belmullet District Court. In the letter Gillian states that, ‘Judge Devins has crossed the Rubicon from “apparent” to “actual” bias [against Shell to Sea campaigners]’. http://www.indymedia.ie/article/84214 He also made reference to her conduct at a previous hearing where she stated that she recognised all the faces in the room as belonging to Shell to Sea supporters and where she also accused a man of “eye-balling” her when he sat at the front of the courtroom in the only available seat. It was clear that she had anticipated such queries about her impartiality as she then proceeded to read from a pre-prepared statement wherein she conflated criticism of her impartiality with intimidation. “when a judge is subjected to intimidation in an effort to remove her, if it is harmful to her security she may remove herself. The intimidatory behaviour will then be seen to have worked. I don’t think a reasonable person would perceive bias….” this went on for some time. Basically she was saying that her judgements were sound, that she had been intimidated (not that anyone has seen evidence of this) and that she would not be bullied. The cases would continue with her in charge. One other Shell to Sea related case was briefly mentioned- the case of Ed Collins who was thrown into a ditch by Gardai then accused of assault himself. This was put back until the 12th of December.
Bob Kavanagh and Terrance Conway's case was then heard. Both men were charged with two points under Section 9 of the Road Traffic Act, obstruction of the highway and obstruction of vehicles, section 6 of the Public Order Act, abusive or threatening behaviour (or behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace) and section 8 - failure to obey the orders of a gard. The prosecution's case involved the use of ony two witnesses - the arresting officers, Sergeants Walsh and Gill. Athough the prosecution initially tried to to claim that there had been aggression towards the Guards, under cross examination both prosecution witnesses admitted that this had not been the case. It was also claimed that their behaviour had been ‘reckless’ as described under section 6 and could therefore have led to a breach of the peace. The Garda witnesses tried to make case that drivers were angered by the obstruction. However, they had failed to bring anyone as a witness to verify this claim. During cross examination Gannon, solicitor for the two men, said the garda had only produced two witnesses and had made no effort to find more, eg ambulance crew, fire brigade, road users and therefore Garda could not speculate about what these witnesses might have said had they taken the stand. He also bought into question the number of charges against the defendents, referring to DPP guidelines on not overcharging people. Furthermore the Gards had asked neither of the men whether they had lawful authority or reasonable excuse in taking such action.
The defense's case began with Bob Kavanagh in the witness box. He described the atmosphere as very relaxed "more relaxed than normal where there's a lot of garda aggression. It was one of the most passive protests, it was not our intention to enrage the Gards” -"But you did this with no authority!"Kavanagh responded that he acted out of concern for the “health of residents, the ecology of the area. Local fears of the potential for an explosion and ongoing pollution. We prevented work on the site that day to highlight the ongoing injustices. The injustices continue so the protests will continue. We would rather not do this previously the protests were on Shell land but they were moved from the Shell refinery because of the Garda operation. Ideally the refinery should be shut down...” The judge shut Bob down before he could finish.
When cross-examining him the prosecution asked him repeatedly if he could have unlocked himself. Kavanagh replied that he couldn't have because after a short time his hand had gone numb. Before he was asked to unlock himself he didn’t try, so he didn't know if it was possible then. He was asked why he hadn't told the gardai of his lawful excuse for being there. He replied that he felt court was the appropriate place to voice this.
It was then time for Judge Devins to ask him some further questions "What expertise do you have in the area of ecology or pollution? " Kavanagh replied that he felt it wasn't necessary to have a formal qualification as he had read extensively about the issues. "If the Gardai had left you there, what would you have done?" He replies that other Shell to Sea protesters would have helped to free them, calling ambulances or the fire brigade if necessary. Terrence Conway replied that his motivations were much the same as Mr Kavanaghs but he made specific references to the deteriorating quality of water. When asked by Judge Devins about his knowledge of matters of ecology? Conway responded that he had no formal training but had ‘proof’ from Mayo County Councils figures of ongoing pollution of Carrowmore lake. He also has a copy of an initial letter of complaint about water pollution from Mayo County Council to those responsible. He stated that whilst the figures demonstrated an ongoing problem in relation to water pollution the council had gone quiet about the issue after the initial letter and had effectively covered it up.
In summing up the counsel for the defence pointed out that the gardai were not suggesting that there was any insulting behaviour. The case for section 6 relies on behaviour being ‘reckless’ in terms of how other road users would respond to it, yet no road users were asked to testify. There would be "no hope for society if we assume people will cause a breach of th peace when a road is blocked as roadworks, carnivals etc have a similar effect".
The case for section 9 regarding lawful excuse was also mentioned - his clients believed there was a risk to others and so were entitled to take whatever action was necessary to stop work on the site to protect other people the evidence given regarding Mayo County Councils figures on water quality supported this. The prosecution maintained that they were guilty on all counts. There was no lawful excuse as there was no reason given at the time. Judge Devins said she would consider the matter and give a decision on the 14th of November.
Further submissions in the case of John Monaghan were then heard briefly. Witnesses to the event had still not been produced by either the defence or prosecution. The prosecution produced legislation which they said demonstrated the entitlement of gardai to be present at polling booths. Judge Devins pointed out that she recognised points within the same legislation that were not up to date and that it was therefore old legislation and had since been amended. The prosecution was told to produce the details from current legislation in Westport on the 18th of October.
|
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (2 of 2)
Jump To Comment: 1 2Thanks very much for the all-so important detail, for us who couldn't be there.
With regard to questions from the judge about 'expertise', I'll just say this - We all have the capacity to learn and learn well about impacts on our lives, our environments and our communities and to act accordingly, where the so-called 'experts' fail to make any difference from their desks. The words and deeds of a community acting in response to their experiences locally, added to Shell's history of environmental destruction and murder are justified and legitimate. Pay a visit to the trailer at Bellanaboy, Judge Devins, and you might learn that too.
Do you practice law or what is your field. Where is your practice? How can I get in touch with you.What expertise do you draw your opinion from "that she (Judge Devins) appears to have a genuine interest and aptitude for law". How did you measure her aptitude?
Rachael