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All-Action Shell to Sea Super Sunday – A Tripod, A Lock-On And A Compound Infiltration
 mayo |
anti-capitalism |
news report
 Monday June 29, 2009 06:14 by FSB! - Rossport Solidarity Camp
Shell's Cops have their Sunday roasts burnt and pints knocked over by defiant campaigners!
Sunday June 28th saw the most intense burst of direct action against Shell in Erris so far in this phase of the campaign to thwart the Great Gas Robbery and the destruction of Erris along with its community. A tripod on a road bridge near McGrath's Bar held up vital repair gear for the pipeline winching operation for over four hours. This was followed up by a five-person lock-on on the same road a bit nearer the Shell compound. Together, they delayed winching operations for twelve hours, and there were nine arrests in all. Meanwhile, three Solidarity Campers managed to sneak into the Shell compound at Glengad and get out without being arrested.
Shell's Air Corps EC135 P2
At about two o'clock Sunday lunchtime a Rossport Solidarity Camp action team erected a tripod on the road to Shell's Glengad compound, upon a bridge near McGrath's Bar in Pullathomas. This action was executed on foot of information received that the winch gear in Shell's compound had broken down and needed replacement parts and extra gear, all of which was to arrive on a truck convoy travelling the Pullathomas road to Glengad. The first Garda car on the scene revved up attempted to ram the tripod, and this reckless endangerment of the tripod occupier was prevented only by a brave camper standing before the apparatus and compelling the Garda car to stop. The car touched against the shins of the camper as it stopped, once again illustrating the madness of a murder-minded police force drunk on impunity.
Having cautioned the tripod occupier under the public order act, the Gardai then went on to declare an 'exclusion zone' and then roughly pushed out his companions off the road under threat of arrest. They found refuge from Garda harassment in an adjacent field, and from there kept vigil over their colleague, who was being continually endangered by ignorant meddling by the Gardai on the scene with the tripod apparatus. Local people and campers began to arrive to support the tripod occupier, getting as close to him as they could in the fields at either side of the road.
One Garda committed an unprovoked assault on a Solidarity Camper on the road about 100m away from the tripod, tripping him, gashing his hand badly and also leaving him with a bad chest injury. Gardai began attempting to arrest anyone who entered the road anywhere near the tripod, arresting three people without giving them any chance to leave voluntarily. One of the arrestees was acting as a recorder of incidents; his log book was seized by the cops in another act of cynical impunity. The arrests were conducted with no little violence on the part of the Gardai.
In a bizarre interlude during this action, a table and desk was produced from a horsebox-type trailer the Gardai brought to the scene, and four cops in blue hard-hats proceeded to fill in forms on the table. Screens were then erected around the tripod area in a futile attempt to prevent photographing or filming of Garda activity. The Gardai present attempted to question the tripod occupier as if he were already arrested and in custody in a Garda station, which struck many witnesses as an abuse of procedure.
An hour-and-a-half after the tripod was erected, a truck from AGS Scaffolding Ltd. from Crossmolina arrived at the McGrath's Bar side of the tripod. Not coincidentally, the AGS stands for Anthony Gill Scaffolding, and Anthony Gill is the brother of Garda Sgt James Gill, an ever-present menace to the citizens of Erris. Furthermore, from the nature of the equipment the scaffolders brought with them and the manner in which the scaffolders worked with the cops, it can be reasonably suspected that this company's personnel have trained alongside Gardai for this kind of 'work'.
After two hours or so of platform building by the scaffolders two Garda detectives climbed up and began to remove the tripod occupier. The manner in which they effected the arrest was calculated to inflict injury and displayed a level of petulant spitefulness that the people of Kilcommon and surrounding parishes have endured for far too long. The tripod successfully blocked the road for nearly four hours and the dismantling of the scaffolding platform must have added another 90 minutes of road blockage to this.
Within an hour of the tripod being dismantled and before the truck convoy could get any farther, a lock-on team from the Solidarity Camp got into position on the road only 300m or so from the gates of the Shell compound. Even though it was raining steadily in the evening gloom, the Gardai supplied only an insufficient quantity of cover for the protestors, who were soaked to the skin within minutes of locking-on. Supporters from the camp and the local area began to gather at the site, and then about an hour into the action, the number of Gardai began increasing. The Gardai used their numbers to begin progressively pushing people back using threats of arrest under the public order act, and once again erected screens and tents to block the view of people supporting the lock-on team, and to frustrate filming and photographing of their actions.
The Gardai assented to allowing an observer to remain with the lock-on team, but then cynically removed her under the pretence of arresting her for the 'crime' of having a mobile phone passed to her from an outside supporter. She was searched (no doubt illegally), dragged out and put into a Garda van for almost a quarter of an hour, and was then released from Garda captivity. The cops then proceeded to begin cutting out the lock-on team.
The lock-on was disassembled finally only at around a quarter to two on Monday morning. By this time, the two actions on the road had delayed Shell by a full twelve hours. It had also spoiled the plans and pricked the arrogance of Shell's cops, who were serially outwitted by brave and committed Shell to Sea campaigners. The tripod action arrestees and two of the five lock-on arrestees were brought to Ballina Garda station, and the other three lock-on arrestees were brought to Castlebar Garda station. At the time of writing the four tripod arrestees have been remanded in Garda custody and will be up in Westport district court later today. It is not yet known whether the other five have been remanded or released.
Meanwhile on Sunday evening as the lock-on action was happening, three Solidarity Campers drove into the Shell compound when the metal front gates were opened for other traffic, utilising the technique of 'social camouflage' to seize the opportunity presented. The campers got to the second internal set of gates and were about to have them opened for them when they were recognised. Gardai threatened to tow the car out, but eventually the campers were allowed to drive out and were not arrested. With the kayak team making the Solitaire run away on Thursday evening and now this penetration of the Glengad Shell compound, not only are the mercenary 'security firm' IRMS fascist scum, they are crap fascist scum too!
Shell's Garda eye in the sky
Tripod in place
Maybe if I ignore the tripod it it'll magically go away?
'Gregeen' on filming duties again.
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Comments (45 of 45)
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 45All from the tripod action.
what are the cops doing? Tripod occupier tries to have a look
Shell's cops like to operate in secret!
Shell's Scaffolders from Sgt. Gill's brother's company AGS Ltd.
Climbing to the apex of the tripod
Trespassing cops - soon evicted by an irate landowner
These photos are from the lock-on action, and slightly before it on Glengad beach
This shabby makeshift raincoat is all Shell will afford its minions
Lock-on, shot one
Cops begin to surround lock-on team
Supporters gather at the lock-on
Cops begin to cover up
More to come from Madam K and the Revolt video crew later today!
A sneaked shot of the lock-on before it became impossible to see them
Co. Shell is copped out!
The courage of the protestors is amazing & humbling.
As for the idea of Maura going on hunger strike - she's 7 stone, & had health problems, so it should be someone else's turn!
Jack asked an important question:
"Why are you doing this?"
At least three good reasons:
1. They are doing it to protect people from being killed by an unprecedented high-pressure pipeline that could explode or set fire to houses near the route that is currently being proposed.
2. Also because of pollution hazards to a nearby lake and to fishing grounds.
3. And because one of the government politicians who abolished royalties on gas that belongs to the Irish people, Ray Burke, later served a prison sentence for corruption.
A hearing about the on-shore part of pipeline has only just finished last week - which is odd, because Shell/Statoil have already constructed a landfall site and the Solitaire is laying the off-shore part as if they already had permission to build the on-shore part starting from this landfall site. The Shell/StatoilHydro/Marathon consortium have been building their refinery and pipeline for several years without first going through transparent procedures, i.e. without first consulting the community, to gain planning permission to start construction at a sensible site.
Please read some articles about the hazards of the proposed on-shore pipeline that emerged in the hearing:
"Gas explosion fears raised at hearing
LORNA SIGGINS in Belmullet, Co Mayo
SHELL EP Ireland consultants have conceded that safe shelter in the event of a rupture and explosion has not yet been identified for residents living close to the proposed Corrib gas onshore pipeline.
The consultants also told the An Bord Pleanála oral hearing in north Mayo yesterday that houses within 230 metres of the pipeline could “burn spontaneously” from heat radiation if gas in the pipe was at full pressure."
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0604/1....html
"Expert warns on risks of explosion
...
Comdt Boyle said that many recent pipeline accidents had occurred with pressure loads of 70 bar – half that proposed for the Corrib gas onshore pipeline.
He cited as an example the July 2004 explosion in Ghislenghien, Belgium, in which 24 people died and more than 120 people were injured. Most of those killed were police and firefighters responding to reports of a gas leak, operated by Fkuxys, a pipeline operator owned by Royal Dutch Shell."
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0528/1....html
well done, and thanks!!!
Jack asked:
"Cops are threspassing?"
It may some as a surprise to you, Jack, but the police are not ordinarily entitled to walk into a farmer's field without permission. As they did yesterday.
"trespass
n. entering another person's property without permission of the owner or his/her agent and without lawful authority ... "
http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=2160
It may be difficult to get used to the idea, but members of the Irish police have been known to commit serious crimes involving trespass. For example, the Morris tribunal revealed that a Garda Sergeant planted a fake bomb at a telecommunications mast in Donegal so as to have a pretext to arrest local protesters. The same policeman planted a sawn-off shotgun elsewhere for similar reasons. Read more:
Afraid of Gardai
Written by Vincent Browne and Frank Connolly
Thursday, 24 August 2006
http://www.village.ie/Society/Garda/Afraid_of_Gardai/
Note that the Garda trespassed on other people's property so as to plant the bomb and the shotgun. So it is only wise for ordinary, law-abiding citizens to regard members of the Garda as potential criminals of a very dangerous kind, who may later abuse their authority to avoid prosecution for their crimes. Sorry to have to dispel your innocence like this.
The best members of the Garda need to have the courage to intervene to stop their colleagues committing crimes, and to speak out about the crimes they have previously commited.
Given Shell's record on human rights and environment, the Erris resistance is wise to be wary. The pollution of Carrowmor Lake has not yet been properly addressed. Do you think that Shell gave away £9 million Sterling to the Ogoni 9 plaintiffs in order to create goodwill? Their history of gas flaring, spills, accidents, fatalities, environmental devastation, spin and downright lying speaks for itself. The proposed pressure of 140 bar is a reduction from their original bid for >345 bar; who will be policing the pressure, as Shell is supported by the Irish Government and Gardaí in all its doings, legal and illegal?
The gardai have been witnesses to inumerable crimes by their coleagues and not one have had the courage to do their job and report if not arrest the criminal. The outcome of this cowardice is the complete mistrust of the people for the Gardai and the whole judicial system in Ireland.
THEY HAVE MADE THEMSELVES ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE THEY ARE EMPLOYED TO PROTECT.
Some ideas for consideration = They will not be able to deploy their forces if their vehicles are compromised.
Their use of dangerous violence could be countered with a shower of feasces from the people, to show the contempt in which they are held.
Combined actions like this are a good idea but they run the risk of serious injury to the brave protesters, some means of opening the garda cordon around the protestors needs to be employed . a few obnoxious concoctions could be placed earlier at the scene of the action
and be used by the bystanders in the event of Garda violence.
WE ARE PROUD OF YOU BRAVE PEOPLE WHO PUT YOUR SELVES AT RISK FOR JUSTICE IN OUR COUNTRY.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COURAGE.
Any chance when ye are speaking for the people of erris are ye sure ye have got their permission to do so???
Because I am from erris and ye havent got mine.
I dont think its right that ye are writing as though everyone in erris agree's with ye because they dont....LETS SEE HOW LONG IT TAKES FOR THIS TO BE REMOVED BECAUSE I DONT AGREE WITH YOUR VIEWS..........so you could say ye are doing exactly what the guards are doing if this comment is removed
Has anyone thought of abusing the Irish companies providing support to Shell etc? AGS Ltd etc etc
in response to comment by erris above - This continuing resistance to the Corrib project - that both the people of Erris and those whose political and environmental conscience has compelled them to travel to North Mayo and take action in solidarity with the local community - is widely supported on a local, national and international level.
Opinion polls
"Is Shell's Corrib Gas project good for the local community?" ... The Irish Times on-line poll on Corrib gas project - Oct 2007 ... 16% YES 84% NO
RTE News poll September 2008 “Are the gardai protecting Shell’s interests over the public by arresting the two fishermen?” 74% Yes 26% No
Support
The Shell to Sea campaign is supported by national figures such as Nobel prizewinner Seamus Heaney who wrote "It's not the most distressful country after all when five 'green' men stand their own ground'" in response to the direct action taken by the Rossport 5.
Fair play to Newstalk they did a comedy radio sketch covering the gas giveaway to Shell by Fianna Fail. Available on youtube (link below)
Newstalk on Shell giveaway (images added separately)
This is a 10 minute interview with Fin conducted as the lock on was in progress on the road yesterday. Towards the end the news comes through of the car being driven through the gates of the compound. It was windy and rainy so there is a bit of noise in the recording now and then.
"It may some as a surprise to you, Jack, but the police are not ordinarily entitled to walk into a farmer's field without permission"
Yes they are. Trespass is perfectly legal ( except for trespass of the person of course - assault ) .....Trespass is only an offence if it can be reasonably inferred that the trespasser had intent to commit an offence, or to interfere with the property. It is perfectly legal to trespass on a field without permission, the fact that the landowners permission had not been received is only important when assesing the duty of care owed to the trespasser.
For example a rambler may ramble over whatever fields he wishes, for recreational purposes, so long as he doesnt damage anything.
However the right of entry to a dwelling is restricted, but note that the right of entry to curtilage ( gardens etc) is not. So a garda may pursue a suspect into his garden and effect a legal arrest, but if the suspect enters his dwelling, the guard may only enter if he intends to arrest the suspect for certain categories of crime. ( typically those with a sentance of 5 years + or certain drug related offences )
hi to all at shell 2 sea keep up d great work fuck d gaurds shell n all d corperate bastards they may of put me out of action wd there unprevoked violence have 2 hairline fractures 2 my rbs n badly cut up arm n hand from sundays action they may have me as out now but ll b back soon guys n im wid u all d way
dave g of west cork (aka trash )
see u all soon guys but im on good behaviour at d mo from d better half of me
Fair play, sorry to hear about the consequences though.
See you all in Glengad soon.
Thanks, Damien.
Apart from constituting an "offence", i.e. a crime, there may be other reasons why certain actions might not be "perfectly legal". There is the civil law concept of damage known as "tort". As the law dictionary explains: "Any interference with the owner's (or a legal tenant's) use of the property is a sufficient showing of damage and is a civil wrong (tort) sufficient to form the basis for a lawsuit ..." Note that "intent to commit an offence, or to interfere with the property" is not necessary to fulfil the criteria for TORT, as the following example illustrates: "Trespass includes ... swinging the boom of a crane with loads of building materials over another's property ..."
So if a farmer has guests in his garden or field and gatecrashers arrive and refuse to go when one of the farmer's guests directs them to do so, I do humbly submit that the gatecrashers are trespassing, because they are interfering with the owner's use of the property to entertain his guests. This is essentially what happened on Sunday afternoon.
In addition, if the members of the Garda who entered the farmer's property were thinking of taking property from people or of tackling people around the neck and wrestling them to the ground under circumstances where they had no lawful authority to do, then this might constitute the intent to commit crimes of theft or assault, and in this case - as you yourself have indicated - the trespass might be more than a tort, it might fulfil the criteria for an offence, or crime.
Given the fact that a member of the Garda had earlier thrown Eoin Lawless over the fence and had taken his notebook from him by force, and that another man wearing a Garda riot police cap grabbed him around the neck in a deliberate, dangerous and unnecessary way, as pictures in the Irish Examiner (page 4) today illustrate, it might well be inferred that the gardaí who entered the famer's field had intent to commit similar crimes.
And so it might be argued that they were guilty of criminal trespass.
Has anybody got any more pictures of the events leading to Eoin's arrest? If so, please post some of them here.
Text is online at http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/protester-consider....html
Examiner pics
The first two shots are from Friday the 26th, and the other three are of the tripod action on Sunday afternoon. [Text by FSB!]
57 or so Gardai Shell Dána on the beach below camp, last Fri. Doesn't beat FSB!'s record of 63!
Shell's Cops in balaclavas, last Fri. evening
Tripod action - 1
Triopd action - 2
Tripod action - 3
It's quite an unnerving feeling to encounter Shell's Cops who cover their faces and wear no numbers. It leaves you wondering whether it's safe to wander about on your own in Co. Shell. There are compensations for this low-level terrorism though - you can always check out the breath-taking sunsets that happen so regularly over Broadhaven Bay. It's just a pity there's so much ugliness and pollution about.
Ugliness in the foreground, but real Beauty in the background
So who are the real sinister balaclava-wearing terrorists in Co. Mayo, then??
Shell compound 1am Tues. morning - using light to dominate space. Shell's totalitarianism in Co. Mayo
hhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmm MEN IN MASKS
What was that story there a while ago about some fisherman been visited by such lads and having his boat sunk.
Oh yes, and what was that other story about another aul lad from Erris being visited on another night and been given a hiding...
Nasty fellows.
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/92865
Shell To Sea activist blocks the main road to shell's compound stopping a transpord of heavy equipment for over 4 hours.
shell to sea tripod action
.
Solitaire deploying pipe Saturday
Stinger close up
Shell compound
Pipeline winching in progress
Sunday morning
.
Impounded fishing vessels
Sunday morning, Glengad style..
Shells Cops Out.
Relapsing with the Sunday papers
Tripod action
.
Post rugby tackle by cops
Post rugby tackle by cops 2
Prison van in Shell compound where arrestees were taken
Exactly what it says on the tin!
Thanks very much. You are a brave bunch of youngsters and I really appreciate your actions against shell and their robbery of irish natural resources.
How much for the cleanup after this gas is all gone? How much tax will we get after 25 years of creative expense accounting by the best accountants money can buy?
How much will the taxpayer be expected to cough up yet again when shell leaves us with an enviromental disaster?
Surely given the ridiculous exploration terms, the logical thing to do is just cancel the project and leave the gas under the sea. It makes more sense than letting it go ahead then paying for a cleanup after. Paying some company to steal from us. How stupid they must think the Irish are
Ray Burke and Bertie Ahearn are corrupt traitors who sold out their country.
The high security operation that took place in Glengad at the weekend was well worth it. There were only a handful of protesters in the Solidarity camp, yet the Gardaí felt the need to have over fifty of their finest patrolling the beach. They are being paid treble time and also get a lodging allowance to stay in a local hotel whilst in the area. This picture, sums up what the Gardaí were doing that weekend. It's easy to see how protesters managed to stage two roadblocks on the same road one after another.
This is where the Irish taxpayers money goes to. Top security!!
h
Tripod Protest
c
Telling protesters to leave private property and go back onto road, moments after telling them to get off the road
OH!
Holy F@ck!! What have I done? Need to arrest someone now to deflect attention
s
Seconds after an unprovoked assault on protester crossing the road. 3 arrests were made shortly after for the same offence of crossing the road.
He looks like Noel Whelan's duller twin!!
l
Some injuries on an unprovoked atack
As far as I am aware the laws on trespass are as follows:
It is not normally an offence to go on to some-one's property without their express permission. However, if asked to leave that property by the owner, you are obliged to do so, and the owner may use whatever minimum force is reasonably necessary to evict you from his/her property.
If the owner has a sign up such as "NO Unauthorised access" or "access only with owners permission" then you are not legally permitted to enter that property except in special circumstances such as a genuine emergency.
Trespass Law
by Damien Tue Jun 30, 2009 01:16
"It may some as a surprise to you, Jack, but the police are not ordinarily entitled to walk into a farmer's field without permission"
Yes they are. Trespass is perfectly legal ( except for trespass of the person of course - assault ) .....Trespass is only an offence if it can be reasonably inferred that the trespasser had intent to commit an offence, or to interfere with the property. It is perfectly legal to trespass on a field without permission, the fact that the landowners permission had not been received is only important when assesing the duty of care owed to the trespasser.
For example a rambler may ramble over whatever fields he wishes, for recreational purposes, so long as he doesnt damage anything.
However the right of entry to a dwelling is restricted, but note that the right of entry to curtilage ( gardens etc) is not. So a garda may pursue a suspect into his garden and effect a legal arrest, but if the suspect enters his dwelling, the guard may only enter if he intends to arrest the suspect for certain categories of crime. ( typically those with a sentance of 5 years + or certain drug related offences )
I would just like to offer my thanks for all the support given to my daughter Danni when she and 3 of her friends were sent to mountjoy this week because of their pariticipation in the Tripod protest.
It was a very worrying time for me back here in mainland Uk. i totally support what she is doing as I and all my friends and family are appalled at your situation.
I was kept in the picture at all times thanks to people at the camp and they were very reassuring.
I know that Danni will not be able to return to help your cause but I wish you well.
Why oh why does no one in England know about these events?
There is no question about the wrongs that Shell are comitting.
Please know that if more of us knew we could at least raise funds to help the cause.
good luck-Michele
"mainland Uk" - brilliant isn't it?
Not that that's intensely patronising or anything...
Good luck to Dannii. Hope that she is ok after her treatment whilst here in Ireland. Wish there were some more Irish people who were like her. Only thing is that you seem somewhat confused as to what and where Ireland is. It's not part of the UK. It is a republic all of it's own. Also, people in England don't really care because it has nothing directly to do with them. I wish the people of Ireland would care and realise what is happening to their country and it's economy because of the disgraceful carry on in County Mayo. Your support is always welcome as is the support of everyone around the globe but I just thought I'd clarify those points.
Together we can prosper!
The same garda photographed arresting the tripod protester can be seen in this video from 2007 assaulting a pedestrian by throwing him into a deep drain.
In a healthy society a police officer caught acting like this on video would be subject to investigation, and hopefully, criminal charges.
In this one, he gets sent out to assault other people.
Makes you proud to be Irish doesn't it?
stills from www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6N5Fk6xaKo
assault on June 29th 2007
Question need to be asked of the Garda Commissioner and Justice minister to find out why a Garda wearing his number MY 129 in 2007 who blatantly assaults a protester on camera and come 2009 he is allowed to operate without numbers visible, in the same area? They operate outside of the law when they can be clearly identified, so what is to stop them doing much worse when they are not required to show identification?
"People in England would seem to care more than those in Ireland ,Where are all the Irish activists?.From my observations there are more English involved in direct action in Mayo than Irish .
And in Meath much organising and fundraising was done by English activists.I say thank Feck for the English!
Some Republic we live in !
Having watched the above video of the young teenager being thrown into the drain [and those drains are rough and stoney] by garda MY 129 I can only say sorry to the young man.you were committed enough to exercise your democratic right to protest and long may you continue to do that ,.this world needs people like you.
To garda MY 129,you are an outright thug,you have no right to police any situation in such a brutish manner,you are a BULLY.Shame on you.
It is not too late to report this and other incidents to the omsbudman and I know that results from there are poor but these human rights abuses MUST be recorded.
Please report above Garda brutality to Ombudsman.
There have been well over one hundred complaints to the Garda ombudsman lodged relating to the SHell project. Not even one has been upheld. When it comes to SHell, the Garda Ombudsman has no power.
Many of these cases have yet to be heard. Even if all of complaints are rejected its important to have a record of them to be presented to international bodies. It would show that people had no adequate legal remedy to garda abuse at a national levl.