All-Action Shell to Sea Super Sunday – A Tripod, A Lock-On And A Compound Infiltration

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)

More photos from today's actions etc.

Mon Jun 29, 2009 06:29

All 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

More photos from today

Mon Jun 29, 2009 06:45

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

Last pair of photos...

Mon Jun 29, 2009 06:51

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!

brave work

by lulu

Mon Jun 29, 2009 09:25

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!

"Why are you doing this?"

by Lemuel

Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:29

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!

by supp.

Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:43

well done, and thanks!!!

"Cops are threspassing?"

Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:59

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.

Trust Shell?

by Chrissie

Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:37

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?

All Gardai are responsible for stopping crime not helping it.

by old codger - pensioner

Mon Jun 29, 2009 13:00

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.

erris

by erris

Mon Jun 29, 2009 14:10

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

Support

by Damien81

Mon Jun 29, 2009 14:15

Has anyone thought of abusing the Irish companies providing support to Shell etc? AGS Ltd etc etc

Brave and inspiring actions - well done all.

by h

Mon Jun 29, 2009 16:05

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.

Newstalk skit on Shell giveaway

by bailer

Mon Jun 29, 2009 20:44

Fair play to Newstalk they did a comedy radio sketch covering the gas giveaway to Shell by Fianna Fail. Available on youtube (link below)

Caption: Video Id: Wq0ccdacGMw Type: Youtube Video
Newstalk on Shell giveaway (images added separately)

Audio: Live interview as lock on in progress

by Dermo interviewing Fin

Mon Jun 29, 2009 23:03

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.

Interview with Fin in Erris about protests on June 28 2009 4.99 Mb