Dublin Shell to Sea protest at Green party convention

by DS2S Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:06

The billions to reverse the cuts have been found!
In a surprise statement today the Minister of Finance announced he was throwing out the An Bord Snip report because the money had been found to reverse all the health and education cuts to date, to cancel the so called pensions levy and to invest in a massive job creation program. "It turns out we could get the money all along", he declared "it's just for some reason we were allowing Shell and a number of other energy corporations to pocket it all".
The minister revealed that the inspiration had come to him while pushing his way through a noisy Shell to Sea picket outside his office. "I noticed some of them were holding a banner with something about a 540 billion giveaway on it and I thought, hey that's about how much I need to find". "When I asked my civil servants they explained that Shell had been given this crazy deal by Ray Burke year's back and that if Ireland taxed them they same way most countries would then we would indeed stand to get tens of billion's. Now Shell were not very happy when I gave them a call to say I was doing this but hey the original deal allowed me to change the conditions in certain circumstances so they'll have to like it or lump it. People in Ireland need the money more than their shareholders."

This story could be true. Shell will be taking billions out of the county in the next couple of decades. In many countries they would have to pay billions in tax and royalties to do so but not in Ireland. It was then Minister Ray Burke, later jailed for corruption, who abolished the royalties. The closure of three wards in Crumlin children’s hospital occurred because of a €9.6 million deficit. The value of the offshore fields is 56 thousand times the cost of keeping those wards open. The value is 386 times the public sector 'pensions levy'. The current Minister could insist on a new deal. And the billions that would be collected would be sufficent to reverse all of the cuts and to fund a job creation program.

Instead the Irish state has spent as much on policing opposition to the Shell rip off as it has on gangland shootings in Dublin. Dozens of Shell to Sea campaigners have been assaulted and over 100 have been arrested. The vast bulk of the Irish media is refusing to cover what we call 'The great oil and gas robbery', possibly because the family that owns much of the media also owns an oil exploration company.

by DS2S press - Dublin Shell to Sea Fri Jul 17, 2009 12:33

-- Shell to Sea to protest at Green Party convention over party's role in gas giveaway --

Dublin Shell to Sea will protest outside the Green Party special convention tomorrow (Saturday, 18th July) at 1pm to highlight the party's role in the ongoing giveaway of hundreds of billions of euro worth of Ireland's offshore gas at a time when savage cuts are being proposed to save much smaller amounts of money.

Dublin Shell to Sea spokesperson Gary Ronaghan said: “The Bord Snip Nua report has called for around 5 billion euro in cuts to health, education and social services which will hurt the most vulnerable in society. Meanwhile, Minister Eamon Ryan continues issuing licences which gift Ireland's offshore gas and oil to multinationals. According to figures from Mr Ryan's own department, these natural resources are worth somewhere between 315 billion and 540 billion euro."

The value of gas in the Corrib field alone is estimated at up to 50 billion euro. Thanks to legislative changes made by Ray Burke and Bertie Ahern, this is being handed over to a private consortium led by Shell, with no State share or royalties.

The protest will take place from 1pm to 3pm outside the Green Party convention on the Programme for Government and the Lisbon Treaty at the Hilton Hotel, Charlemont Place, Dublin 2.

The Green Party is holding its convention in private without access to non-members or to the media. “It’s not surprising that the party leadership wishes to hide its hypocrisy from the eyes of the public,” Gary Ronaghan said. “After all, their u-turn on the ‘Great Gas and Oil Giveaway’ at Rossport is just one of a series of betrayals. They have discarded their principles, their pre-election promises and, judging by the recent election results, their own support base. We will be outside the hotel urging the ordinary members of the Green Party to hold their leadership accountable.”

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan, has come in for particular criticism from Corrib Gas campaigners. Before being appointed Minister, he was an active supporter of the Shell to Sea campaign, and attended many of its protests. Since entering government, however, Ryan has come under pressure for failing to honour public commitments he and his party made to launch an independent inquiry into the Corrib gas controversy.

In November 2007, then Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said he blamed the Corrib Gas controversy on "the giveaway deals for exploration licences" which he said were "comparable, in historic terms, with the Act of Union of 1800, in the way a dodgy deal can be made to look legitimate." Speaking at a Shell to Sea press conference in Dublin, he said his party "supports the call for an independent commission as proposed by the Shell to Sea campaign".

Shell to Sea is a campaign in support of the Mayo community which is most affected by the Corrib Gas Project. It has six local branches around Ireland. The group seeks to ensure that the Corrib gas is depressurised and odorised offshore in accordance with international best practice.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The Great Gas and Oil Giveaway
The terms of the Irish state’s deal with the Shell-led consortium are amongst the world’s least advantageous. According to a 2002 study, only Cameroon looks for a lower take than Ireland from oil or gas finds, and the State take in all but a handful of countries is twice what the government of Ireland is demanding for the Corrib gas. If the deal is allowed to continue as envisaged, the Irish exchequer will receive no royalties, no state stakehold and only 25% corporate tax, the lowest rate in the industry worldwide. All exploration and development costs can currently be written off against tax at 100%. Several countries have substantially re-negotiated oil and gas deals with multinationals, and the framework exists in the Corrib gas licensing terms for Ireland to do the same.

by Dublin Shell to Sea Fri Jul 17, 2009 12:33

Shell to Sea to protest at Green Party convention over party's role in gas giveaway
Dublin Shell to Sea will protest outside the Green Party special convention tomorrow (Saturday, 18th July) at 1pm to highlight the party's role in the ongoing giveaway of hundreds of billions of euro worth of Ireland's offshore gas at a time when savage cuts are being proposed to save much smaller amounts of money.

Dublin Shell to Sea spokesperson Gary Ronaghan said: “The Bord Snip Nua report has called for around 5 billion euro in cuts to health, education and social services which will hurt the most vulnerable in society. Meanwhile, Minister Eamon Ryan continues issuing licences which gift Ireland's offshore gas and oil to multinationals. According to figures from Mr Ryan's own department, these natural resources are worth somewhere between 315 billion and 540 billion euro."

The value of gas in the Corrib field alone is estimated at up to 50 billion euro. Thanks to legislative changes made by Ray Burke and Bertie Ahern, this is being handed over to a private consortium led by Shell, with no State share or royalties.

The protest will take place from 1pm to 3pm outside the Green Party convention on the Programme for Government and the Lisbon Treaty at the Hilton Hotel, Charlemont Place, Dublin 2.

The Green Party is holding its convention in private without access to non-members or to the media. “It’s not surprising that the party leadership wishes to hide its hypocrisy from the eyes of the public,” Gary Ronaghan said. “After all, their u-turn on the ‘Great Gas and Oil Giveaway’ at Rossport is just one of a series of betrayals. They have discarded their principles, their pre-election promises and, judging by the recent election results, their own support base. We will be outside the hotel urging the ordinary members of the Green Party to hold their leadership accountable.”

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan, has come in for particular criticism from Corrib Gas campaigners. Before being appointed Minister, he was an active supporter of the Shell to Sea campaign, and attended many of its protests. Since entering government, however, Ryan has come under pressure for failing to honour public commitments he and his party made to launch an independent inquiry into the Corrib gas controversy.

In November 2007, then Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said he blamed the Corrib Gas controversy on "the giveaway deals for exploration licences" which he said were "comparable, in historic terms, with the Act of Union of 1800, in the way a dodgy deal can be made to look legitimate." Speaking at a Shell to Sea press conference in Dublin, he said his party "supports the call for an independent commission as proposed by the Shell to Sea campaign".

Shell to Sea is a campaign in support of the Mayo community which is most affected by the Corrib Gas Project. It has six local branches around Ireland. The group seeks to ensure that the Corrib gas is depressurised and odorised offshore in accordance with international best practice.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The Great Gas and Oil Giveaway
The terms of the Irish state’s deal with the Shell-led consortium are amongst the world’s least advantageous. According to a 2002 study, only Cameroon looks for a lower take than Ireland from oil or gas finds, and the State take in all but a handful of countries is twice what the government of Ireland is demanding for the Corrib gas. If the deal is allowed to continue as envisaged, the Irish exchequer will receive no royalties, no state stakehold and only 25% corporate tax, the lowest rate in the industry worldwide. All exploration and development costs can currently be written off against tax at 100%. Several countries have substantially re-negotiated oil and gas deals with multinationals, and the framework exists in the Corrib gas licensing terms for Ireland to do the same.

by big_ron - Dublin Shell to Sea Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:37

Some pics of the Green party conference picket ..apologies for the delay in getting them up ..

by big_ron - Dublin Shell to Sea Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:40

And a few more ...

by Eamon Wed Jul 29, 2009 15:46

Thanks for that Big Ron, it looked like a varied and colourful event betwen pics of highway robbery, exploding gas and a river music band. Hopefully they mustered up a number about 'route 66' the magical percentage that the greens got in their vote.

Well done to all.