Kila sing it loud and clear: Shell to Sea

Shell to Sea Galway pulled off a great publicity stunt last Saturday on the first night of the Galway ocean races of which Topaz is a main sponsor. The aim was to inform people that Topaz is Shell and encourage people to boycott Topaz. They arranged for a Kila member to wear a Shell to Sea t-shirt while playing on the Topaz mainstage, handed out fliers in the crowd and had several anti-shell/anti-topaz banners in the area. One banner which read 'Let's Do It Galway, Send Shell to Hell, Corribsos.com' was unfurled at the foot of the stage while Kila was playing, and when security attempted to take the banner from Shell to Sea and Climate Camp activists in the crowd, a Kila member came down from the stage, retrieved the banner from the security guard, and put it up on stage for everyone to see!

Related Links from Indymedia.ie:
Prison van carrying Maura into Montjoy blockaded for 20 minutes by Dublin S2S
Tripod Action at Glengad United Community of Erris Remove Shell Nets.
Shell security attack Willie Corduff after illegal Glengad compound dismantled
Scuffles At Mountjoy As Maura Harrington Is Jailed
Shell in Mayo from the Indymedia.ie Archives

Related Links outside of Indymedia.ie
The website of Shell-to-Sea - CorribSOS.com
Keep the pressure up: Contact ALL TDs, Senators, and MEPs in Ireland and let them know how you feel about Shell in Rossport - Contact.ie

Reclaim the Streets
"Another World is Possible"

On Saturday Afternoon, Galwegians and their friends from around the country and world, came together on newly renamed (by us), Anti-Shop Street, to take back our space from the capitalist, consumerist culture which has taken it over, with its bizarre ideas of a life dedicated to shopping, spending, buying and profit, so that we could share an experience of another world, where everything is free, people share and give food, fun, stuff and life, simply because they can and it just feels good!

Related Links:
Reclaim the Streets website | Reclaim the Streets on Wikipedia | Reclaim the Streets, Dublin - photos 2004

From Derry to Palestine

Last weekend, Belfast was graced with the presence of two strong Palestinian activists; George Rishmawi and Iyad Bornat (also spelled Eyad Burnat), the screening of Iyad's powerful documentary: Bil'in Against the Wall http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy8-oxnZQJU in the Falls Road Cultural Center last Friday night and George's public address at the Belfast May Day Rally on Saturday.

The documentary is a powerful indictment of Israel and its use of murderous violence by its Occupation Army in beleaguered Bil'in against peaceful protestors to snuff out dissent against the expropriation of Palestinian land for the building of "settlements" for Jews only colonists.

Au fait with the action of the Raytheon 9 in Derry, George Rishmawi and Iyad Bornat, through the good offices of Kathleen O'Connell (IPSC) sought and found Eamonn McCann at the rally to express solidarity with the 9 and Pitstop Ploughshare success at their forthcoming trial.

Related Links: Raytheon 9 pamphlet reviewed www.raytheon9.org Indy.ie coverage

Last Sunday 15th of July, Galway's Food Not Bombs collective got into trouble with local community warden T.J. for the second time. The first occasion was on the 13th of May in Eyre square, when warden T.J. came up and insisted on seeing a permit (which we didn't have). After a short discussion the event was wrapped up.

Next day we went to the city council to ask for official permission to hand out free food once a week. We were told that even if the council were to approve the setting up of a table every Sunday we would have to have public liability insurance for 6.4 million euro. As one of our principles is to accept only food donations, not money, this is of course impossible.

Rolling Protests In Galway As Prep For Big One | Shell And Dempsey Window Dressing | Broughan and Tuffy Visit Men On 44th Day | No Answers From ILLCommunication, Marine and Natural Resources | Shell "Man" Gets The Brush Out (Off) | Mayo Council Rejects Shell Motion | Labour Calls For Review Of Current Licensing Regime

Comment from Áine Ní Sheighin Friday, Aug 12 2005, 12:27am on this story:

Micheál Ó Seighin is my father, so there is no doubt about where I am from.

These men did not go to jail so that people could "get the jist" of what was happening to Erris, and more specifically, to Rossport. These men went to jail, at the behest of Shell, because they could not give their word not to protect their lives, communities and way of life by obstructing Shell at any stage, in any way in the future.

These men still can not give that commitment. They have no problem in apologising to the court IF the injunction is lifted. If Shell are at all honourable then they have no need to have this injunction. Have they not given a commitment to halt proceedings on the offshore pipe for a year and on the Rossport pipe until the safety review?

Then an injunction preventing anyone from obstructing them - in doing works they had NO RIGHT to do - is useless.

But Shell have never shown themselves to be honourable. If you doubt me, you should look up what happened to Ken Sara Wiwa and his 8 comrades who were murdered by their corrupt government for protesting peacefully against Shells abuse of his people - the Ogoni Tribe. The only difference here is that it is 5 people incarcerated and even here executions would not be accepted.

I don't know of anyone who would go to jail for an indefinite period just for a P.R. stunt. This is about justice, about true democracy.

I am very proud of my father and the other 4 men now over 6 weeks in prison. I am very proud of their wives who are keeping things going at home while regularly making the VERY long round trip to see their husbands, behind perspex glass and speak to them through a grid on the bench. And while I know they are being very well treated, they are still in jail. It is horrible.

But while this unlawful injunction stands, these men can not purge their contempt.

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