Shell’s Scottish subcontractors step up security over Corrib

by CH - IMC Scotland (pers. cap.) Wed Apr 19, 2006 13:48

The report was broadcast yesterday (Tuesday) on Radio Scotland's "Newsdrive" programme at about 5:30 if i remember rightly. It was a bit shit, lots of "a spokesman denied any connection with the threats" type stuff and minimal background to the Rossport 5's imprisonment (e.g. describing them just as "protesters").

The report also featured on a village in the Highlands where apparently there has been a Shell gas plant for years. (Wasn't clear how comparable the two are, in terms of processing / distances etc.) I'm wracking my brains trying to remember the name of the place (began with F) but the weight given to it in the report suggested to me the influence of Shell's PR people.

If you're quick, the report is on the BBC's "Listen again" spot as I write:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/networks/scotland/aod.sh...rive#

Sorry I can't be more helpful.

Could you repost the link to the Herald story, please? I missed it and their website is crap for finding news from the day before.

by CH - IMC Scotland (pers. cap.) Wed Apr 19, 2006 13:58

Here's the URL for the Herald story:
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/60271.html

Trying to whip up worry by linking back to last year's G8 protests, referring to the "so-called" Rossport 5 who "achieved" martyr status (like they sought to be jailed). And the campaign is based only on "belief" that it's unsafe, not facts.

Yuck. The Herald's reporting is generally mince but this has the stamp of a Shell spin as well, like I said.

Good of them to publish a map of the contractors' sites, though :)
http://www.theherald.co.uk/uimages/1804sitesatrisk.PDF

by supp Wed Apr 19, 2006 15:51

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/networks/scotland/aod.sh...rive#

by Bob - Rossport Solidarity Camp (media spokesperson) Wed Apr 19, 2006 16:15

Thanks for that CH. I was the one who apparently "denied any link to the threats"...what I said when asked what kind of action would be taken in Scotland was that I couldn't possibly speak for everyone who might choose to act in solidarity with this campaign. When the interviewer referred to calls for action as "threats" I pointed out that the prospect of having the lives and livelihoods of a community endagered by a project like Corrib constituted a far more serious threat than an attempt to put pressure on a few complict comanies. As a matter of interest, did they use any what they recorded of me speaking or was it more convenient for them to put words in my mouth?

Just to clarify, the camp IS calling for action against any subcontractors involved in the Corrib project. If that radio piece gave anyone the impression that we were trying to distance ourselves from actions against subcontractors, that isn't the case. I don't know who put that article up on the EF! site but I don't think it said anything we'd disagree with.

Thanks again to everyone in the UK who has been over,organised meetings for camp speakers,participated in solidarity actions or donated to the camp. Your support is invaluable.

by maura harrington - shell to sea Wed Apr 19, 2006 23:31

For the information of new readers of this post, those of us involved in this campaign for the past 5/6 years sometimes refer to ourselves as the Bogoni. This name was adopted following the Ken Saro-Wiwa Memorial Seminar held in the area in 2001. We live in an area of blanket bog and, in empathy with the Ogoni people of the Niger Delta (with their accredited representative's prior approval), we chose to refer to ourselves as the Bogoni.
It is vaguely interesting to note that Shell are now attempting such a pathetic spin as 'taking threats to their contractors seriously'. If that's the best their whizz kid PR lot can come up with then they certainly ain't worth their salt. A possible explanation for such a second-rate wheeze may be accounted for by the fact that their current spinmeister, John Egan - who worked as a reporter with the BBC in Nigeria at the time of Saro-Wiwa's Shell/Judicial hanging - may think longingly of such hanging fields and, dare I express my subjective opinion, perhaps wish that such opportunities existed here in Ireland. After all, Mr Egan's late father was land agent for the unlamented Lord Lucan in County Mayo so there is a certain genetic basis for such colonial inclinations.
The real threat to Shell and their government partners coming out of Rossport and North Mayo is that of a committed, informed, competent, determined community who have NO intention of ever allowing a hitherto cozy State/Corporate nexus to treat us as people who don't matter or who don't count for very much.
The current and continuing threat to Shell here is that of our time versus their money ... and we have all the time in the world.

by Niall Thu Apr 20, 2006 00:02

I think it's a helpful report, don't see any real problem with it.

by CH - IMC Scotland (pers. cap.) Thu Apr 20, 2006 01:02

I can't honestly remember if they used a recording or not. I was paraphrasing what I heard while eating my tea. (Probably shouldn'tve used quotation marks above.)