Shell Spin Means Nothing, the Struggle Continues

mayo | environment | news report Friday May 05, 2006 02:45 by Terry - Rossport Solidarity Camp rossportsolidaritycamp at gmail dot com

Report on last two days of spin coming from Shell and the state, as well as details of upcoming gathering in Rossport Solidarity Camp.

Shell and the state have gone into public relations over drive in the last couple of days.

On Wednesday the Advantica report was issued, this is a report into the safety of the proposed pipeline commissioned by the government as a propaganda exercise after people power shut down construction last summer. It claimed the pipeline would be safe so long as it was operated at 144 bar pressure. The state is currently building another gas pipeline in Mayo which is to operate at 80 bar pressure and all house construction is banned from 200 metres of it, yet the pipe to be in Rossport would have houses within 70 metres of it.

On Thursday Andy Pyle, top of the feeding chain for Shell Exploration and Production in Ireland, said: "Mistakes have been made. We regret the part that we played in the jailing of the five men last summer. For the hurt that this caused the local community I am sorry".
One would think it apparent that the hurt caused by explosions and pollution is of a magnitude greater than that caused by imprisonments.

All this furore, tumult, and hype ignores the fact that the main focus of protest on the ground in Erris for many months has been the refinery in Ballinaboy. This is an intrinsic part of the project, along with the pipeline, and so to is opposition to it an intrinsic part of the campaign, for it too poses considerable health and safety dangers. These dangers are detailed in a pdf leaflet here

This contemptuous pretence of concern for a community which has been ignored throughout the six years this development has been stuck on the planning board was greeted with defiance in Erris, with Willie Corduff saying to the media that: ''We're a great country for acknowledging our martyrs, so maybe the Government will be raising a plaque to me in another 50 years, because that's what I'm prepared to do - die''.

Some of the T.V. reports would give you the mistaken impression that work has been halted pending the publication of the report, and that this was the green light, the go ahead, etc.., etc…, one might wonder how a study solely into the pipeline could halt the construction of the refinery, and how it could be responsible for this halt when the construction shut down predates the launch of the study.
Of course no corporate or state media outlet wants to admit that it was people power that done it, is doing it, and will do it, for as long as it takes.

Though we have kept them at sea thus far, there is no space for complacency; their goals go well beyond just one development. In January 2005 the Department of the Marine was selling exploration licences with the special offer that: “The infrastructure of the Corrib Field could significantly reduce the development cost of any further commercial discoveries in the vicinity”. An article here outlines some of the detail on the other profit possibilities in the energy sector off our coast, and the interests of parts of the Irish elite in them.

While the window dressing and spin emanating from Shell and the state in the last two days, may, perhaps, in some fit of myopia, be an attempt to mollify the opposition to their plans, it is more the case that such pr rituals solidify resistance in the expectation that they are a preparation for an attempt to force a resumption of building. After all this is the route they are likely to take chipping away at the popular outrage of last year until they are in a more favourable political position to re-commence their march on Erris.

Irrespective of their hype or the intention behind it the Shell to Sea campaign will continue to mobilise to be ready to halt any attempt to restart construction. With that in mind Rossport Solidarity Camp is holding a major gathering on the June Bank Holiday weekend, the 2nd to the 5th.
A major focus of the weekend is to be a forum on privatisation, which will have speakers talking about the privatisation of natural resources in Ireland and Latin America.
The gathering will also feature many other workshops, including one on the history of northwest Mayo, and one on women’s struggle in Venezuela. There is also to be music from Cork based techno sound system Tir na gCasta, and local traditional musicians.

The event will take place in the camp itself, which was established in June of last year, and is currently located on the beach by Broadhaven Bay where Shell plan to begin their nine kilometre of pipeline.
Vegetarian meals will be available at very affordable prices and accommodation will be in tents.
Part of the gathering will be a tour of the area given by campers and local Shell to Sea activists. This is a useful way to get a good picture of the extensive development planned for the area, as it takes up many miles of road, and includes a 500 acre refinery site, as well as the more famous pipeline.

The immediacy of the health and safety issues to the local community can really be appreciated when seen at close hand, likewise the beauty of the coastline starkly underlines the environmental vandalism the state is trying to perpetrate here.
From a practical point of view, as the camp is intended as a base for more people to travel to the area to join the struggle when needed, it is a good idea to familiarise yourself with it and the area beforehand. So the June bank holiday weekend is an opportunity for that.