Socialist Youth occupies Dept of Marine, Communications & Natural Resources

dublin | environment | news report

Thursday November 02, 2006 18:05

by Paul Murphy - Socialist Youth

Refine the gas at sea!

Protestors demand:
* Withdraw the Gardai from Ballinaboy refinery site – end the brutality.
* Refine the gas at sea – protect health, safety and environment.
* Nationalise the gas – use it to meet people’s needs not for super-profits of multinationals.

At 1pm today, 10 members of Socialist Youth (youth section of the Socialist Party) occupied the Department of Marine, Communications and Natural Resources on Adelaide Road. They occupied this Department in opposition to the policy of the government in relation to Rossport. They were protesting against the giveaway of €21 billion worth of gas in the Corrib Gas Field to Shell and Statoil for free, the refining of the gas onshore by Shell and the Garda brutality in Mayo to facilitate Shell’s massive profits.

Paul Murphy, one of the organisers of the protest commented:

“What is happening now in north Mayo is a disgrace. On a daily basis, up to 200 Gardai are playing the role of Shell’s cops – beating protestors out of the way of Shell’s convoy on their way to construct a refinery at Ballinaboy, which poses massive health, safety and environmental risks. The piping of the gas onshore at high pressure threatens the health and safety of those living in the area, as previous explosions of gas pipelines demonstrate. The government has given away a precious natural resource, estimated to be worth €21 billion for free to multinationals to add to their massive profits. The Gardai should be withdrawn from the refinery site now and the gas should be refined at sea. We’re also demanding that the government should take this massive resource into public ownership so that it can be used to meet the needs of ordinary people not the profits of the multinationals.”

Socialist Youth member Laura Fitzgerald said “It is outrageous that the Gardai are attacking the right to protest in Mayo. The protestors are ordinary people who are seeking to defend their community against the building of a pipeline that is extremely hazardous to their environment and safety.”

We demanded to speak to Noel Dempsey, predictably got no joy and instead had a polite discussion with Bob Hanna, Chief Techincal Advisor (Energy) - in charge of the safety investigation aspect of the pipeline, who argued that when the gas was given away for free, we needed the "expertise" of the likes of Shell to come here and steal our gas "for the public interest"! On the safety aspect, he accepted that Shell couldn't necessarily be trusted on its own to care about people's safety, but that our friendly government, which he described as "the guardians of the people" had overseen it and it was fine!

We were there for a couple of hours, with a collection of around six Gardai, who grabbed people away from the door at one stage, but apart from that were happy enough to leave us in the lobby. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, no element of the media showed any interest whatsoever!

Pictures to follow.

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Comments (6 of 6)

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by SR - SP

Sat Nov 18, 2006 17:53

We did actually raise the occupation at Shell To Sea meetings inviting anyone else involved in the campaign to come along.

Fantastic photos

by good to see

Sun Nov 12, 2006 18:13

There was a rumour going around that the occupation had never actually happened, so it's great the pictures and the banner is wonderful. Perhaps you can join with Labour Youth to do thhe next occupation, or better still, get Shell to Sea to call it, and we'll all go along.

Pictures finally

by Paul Murphy - SP/SY

Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:04

Sorry about the delay.

If anyone's still reading this...check out that funky banner!

Well done

by w. - wsm (pers cap)

Sat Nov 04, 2006 17:15

Good work comrades. Stick up some photos?

Nice work lads, keep it up.

by the way - Shell to Hell.

Sat Nov 04, 2006 11:14

Very much enjoying the input of S.P. Pleasure working with ye and getting to know ye.

Any sign of those pics?

Provos occupy Government Dept

by John Drennan

Thu Nov 02, 2006 18:37

The Soaraway Sindo can exclusively reveal that the occupation of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources on Thursday was the work of a Marxist-Fascist Provo Front-Group known as Socialist Youth.

At all times the young people, some of whom were actually in their 20s, were in communication with the Army Council of the IRA at their headquarters in Crossmaglen. But the Stupendous Sindo can also reveal that Al Qaeda cells, 45 of which are operating in Ireland according to the Significant Sindo's Jim Cusack exclusive security sources , provided logistical support.

Al Qaeda are determined to ensure that the people of the west cannot get their hands on oil or gas, making them dependent on Middle Eastern oil, tricking them into invading countries like Iraq, as Al Qaeda did in 2003.

This link between Al Qaeda and Sinn Féin/IRA exposes yet again how purely evil republicans are. Sources close to the incident reveal that the 'Socialist Youth' activists claimed to be followers of a foreign illegal immigrant known as Leon Trotsky though security sources indicated to the Super Sindo that this may not be the man's real name and that he is in fact linked to a multi-million euro diesel smuggling operation.

Further proof can be seen in the claim by one 'Socialist Youth' activist I M Scum (Name changed by Sindo Sub-editors to protect identity) that he had nothing to do with the Provo Fascists. Denying his links to Sinn Féin/IRA exactly what one would expect of someone trying to hide the connection.

"Ummmm, I'm not in Sinn Féin," he lied. "They're a different party and we have nothing to do with them," he claimed ridiculously. "We disagree with them on a lot of things," he said with bare-faced cheek.

An opinion poll conducted by me from my office in Leinster House, ringing half a dozen people in south Dublin, revealed that an astonishing 100% believed that Socialist Youth should be banned and its leaders murdered in a brutal fashion. 15% believed that noted philanthropist and international sports star Sir Tony O'Reilly should be put in charge of the Corrib field, with 85% saying he should be put in charge of the country.

Regrettably the protest ended before the Gardaí could respond with deadly force and rid the world of the Fascist Marxist Provo Trot Al Qaeda sympathisers.

INSIDE:
Eoghan Harris on Trots, Provos, Muslims and what this chap said to me in a cafe in West Cork
Declan Lynch on why he's glad his daughter is a Trot and not a Provo
A scantily clad woman
Another scantily clad woman
Alan Ruddock on why Irish people are simply bastards

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Socialist Youth occupies Dept of Marine, Communications & Natural Resources

Comments (6 of 6)