(A collection of news reports
about Shell June-October, 2005)
Free at last: Rossport heroes vow to fight on
Fergus Black
© Irish Independent
Saturday October 1st 2005
AFTER 94 days in prison, five men tasted freedom yesterday after an epic
David and Goliath battle with the multinational Shell oil company.
The Rossport Five will savour their triumph today when they will head a
major rally in Dublin - just 24 hours after their release.
There were tears and cheers for the Co Mayo men who faced prison rather
than obey a High Court order not to interfere with the construction of
the Corrib gas pipeline.
The famous rotunda of the Four Courts has seldom seen such emotional
scenes as those that greeted the men as they walked from court into the
arms of family members and friends.
The eldest of the group, 65-year-old Micheal O Seighin, with his wife
Caitlin by his side, spoke of his delight at being free.
"It was OK in jail. Not having freedom was the worst part, not having a
nail file, very small things," he said.
The story of the titanic struggle that has gripped the nation took a
further twist yesterday as it emerged that Shell itself may face a
possible contempt of court hearing.
The company had demanded the men's imprisonment. But yesterday High Court
President Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan told counsel for Shell, Patrick
Hanratty, he wanted the company to address its breach of an undertaking
not to do anything not permitted by the licence of Marine Minister Noel
Dempsey.
Later today, the men will take their place at a rally organised to
highlight what many saw as the "scandal" of their three-month sojourn in jail.
The continued defiance of brothers Philip and Vincent McGrath, Willie
Corduff, Micheal O Seighin and Brendan Philbin turned them into national
heroes since they were sent to prison for contempt of court on June 29.
But all five will be back in the High Court on October 25 to hear whether
they will have to face punishment for their initial contempt.
There were also encouraging sounds from Shell E&P Ireland (SEPIL) which
had applied to have its temporary injunction against the men set aside.
The company said it welcomed a Government-led mediation initiative and
safety review.
SEPIL managing director Andy Pyle said the corporation fully recognised
the concerns of the objectors and the very difficult situation the men
and their families had been through.
"For the past three months we have worked to bring about the conditions
under which the men could come out of prison while maintaining our lawful
right to complete this authorised development", he said.
Onshore and offshore works had been suspended and the company had offered
to engage in third party, independent mediation, he said.
The Rossport Five were mobbed by well-wishers and media as they walked
triumphantly from the Four Courts.
They said they had no regrets and the fight to protect their families and
their safety would continue.
Mr Philbin said it was very hard in a democracy that they had to go to
jail to prove their point.
"I thank all the prison inmates and say hello to all the staff in the
kitchen of Cloverhill," said Mr Philbin.
"I feel we've won a victory," said Philip McGrath.
© Irish Independent
www.unison.ie/irish_independent/ & www.unison.ie/
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Mediator set to be appointed as Rossport men freed
Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent
Irish Times
01/10/2005
Minister for the Marine Noel Dempsey hopes to nominate a mediator within
the next week to initiate negotiations between Shell and Mayo landowners
over the Corrib gas onshore pipeline.
Contact is expected to be made with both parties over the coming days in
relation to an agreed nominee, following yesterday's release of the five
men opposed to the pipeline from Cloverhill prison. However, the Minister
told The Irish Times last night he believed the men should be given some
breathing space and time with their families.
Bonfires are due to be lit in north Mayo tonight to welcome home the five
- Micheál Ó Seighin, Willie Corduff, Brendan Philbin, Philip and Vincent
McGrath - after 94 days in jail. The five are due to address this
afternoon's Shell to Sea campaign rally in central Dublin, along with Dr
Owens Wiwa, brother of executed Ogoni leader and Nigerian writer Ken Sara
Wiwa, Ictu general secretary David Begg, Siptu president Jack O'Connor
and Frank McBrearty jnr.
"Feet on the ground won it," one of the five, retired schoolteacher
Micheál Ó Seighin (65), said yesterday after the court hearing. "It shows
that Irish people expect a higher state of democracy, and they expect
more of their Government in relation to people's safety and welfare."
Vincent McGrath, whose home is 70 metres from the proposed high-pressure
pipeline, said that the five would return to prison all over again if
they had to. The group had been forced into their position when no State
agency took responsibility for the pipeline, he emphasised.
Shell E&P Ireland's chief executive Andy Pyle said he believed a
compromise could be reached, and said he did not envisage anyone being
imprisoned again - although the company is still pursuing a permanent
injunction against six named landowners.
"We fully recognise the concerns of the objectors and the very difficult
situation which the men and their families have been through," Mr Pyle said.
Discovery of documents for the permanent injunction is listed for the
High Court on Tuesday, while the company must return to court on October
19th to explain a breach of its ministerial consents by sworn affidavit.
The five men must return to court on October 25th to hear if punitive
measures should be taken over their contempt of court.
Yesterday's breakthrough was welcomed by the Minister for the Marine, who
said that his safety review is expected to be completed by mid-November.
A two-day public hearing as part of this is being held in Mayo on October
12th and 13th.
Mayo TDs Dr Jerry Cowley (Ind) and Michael Ring (FG), who had publicly
supported the men and their families, expressed delight at the men's
release. Dr Cowley said that last week's visit to Norway by members of
the men's families had played a significant role, as he believed Statoil,
partner in the Corrib project, had put pressure on Shell. However, Shell
has denied this.
Mr Ring said he hoped that Shell and the Government would "do more
listening to the local people so that this very serious situation can now
be resolved". Mr Ring's party leader and constituency colleague Enda
Kenny said he was happy that Shell had taken on legal advice he had given
it in relation to the temporary injunction.
Labour Party marine spokesman Tommy Broughan said the men had "done a
service to this country", in that there was a need for much greater
accountability and a public debate on how the State's natural resources
were exploited, "and for whose ultimate benefit".
Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said that the Government had "sown the
seeds" which led to the dispute, and had serious questions to answer in
relation to planning permission for the project and granting a foreshore
licence for the controversial pipeline.
© The Irish Times
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Rossport men released by High Court
RTE News
30 September 2005
The five Mayo men who were jailed for breach of an injunction against
their protest over the Corrib gas pipeline have been released from custody.
The President of the High Court has warned them about their future
conduct and will decide next month whether they are still to be punished
for an illegal protest at the Corrib Gas Development site.
Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan also said he will hear evidence that Shell
itself was in breach of court orders by continuing development, despite
undertakings not to do so.
Lawyers for Shell had asked that the temporary injunction against the men
be lifted, as it is now not possible to carry out any work on the site
because of a safety review.
Speaking outside the High Court, one of the five men, Brendan Philbin,
said today's decision was a victory for the ordinary person.
He said it had been a difficult for the men and their families but that
the protest had been worth it and that they would do it all again.
He thanked the public for their support and the staff of Clover Hill prison.
High Court decision is welcomed
The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has welcomed the release of the men.
Mr Ahern said the Government would implement any changes that may be
recommended by international safety inspectors.
Supporters and relatives who gathered at the site of the planned gas
terminal at Bellanaboy said they were absolutely delighted with the
development.
The men were jailed for breaching a court injunction not to interfere
with the construction of the Shell Corrib pipeline.
This morning, legal teams representing Shell Ireland and the men made
contact with each other.
The communication followed an offer by the Minister for Communications,
Marine and Natural Resources to appoint a mediator.
Shell Ireland said it was hopeful that Noel Dempsey's statement had
brought a momentum to the process and the company was committed to
finding a way to move the situation forward.
Mr Dempsey had been trying for several weeks to find a formula to get the
men out of jail, sitting down in round table talks with Shell to address
the safety issues surrounding the highly controversial pipeline.
Dr Mark Garavan, a spokesman for the men, said they had made it clear
seven weeks ago that they would engage in talks if the injunction was lifted.
Mr Dempsey said that across the political system people wanted the
controversy to be resolved.
Members of the Shell to Sea campaign have insisted that they would
continue to demand that the company build an offshore instead of onshore
terminal.
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The Silence of The Irish Farmers
The Town Crier Column
With Patrick Naagbanton
August 31, 2005
The Port Harcourt Telegraph
Riding The Dragon; Royal Dutch Shell and The Fossil Fire, is a
befitting title of a publication by the American group, Environmental
Health Fund (EHF), written in 2002 by Jack Doyle, a Washington-based
writer and researcher. The author had argued in the 351-page book
"Royal Dutch Shell is a giant oil company with annual gross sales
exceeding $175 billion. It is typically ranked as the world's No. 1 or
No. 2 oil company. It is also the world's seventh largest chemical
company. Shell has been developing Fossil energy-coal, oil and gas for
more than 100 years ".
"Whether chemical or indigenous people, refinery community or tropical
forest, a price has been paid - and continues to be paid-in the
hydrocarbon quest. Well blowouts, oil spills, refinery explosions,
polluted rivers and oceans, and now global warming - all come with the
territory. Still, the hydrocarbon dragon is a fire-breathing beast that
neither shell, nor any other oil company, has tamed ". Pains and grief
under the weighty thumb of the oil and gas Transnational Corporations
(TNCs), while enforcing the flow of oil and gas have actually marked
the world; they have unleashed on us anguish unheard of, in human
history.
Those who question them or their practices anywhere in the world, go
down the drain unsung. The world is their chessboard with which, they
brandish it gleefully. They have an unquestionable power to our lives
and our death. They run governments and ruin governments. They enthrone
governments and de-throne governments. This is their world. The epoch
of corporate empire and tyranny. Those who ride the shelling dragon
must be prepared to tell a sad tale either in wreckage or in the grave.
The fossil fire is very hazardous.
Recently, Michael .O. Seighin, Willie Corduff, Brendan Philbin, Vincent
McGrath and Philip McGrath, these poor farmers from a tiny village
community of Rossport of the Eris peninsular in the northwest of Mayor
in Ireland, now famously referred to, as Rossport 5 defied the
smoke-darkened dragon. Today, they have an unsweetened long story to
tell. Small-scale farmers are they, who eke out miserable living from
their badly off quality land. Their journey to dungeon started in
December 2004.
Shell sent letters to the Rossport villagers, informing them that, the
company would enter their properties (lands) to lay a 5 miles long
pipeline. The shell-shocked villagers staged peaceful protests to
reject such proposal. The pipeline shall be the highest in the world, a
consortium of Royal Dutch, Statoil, which the Norwegian government owns
70% of it and Marathon Oil Corporation, an American energy player,
owned the pipeline. The pipeline when completed is expected to pump
unsafe and untreated products along it, which is said to be
substandard, from the Corib Gas field to a proposed inland refinery in
Ballinaboy.
"Gas was found off the coast nine years ago and shell's plan is to land
the gas on the beach at Broadhaven and pipe it 5 miles inland for
processing throughout the peat of the Bog of Erris " wrote Angelique
Chrisafis, Ireland correspondent for the London-based The Guardian
newspaper. On January 10, 2005, Shell sent her workers again, to
commence work on the pipeline, which will run through living homes,
conservation areas and estuaries of rare plants and animal species in
the area. Still, oppositions against the project swelled from Rossport
and other green campaigners around the globe. The work was halted and
Shell and her partners including the Irish government were unhappy.
Like a shady "Black Market ", order which corrupt Nigerian judges grant
to cement injustice against defenseless people of the country. A
Shell's injunction, sorry, a ruling from Justice Finnegan, the
President of the High Court of Ireland, was issued, it mandates the
company to have unhindered access to Rossport private lands. The order,
also restrained them from blocking the construction of the pipeline.
Subsequently, they were sent to Cloverhill Prison, an Irish prison
built since 1854. They are to remain in the prison for an indefinite
time until they "Purge their contempt " by accepting the pipeline to
pass through their lands.
Today is Rossport 5. Shell in Ireland, United Kingdom (UK), If Shell
can do this to their people and homeland, one can really pictures the
magnitude of atrocities they commit abroad, while prospecting or
drilling hydrocarbon. In 1987, at Iko, a small rural community like
Rossport in the Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria, appalled by the ecological
devastations of their richly endowed land, they organized a peaceful
protest against Shell. Shell played skillfully politico-military stuff
with the bloody junta of dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, and sent in
soldiers armed with weapons of mass destruction, to teach the local
folks not to oppose them any longer. Shell's soldiers killed poor
people, raped women and looted properties of the villagers of Iko.
I visited the community again recently, with a delegation of respected
British parliamentarians, a 64-year-old woman who spoke to me briefly
about the Iko incident of 1987 broke down in mournful tears as she
narrated the tragedy. I could not help it, but to stop the "interview "
halfway to save the poor woman the agony of a bad corporation in Iko.
On October 30, 1990, the unlucky dwellers of Umuechem, another
pint-sized oil-producing community which hosts Shell, and which belongs
to the Etche group in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has their tale
to tell too. Armed with branches of leaves, which locally symbolizes
peace amongst the rural residents, to protest the plundering of their
environment and desecration of their lives.
A detachment of Mobile Policemen, a special task force which
grief-stricken communities in the Niger Delta, that have encountered
them called them, "Kill and Go ". The force has a terrible record of
extra-judicial executions, rape and looting. Shell sent them to
Umuechem to carry out among the poor locals what they know. The rest of
the story belongs to the dark pages of the history of Shell in Nigeria.
Hordes of protesters and non-protesters alike in the community were
sent to their early graves. Properties were stolen, while the Shell's
task force raped women (both married and unmarried). All over the
Nigeria's delta, the company is well-known not only for emitting deadly
gasses from their pipes or dumping of harmful wastes in rivers, streams
and rivulets, but for their propensity for to do raw violence.
The, Ogonis of the northeast of the Niger Delta, in the early 90s, led
by the late Ken Saro Wawa, a committed Nigerian writer, columnist and
activist, waged a non-violent struggle against Shell's for good
environment and respect for his Ogoni people. All over their history
book is the agony of the Ogoni. Shell gave moral and financial support
to a wasting operation of a task force called Rivers State Internal
Security Task Force (RSISTF). A twosome of yellow-belly and demented
majors, Paul Okinstimo and Obi Umahi, leaders of the RSISTF at
different times, had field days trafficking in the blood of poor Ogoni
women, children and men, suspected to have supported Wiwa's struggle.
Ken Saro-Wiwa and other 2,000 Ogonis are now in their various
identified and unidentified graves, that is the high price of oil and
gas.
Riding the dragon can be dangerous; Jack Doyle and his Environmental
Health Fund (FHF) had warned us. The silence of the Irish farmers in
our new burden. The Town-Crier must stand at the barricade with Denny
Larson, an avid environmental activist from San Francisco, USA and
director of Global community Monitor, Monique Harden of the Shell
Corporate Accountability Coalition, USA, and Anne Rolfes of the
Louisiana Bucket Brigade, USA, over to you all, in this season of
barricade and a taste for a new desire.
We must not allow Rossport 5 die like the Ogoni 9, my solidarity to
Judith Robinson of the Environmental Health Fund (EHF), USA and Sister
Majella Mc Carron, a selfless Irish activist who spent several years
working to save the dying Ogoni environment. Thanks our novelist
Jennifer Johnston, a distinguished Irish writer whose book, The Old
Jest (1979) and The Shadow on Our Skin (1977) shot her into our
literary consciousness, and many others at the barricades. My
solidarity for the protests, blockades and boycotts to free the
suffering Rossport natives, we must dance this rock of freedom against
the red men and women, who plunder our lives for oil and gas and save
the poor old men from Rossport.
Mobile: 08033367823
Email: patricknaagbanton@yahoo.ca
Copyright 2004© The Port Harcourt Telegraph
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FIGHTING MAD & FIGHTING SHELL: Rossport Solidarity
August, 2005
Rossport Solidarity Camp Solidarity Week begins on August 22nd and includes:
- Talks by local people on the impact the proposed pipeline will have on
their community if it were to go ahead
- Update on the Shell to Sea Campaign
- Non Violent Direct Action Training
- Protests
- Wind Powered Movies
- Social Night, Local Story Telling and music
- Kids Space
- Skills Sharing
- Report back from recent solidarity delegation to Columbia.
- Talk on Peak Oil.
Camping Space and meals provided at the camp
If you can give a workshop or skills demonstration please contact us.
Camp wish list:
- old carpet
- pallets
- tools
- buckets
- water containers
- building wood
- fire wood
- camping gear
- blankets
- phone credit
- rain gear
- polyprop
- old furniture
- straw bales
- candles
- bicycles
- lanterns
- paints and old sheets
- leisure battery
For more information contact: Michael at: 086 3588890
www.shelltosea.com www.indymedia.ie/mayo
On August 27th and 28th Rossport Solidarity Camp plays host to the Tenth
Grassroots Gathering.
Since the winter of 2001 Nine Grassroots Gatherings have taken place in
Ireland, with discussion and organisation around a wide range of issues.
Each one takes place in a different city from the last and is organised
by a different group of people from the last. Grassroots Gatherings have
taken place in Limerick, Galway, Dublin, Cork, and Belfast.
The format for the first day is workshops, that is a small number of
speakers giving a ten to fifteen minute talk followed by open discussion.
The workshops will consist of people from local community campaigns
talking about the different tactics, forms of organisation, and methods
they have used in their campaigns rather than a concentration on the issues.
There will also be some skills share workshops.
The format for the second day is plenary, that is open discussion around
a particular theme.
In this case the theme is to be how can different local community
campaigns support each other and how can green/left activists support them.
Speakers have been invited on the following topics/from the following groups:
Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment aka CHASE (involved in
campaigning against incineration), Gorleben anti-nuclear protest camp in
West Germany in the '80s, contempory anti-pylons groups, Galway for a
Safe Environment (involved in campaigning against incineration), the
campaign against Merrill Dow Pharmaceuticals in Cork in '87/'88, East
Galway anti-superdump campaigners, Derrybrien Development Society.
For more information phone: Terry at 086 1682416
Or e-mail galwaygrassroots@yahoo.com
For information about the situation in Gorleben see:
http://www.nirs.org/mononline/gorgall.htm
http://people.freenet.de/ask/Castor_2001.html
For details of some of the older Grassroots Gatherings see:
http://grassrootsgathering.freeservers.com/previous.htm
A Taste of What to Expect (Some Photos from the June Bank Holiday
Solidarity Gathering)
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=70173
How to get to Rossport:
By Car:
There is a map here: http://www.visitmayo.com/pages/maps.html
Note this does not have all the roads marked that you will have to travel on.
From Ballina:
Take the N59, the road going to Belmullet, first town you meet is
Crossmolina, after Crossmolina you come to Bellacorick Power Station,
which is disused turf burning station, you will also notice a wind farm
here, there is a sharp right hand turn in the road, you are continuing on
the N59, travelling in the direction of the village of Bangor Erris, also
known just as Bangor.
You go through Bangor Erris until on the other side of the village you
come to the oil road, on your left is Srahmore, this is the site Shell
are using to store removed peat from where they are building their
refinery, there is a fork in the road, and just in front is a Marian
grotto, the road on the right looks like it isn't in Mayo, this is the
'oil road', you go up the 'oil road'. At the end of this road you should
see some concrete sheep. This is Ballinaboy, where the refinery is being
built. You turn right to Glenaboy bridge and from there left to Rossport.
From Castlebar:
Follow signs for Achill, a few miles outside Castlebar you turn right up
the R312, follow this road straight for about 25 miles, passing through
the townlands of Beltra and Derreen, and you arrive at Bellacorick power
station, at which point you follow the same directions as if you were
coming from Ballina.
By Public Transport.
There are trains and buses to both Ballina and Castlebar. See:
http://www.buseireann.ie/site/home/ for buses and http://www.irishrail.ie/home/
for trains. From those places you can get transport from a private bus
company called McGraths (097) 87842. Their buses leave Ballina at 5.15pm
from outside Dunnes Stores, that is, from the carpark beside the Humbert
Monument.
Their buses leave Castlebar from outside Heatons Store, which is at the
top of main street, opposite side of the road from the drop off point for
the Bus Eireann buses.
They will leave you off at Rossport cross, but they do not run on Sundays
(return from Rossport cross 10.45 a.m. Monday to Saturday, 10 euro return).
Alternatively you can get as far as Bangor via the Bus Eireann route from
Ballina to Belmullet. These leave Ballina bus station at 12.15 and 18.10
Monday to Saturday and at 13.00 on Sundays. See: http://
www.buseireann.ie/site/home/
Should there be sufficient interest we will run a feeder bus from Ballina
on either Friday night or Saturday morning for people travelling from
around the country, if you are interested contact Michael at: 086 3588890
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Pipeline protests hit Shell
Tom McGhie, Mail on Sunday
This Is Money, UK
3 July 2005
SHELL has suspended work in Russia on parts of a controversial £6bn gas and oil pipeline - the most expensive in the world.
As
the group last week cemented the merger of its Dutch and British arms
in an attempt to draw a line under recent troubles, a Russian
government report accused the oil giant of environmental vandalism.
The
report last week strongly criticised Shell's venture for destroying the
land around riverbanks on the island of Sakhalin, north of Japan.
Moscow warned of possible fines.
Hundreds
of indigenous people blockaded roads leading to Shell's Sakhalin Energy
oil and gas facilities last week as protests grew over the alleged
damage.
The
project is two years late and £1bn over budget, but its success is
essential to Shell, which has faced criticism over the past two years
for its failure to find new reserves.
Last
week, Shell escaped criminal charges in America for overstating
reserves and chief executive Jeroen van der Veer told Financial Mail he
wanted to put the scandal behind him.
The
Sakhalin-2 project involves running a pipeline 500 miles to carry gas
and oil from rigs off the north of the island to a port in the south.
But the pipeline crosses 1,100 rivers, many rich in salmon.
The
pollution caused by diverting rivers and destroying riverbanks has
already led to damage to salmon-breeding grounds and has threatened the
vital fishing industry.
Three
months ago, Shell was forced to reroute the pipeline, which could
eventually pump 140,000 barrels of oil a day, because it threatened the
feeding grounds of the Western Grey Whale. There are thought to be only
100 left. The company halted work for studies into the project's
environmental impact.
Shell
said: 'There is suspension on the work around the rivers to allow for
more training for contractors on environmental matters.' Malcolm
Brinded, executive director of Shell Exploration & Production, met
protesters from Russia who visited London last week to complain about
the damage that Shell had allegedly inflicted on the environment.
It
has also emerged that the European Bank for Reconstruction &
Development, which has so far refused to fund part of the project, is
sending a team to the island next month for the second time.
Shell desperately needs funding for the project and many banks look to the EBRD for guidance on whether to invest.
Financial
Mail revealed last year that Shell had exaggerated the charity work it
had done to help the community in Nigeria, where it has faced savage
criticism for causing pollution and failing to stop human rights
violations.
The
era of the domination of North Sea gas comes to an end tonight when a
tanker berths at National Grid's new £130 million terminal on the Isle
of Grain, Kent. The ship, above, is carrying 31 million cubic metres of
liquid natural gas from Algeria - enough to supply 47,000 homes for a
year. As North Sea supplies start to dwindle, Britain will depend more
on dearer LNG from areas such as Egypt and Algeria.
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Rossport Resistance Steps Up A Gear
by Terry - Shell to Sea
Sunday, Jul 3 2005, 1:56pm
info@shelltosea.com
www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=70605
Refinery Construction Site Picketed; Fishermen Prepare To Blockade 'Things'; Roadside Vigil A Win
"What
we intend to do on Monday, if they do not open, is picket from 6.30
p.m. to let them know that we will not be backing down. We are choosing
that time for people who will be at their jobs during the day. If work
resumes at the site we will start picketing at 11 a.m. The purpose of
the picket is to persuade employees working at the building of the
refinery to halt work, as some have done, and to show that we are not
forgetting the five innocent men in Cloverhill prison.
"
P.J. Moran, Ballinaboy Resident.
WORK CONTINUES AS NORMAL AT THE COMPANY'S SITES IN MAYO
So
reads the Shell press release of Friday July 1st. At the refinery site
at Ballinaboy everything, mostly signs and flagmen huts, that was on
the "oil road" outside the site was cleared away by
Shell-Statoil-Roadbridge-Sicim by 3.15pm on Friday, and inside
machinery had stopped work by 3.30pm.
This
morning in Rossport the truck illegally carrying pipes to the
Shell-Statoil-Roadbridge-Sicim compound, which had been halted on the
roadside since Tuesday the 21st of June, was removed after
negotiations, and with that so ended a 12 day, 24 hours a day, roadside
vigil, which highlighted the inadequacies of the developers traffic
management plan, or rather its virtual non-existence. The truck left
without entering the compound.
There
were only security guards present in the compound this morning (Sat 2nd
July) and no construction workers, it is very quiet, with the amusing
addition of a massive number of "Keep Out"signs. Take notice that there
is a right of way through the compound. The photos below were taken
from within it.
At
the moment it is rumoured that work in Ballinaboy, where peat is being
removed in preparation for construction proper, will be halted for two
weeks. During the two days of pickets last week, on Thursday and
Friday, some workers downed tools and joined the demonstrations, while
lorry loads were unable to make it through the picket lines.
Meanwhile the dredger-platforms previously in Broadhaven Bay have left and are currently off Erris head.
Local fishermen have sworn that there will be 30 to 40 fishing boats in between them and the bay should they attempt to return.
According
to the Shell-Statoil-Roadbridge-Sicim schedule for building,
construction was due to start on the pipeline on the 25th of February.
It hasn't. Construction of the landfall, where the off-shore pipeline
comes on land, was due to start on June 1st. It hasn't. Due to the
climatic conditions and boggy land construction of the development can
only proceed during the summer months.
"We
want any one who can help the Rossport 5 through legal representation,
aid, advice or practical assistance to get in touch via email or a
single number. Hopefully this will help to provide a direct point of
contact into the heart of the Rossport residents requiring practical
assistance. PLEASE ENSURE IT IS CLEAR THAT IT IS NOT AN INFORMATION
HOTLINE - IT IS PRIMARILY FOR ANYONE WHO CAN PRACTICALLY ASSIST THE
ROSSPORT 5 OR OUR SAFETY CONCERNS RELATING TO THE PIPELINE."
- Alan McGrath, Rossport resident and nephew of Philip and Vincent McGrath (two of those in prison). That contact is: freetherossportfive@eircom.net 087 7747885
Remember to write to the prisoners:
Willie Corduff
James Brendan Philbin
Vincent McGrath
Philip McGrath
Micheal O‘Seighin
Cloverhill Prison
Dublin 22
It
is also requested that you contact Noel Dempsey, the minister with
responsibility for the Corrib Gas project (last seen playing on his
mobile in the Dail, Snake perhaps?, while assembled politicians asked
questions about this issue)
Phone 046- 9431146 Fax 046 – 9436643 info@noeldempsey.ie
Clinic Details
Details of a bank account for donations to the campaign will be released on Monday.
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Update from Rossport 5
by M. Ní Sheighin
IndyMedia Ireland
Saturday, Jul 2 2005, 4:16pm
www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=70590
In
Cloverhill prison this morning, July 2nd, Micheál Ó Seighin said that
what the 5 men who are in jail want is for the normal technical
standards of the oil and gas companies themselves to be applied by
Shell. They are not looking for any privileges.
They
will not purge their contempt if it means putting people's lives in
danger. They have no contempt for the courts, but human life has a
higher value than a High Court injunction.
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Members of Ógra Shinn Féin occupied the Statoil Filling Station on Northumberland St today.
by Ógra Shinn Féin
IndyMedia Ireland
Saturday, Jul 2 2005, 5:39pm
www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=70593
Members
of Ógra Shinn Féin occupied the Statoil Filling Station on
Northumberland St today at 4pm. Two activists entered the station shop
and chained themselves together while almost two dozen picketed in the
forecourt and distributed leaflets to passing motorists.
Ten
minutes after the protest began two Gardaí arrived and attempted to
force their way into the shop but the two inside managed to keep them
out.
Ten
minutes later a second Garda car arrived and with two more officers and
together they attempted to force their way into the shop. They managed
to push the door partially open and then one officer pushed his baton
through and used it to force the protestors away from the door,
striking one comrade a number of times.
Once
inside the Gardaí forcibly ejected the two who joined the picket
outside for the remainder of the protest which concluded peacefully a
little over an hour after it began.
Support
from passing motorists was high and the station was shut down for over
an hour while thew protestors were present. I've just got a text that
the station is still closed and there's no-one at the station.
This
is the second Statoil station closed by Ógra Shinn Féin in as many days
and they are committed to continuing these actions until the demands of
the Rossport Five are met. Hope to get pictures of this one up on
Monday.
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Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams denied visit Shell pipeline protestors
Jul 2 2005 - 14:37:18
Sinn
Féin leader Gerry Adams said today that the five men jailed for
obstructing the construction of a Shell gas pipeline in Co Mayo are
right to take a stand.
The five are currently being held in Cloverhill prison for refusing to obey a High Court injunction taken out by Shell.
Mr
Adams tried to visit the prison today but was not allowed in because he
is not their local political representative. Five local TDs have
already visited the protesters.
Mr
Adams said the men have serious and legitimate concerns about the
pipeline being put through their lands at Rossport and has called on
the government to intervene to secure their release.
Further protests are planned for tomorrow in Mayo.
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Details of the Solidarity Camp in Rossport, and upcoming protests and meetings across the country
by Terry -
Shell to Sea Saturday, Jul 2 2005, 5:22am
info@shelltosea.com
address: http://www.shelltosea.com
www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=70581
The
Solidarity Camp - why it is there, how you get there, what it is doing
and what it needs, plus protest actions and meetings around the
country.
Arising
out of the solidarity gathering on the June bank holiday weekend, a
number of supporters of the local residents' struggle for justice
against the multi-nationals and the state have been camped out in
Rossport. This has been ongoing since Tuesday the 19th when the call
went out to join the roadside vigil which highlights the intrusive and
obstructive and dangerous nature of the plans of
Shell-Statoil-Roadbridge-Sicim to put 60 to 70 trucks a day on narrow
country lanes with next to no traffic management plan. See: Update:
Shell Truck Blockade Continues
The
story at that link gives a taste of the purpose of being up in Erris,
basically as the presence on the roadside has been going on 24/7 it was
necessary for more folk to join in to relieve the local people who had
initiated this action, who have farms to run and jobs to go to, who
have the stress of court action and the stress of the corporate/state
assault on their lives, homes and families. Some local residents
involved in campaigning against Shell-Statoil-Roadbridge-Sicim have
been literally working day and night. Roadbridge-Sicim being the
construction contractors.
The
call out to bring people to the area went public, that is, outside the
Shell to Sea network, in response to the situation where last Wednesday
the landowners upon whom Shell had initiated injunction proceedings
would have to be in Dublin at the Four Courts, thereby reducing the
number of people on hand to prevent entry by
Shell-Statoil-Roadbridge-Sicim engineers onto the farms. See one of
their earlier attempts: Shell in Rossport 16/06/2005/ Today in Mayo:
Shell attempt to seize land is defeated It is for doing this that five
men are currently in Cloverhill Prison.
At
the moment the on-going action is the picketing of the proposed
refinery site at Ballinaboy, in an effort to persuade workers there to
down tools, as some have been doing.
This
has been happening on Thursday and Friday and re-starts on Monday. The
solidarity presence consists of people from who have travelled from
Ballina, Galway, Louth, Cork, Kildare and Limerick. We, and the local
campaigners, are now looking for more people to join us, in response to
the jailings.
The
day to day tasks are preparing logistically for the arrival of more
people, joining in the actions of local residents, and helping to
publicise the situation on indymedia.ie. All actions are peaceful,
carried out in consultation with the residents, and organised in a
non-hierarchal and horizontal manner.
This
is very much a struggle which has been going on for years carried out
by people who will be materially effected in terms of quality of life
should the development go ahead, the nature of that struggle will not
change. The purpose of the solidarity camp is to contribute whatever
support we can to that continuing struggle.
How to get to Rossport:
By Car:
There is a map here:
Note this does not have all the roads marked that you will have to travel on.
From Ballina:
Take
the N59, the road going to Belmullet, first town you meet is
Crossmolina, after Crossmolina you come to Bellacorick Power Station,
which is disused turf burning station, you will also notice a wind farm
here, there is a sharp right hand turn in the road, you are continuing
on the N59, travelling in the direction of the village of Bangor Erris,
also known just as Bangor.
You
go through Bangor Erris until on the other side of the village you come
to the oil road, on your left is Srahmore, this is the site Shell are
using to store removed peat from where they are building their
refinery, there is a fork in the road, and just in front is a Marian
grotto, the road on the right looks like it isn't in Mayo, this is the
"oil road", you go up the "oil road". At the end of this road you
should see some concrete sheep. This is Ballinaboy, where the refinery
is being built. You turn right to Glenaboy bridge and from there left
to Rossport.
From Castlebar:
Follow
signs for Achill, a few miles outside Castlebar you turn right up the
R312, follow this road straight for about 25 miles, passing through the
townlands of Beltra and Derreen, and you arrive at Bellacorick power
station, at which point you follow the same directions as if you were
coming from Ballina.
By Public Transport.
There are trains and buses to both Ballina and Castlebar. See: http://www.buseireann.ie/site/home/ for buses and http://www.irishrail.ie/home/
for trains. From those places you can get transport from a private bus
company called McGraths (097) 87842. Their buses leave Ballina at
5.15pm from outside Dunnes Stores, that is, from the carpark beside the
Humbert Monument.
Their
buses leave Castlebar from outside Heatons Store, which is at the top
of main street, opposite side of the road from the drop off point for
the Bus Eireann buses.
They
will leave you off at Rossport cross, but they do not run on Sundays
(return from Rossport cross 10.45 a.m. Monday to Saturday, 10 euro
return).
Alternatively
you can get as far as Bangor via the Bus Eireann route from Ballina to
Belmullet. These leave Ballina bus station at 12.15 and 18.10 Monday to
Saturday and at 13.00 on Sundays. See: http://www.buseireann.ie/site/home/
Materials
needed to get ready for more people and a permanent base; please donate
if you can, Camping wish-list; carpets, pallets, tools; hammers, nails,
hacksaws, shovels, forks, spades buckets, toilet seat,
woodchips/sawdust, building wood food/fruit & veggies, blankets,
camping gear, old furniture, boats & oars, polyprop rope, climbing
gear, lanterns and gas lamps binoculars, people, strawbales, caravans,
teepees, geodomes, mobile phone batteries, leisure batteries,
transport, banner making gear, bikes, paints
If you are coming to camp:
You
can contact Micheal at 086 0704814 or Bob at 086 3201612, they are the
contacts for people coming to join the solidarity camp.
Remember:
things
to bring: rain gear, it is Ireland after all wellies sleeping bag tent
torches fork/ spoon and bowl video cameras musical instruments and ...
good humour!
Forthcoming Meetings and Actions:
- Castlebar Demonstration: Sunday at 3pm, meeting in the TF (aka Travellers' Friend) carpark.
- Ballinaboy Picket: Continuing again on Monday
and subsequent days, picket of the Shell-Statoil-Roadbridge-Sicim
construction site for the refinery part of the Corrib Gas project.
- Protest in Galway: Monday, at 10.30 AM, outside
the Constituency Clinic (beside the Royal Rock Cafe, Ballybane
Industrial Estate) of state minister, Frank Fahey.
- Public Meeting, Ennis, Co.Clare, Monday, July 4th.
- Shell to Sea Organising Meeting, Tuesday, Dublin, July 5th.
- Protest in Cork, Wednesday, July 6th. Meet 8
a.m. City Hall, Go to Shell main depot, Centre Park Road, linked in
with international day of action on climate change. See: Story of previous action in Cork.
- Rally in Dublin, Wednesday, July 6th. Meet Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square, 7.30pm.
- Scotland all the time during G-8 protests: The distribution of 15,000 leaflets about the Shell in Mayo situation and holding of several workshops. Contact london@shelltosea.com or ask around in the Irish barrio.
- A national Shell to Sea organising meeting is scheduled for mid-July, to take place in north west Mayo, watch this space for details.
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Five imprisoned over pipeline obstruction
RTE
Irish Public Television
29 June 2005
Five men from Co Mayo have been sent to prison after the High Court
found them to be in breach of court orders preventing them obstructing
the building of a gas pipeline owned by Shell.
Sending the men to prison, Mr Justice McMenamin said the men could not
take the law into their own hands.
The judge said the men had indicated that they had obstructed the
construction and would continue to obstruct it. He said he had no
alternative but to commit them to prison.
Council on behalf of Shell, Mr Pat Hanratty, said it was with great
regret that the company had taken this step.
Shell, which wants to build the pipeline from the offshore Corrib gas
field, had sought committal of the men to prison for their refusal to
obey two injunctions preventing them from obstructing work.
Following today's High Court decision, the five men, Philip McGrath,
Willie Corduff, Vincent McGrath, James Brendan Philbin and Michael
O'Seighin, were taken to the Bridewell Garda Station.
Caitlin O'Seighin, Mr O'Seighin's wife, said she was very proud of her
husband for standing up for what was right.
Willie Corduff said he was devastated. He said the men were being put in
jail for trying to protect the health of their families.
The Mayo Independent TD, Dr Jerry Cowley, who was in court, said it was
a scandal that the five were going to prison.
He said the community near Rossport, Co Mayo, was living in mortal fear
because of safety concerns over the pipeline.
This morning, Mr Justice Finnegan gave them some time to consider but
all five refused to give assurances that they would not obstruct
construction work in the future
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Shell Vs. People Of Rossport: "Mafia Threat"s from Judge Before He jails The Rossport Five.
by IMC Ireland Editorial
Indymedia Ireland
Wednesday, Jun 29 2005, 5:50pm
The
High Court has jailed five people at the request of Shell for
attempting to stop the multinational from laying a controversial,
high-pressure, "offshore" gas pipeline through their land in Rossport,
Co Mayo. The judge ordered that the five men - four small landowners
and a local supporter - be imprisoned "until they purge their
contempt", meaning they will not be released until they have promised
to allow Shell to dig up their land.
He
warned them it was also in his power to seize assets, including their
homes and farms. The judge also awarded costs against the five, Philip
McGrath, Willie Corduff, Vincent McGrath, James Brendan Philbin and
Michael O'Seighin. The landowners in question say if the pipeline goes
ahead they will have to leave their homes because of the danger posed
by the pipeline, which even Minister Noel Dempsey has acknowledged is
"unprecedented" anywhere in the world. They had previously said they
were prepared to go to jail rather than be "guinea pigs" in Shell's
"experiment". Noel Dempsey has not yet given ministerial consent for
the pipeline, yet the five were jailed for refusing to give an
undertaking not to obstruct Shell from accessing their land to begin
work. The jailing comes 10 years after the execution of nine Ogoni
activists for their opposition to Shell's operation in Nigeria.
Record
of Indymedia Reports as Events unfolded today - 29th June 05 Farmers
attempting to stop Shell from laying high-pressure gas pipeline across
their land in Rossport, Co. Mayo in the west of Ireland (a development
of a type admitted to be without precedent by a minister in the Irish
government) have been appearing in court in Dublin today.
Reports
are coming in from supporters of the defendants that the judge, Justice
McMenamin, has taken an extreme activist position on the case and
threatened the defendants in a very disturbing manner.
Breaking news from the newswire:
Latest
news from the Shell in Mayo case in court this morning report that
things are not looking great for the people of Rossport. The Judge at
one point appeared to threaten every farmer in Mayo with imprisonment.
The case resumes in the High Court in court No. 6 at 11.45am. It is
looking more likely that some of the people on trial will be sent to
jail although sentencing may be deferred until Friday. All support
very, very welcome.
Further reports will be posted throughout the day.
Background on the case was previously reported on Indymedia.ie here and here.
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Rowdy meeting ends Shell's 100-year split
Terry Macalister
Wednesday June 29, 2005
The Guardian
Shell
shareholders voted by over 97% yesterday to end 100 years of dual
company structure by merging the British and Dutch arms of the oil
group into a £125bn business.
But the Shell board suffered a turbulent time at the company's annual meeting in London before the vote was taken.
There
was particular anger from small shareholders of Royal Dutch stock who
accused the board of leaving them "hung out to dry" because they would
have to pay capital gains tax of 40%.
One
investor said the Shell board remained a poor cousin to that of rival
BP. "Where is Peter Sutherland [the BP chairman]? Where is John Browne
[BP chief executive]?" asked James Moorehouse.
As a series of meetings drew to an end, British institutions and other shareholders voted by 99.75% for unification.
At
a simultaneous meeting in the Netherlands Dutch shareholders gave their
backing by a majority of 97.4% for a move which will lead to the
establishment of Royal Dutch Shell plc. The restructuring is costing
£115m.
While
British investors voted overwhelmingly to endorse the performance of
the board, only 53.5% of Dutch shareholders did the same. Royal Dutch
chairman Aad Jacobs, who becomes chairman of the combined group,
admitted it would take a long time to "get back the lost confidence"
after 2004 when reserves were downgraded five times.
The
restructured company will be registered in Britain and have its
headquarters in Holland. Jeroen van der Veer will continue as chief
executive, backed by a traditional team of non-executive directors.
Shell
shares rose by 3%, among Europe's top blue-chip gainers yesterday as
investors welcomed the move and expected it to lead to further gains as
tracker funds are forced to raise their holdings.
Lord
Oxburgh, the outgoing chairman of Shell in Britain said he felt no
regret at seeing the end of the old-style company. One of the
advantages of the new structure was that it would help Shell raise
equity which could be used for acquisitions. Asked whether that could
mean a bid for US group Unocal, which is the target of a bidding
battle, Lord Oxburgh responded: "This sort of deal is not on our radar
screen."
Meanwhile
Mr Van der Veer told reporters in Holland: "We certainly have our eye
on acquisitions but at the moment it's too expensive and it doesn't
create shareholder value."
The
company is seeking opportunities of between $1bn and $9bn in areas that
would supplement existing operations such as liquefied natural gas,
industry insiders say.
Shell
tried to fend off criticism on human rights and environmental issues
from Friends of the Earth. The campaign group had flown in a group of
community leaders from countries including Nigeria, South Africa and
the Philippines who attacked Shell for not doing enough to clear up
pollution.
The
London meeting was disrupted by a dozen protesters who took off their
shirts to reveal black T-shirts with a doctored Shell logo including
the name written without an "S". They chanted "We must fight on" before
being escorted away by security staff.
British
investors were more concerned about the dividends being paid in euros
rather than pounds and worried about Shell's annual meetings being held
in The Hague.
The
new shares will start trading under the new name on July 20 but
shareholders said the capital gains issue would hit 1% of all
investors.
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