The Rossport Solidarity Camp is slowly getting back to normal after the protest and spontaneous action that followed on Friday morning, 16 February, in this year of our Lord 2006.
But which Lord would that be? Here in Rossport, North West Ireland, the almighty power seems to hide behind a red and yellow crustacean symbol, backed up and promoted as “progress” for the local community by religious leaders, vile politicians, Christy Loftus, the ex-president of the Irish National Union of Journalism (NUJ) and ex-journalist John Egan. Now Egan sides with the very corporation he was hired to report on some 12 years ago, as the Shell Oil corporation backed the hanging of Nigerian Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others for opposing that planet-sucking company in the Niger Delta.
7.30am, Friday morning, saw over 400 protestors march on the Corrib Gas Terminal construction site. Locals, nationals and internationals, marched under the stewardship by local members of Shell to Sea. The point of the stewards was to maintain the stance on the official press release, for the day’s action to remain peaceful and avoid confrontation from the regularly documented violence by Garda police officers.
And indeed, the march did go peacefully. The road to the gas terminal remained clear on one side for the very rare traffic. The work traffic was not affected, as the Shell officials called all workers on-site an hour earlier than normal, much to the upset of the workers I would guess. But that’s what you get when you go against the majority local opinion and side with the “accident-prone” corporation that is ripping up the surrounding countryside, pollute the water supply and fill the air with toxic fumes.
Newspapers reported some 40 to 50 Garda police protected the construction site from these violent threats to “progress”, most of who were aged between 55 and 80-years-old - parents, grandparents and small children. Real threats to society, total anti-social criminals. Or so says the majority of the Irish press on this campaign to halt the high-pressure natural gas pipeline.
But the news reports neglected to mention the two bus loads of police officers that hid down the road, out of site from the protestors, which in total numbered the police protection for Shell at around 150 to 180 personnel.
Drumming and colourful banners were displayed, and clowns roamed the bog land, on which the constructed road to open the way for heavy transport into and out of the site. This road, one year on, is already showing signs of instability. Cracks are appearing everywhere, drawing further concern to safety of a pipeline and terminal being built on unstable land, within 70-metres of local’s homes.
Just after 10am the protest dispersed. But on returning to the local pub for sandwiches and cups of tea, I found 100 to 120 of the protestors took the opportunity at hand and went off-road, entering the construction site from the rear, following the route of the 2004 pipeline – the pipeline that was dismantled because Shell forgot to get the planning agreed. The construction site shutdown for two hours.
The two bus-loads of police rolled in and surrounded the protestors, who John Egan referred to as “trespassers”. Outside other protestors returned to the front gates to show support and stand witness to any activity the police planned to instigate.
Only one protestor was injured though, when he tried to photograph inside a building and two Shell workers assisted in breaking his wrist. The crowd of protestors left the site to raptures of applause and embarrassed faces on the police. Heads were surely going to roll for this one in the Garda.
Egan, not content with his demonisation of the infiltrators - that only proved security on-site was a bigger joke than the orange-clad clowns on unicycles, scooting up and down, outside the main gate – Egan accused the protestors of threatening workers and vandalising tools.
From the eye-witness accounts this hack has listened to, and the video that was recorded inside the site, this accusation is completely false. Egan can only be considered a total scum-sucking liar. And, as Egan attacked Shell to Sea for breaching their promises on a peaceful solidarity action, he too, and the Shell company in a broader sense, will only go down on record, and in the history books, as protagonists of lies, misinformation and promoters of twisted truths.
The truth of the matter, from this hack’s point-of-view, is the infiltrators were incredibly successful. There was no violence, no confrontation, no mess, only a positive and moral-boosting direct action that did indeed send Shell to Sea, at least for a while.
People here sit in anticipation for the following week’s morning pickets. There is some fear there will be retaliation and revenge from the high embarrassed police force and the meeting this afternoon stipulated profoundly that no one should rise to any police provocation, no matter how hard they come down on the people.
But, for now, all is calm and cool on the camp. Curry is simmering on the stove, the rain is lashing down outside the communal hut and the conversation has wound down to Britney Spears shaven head and dyslectic postmen. A good place to end this report.
7.30am, Friday morning, saw over 400 protestors march on the Corrib Gas Terminal construction site. Locals, nationals and internationals, marched under the stewardship by local members of Shell to Sea. The point of the stewards was to maintain the stance on the official press release, for the day’s action to remain peaceful and avoid confrontation from the regularly documented violence by Garda police officers.
And indeed, the march did go peacefully. The road to the gas terminal remained clear on one side for the very rare traffic. The work traffic was not affected, as the Shell officials called all workers on-site an hour earlier than normal, much to the upset of the workers I would guess. But that’s what you get when you go against the majority local opinion and side with the “accident-prone” corporation that is ripping up the surrounding countryside, pollute the water supply and fill the air with toxic fumes.
Newspapers reported some 40 to 50 Garda police protected the construction site from these violent threats to “progress”, most of who were aged between 55 and 80-years-old - parents, grandparents and small children. Real threats to society, total anti-social criminals. Or so says the majority of the Irish press on this campaign to halt the high-pressure natural gas pipeline.
But the news reports neglected to mention the two bus loads of police officers that hid down the road, out of site from the protestors, which in total numbered the police protection for Shell at around 150 to 180 personnel.
Drumming and colourful banners were displayed, and clowns roamed the bog land, on which the constructed road to open the way for heavy transport into and out of the site. This road, one year on, is already showing signs of instability. Cracks are appearing everywhere, drawing further concern to safety of a pipeline and terminal being built on unstable land, within 70-metres of local’s homes.
Just after 10am the protest dispersed. But on returning to the local pub for sandwiches and cups of tea, I found 100 to 120 of the protestors took the opportunity at hand and went off-road, entering the construction site from the rear, following the route of the 2004 pipeline – the pipeline that was dismantled because Shell forgot to get the planning agreed. The construction site shutdown for two hours.
The two bus-loads of police rolled in and surrounded the protestors, who John Egan referred to as “trespassers”. Outside other protestors returned to the front gates to show support and stand witness to any activity the police planned to instigate.
Only one protestor was injured though, when he tried to photograph inside a building and two Shell workers assisted in breaking his wrist. The crowd of protestors left the site to raptures of applause and embarrassed faces on the police. Heads were surely going to roll for this one in the Garda.
Egan, not content with his demonisation of the infiltrators - that only proved security on-site was a bigger joke than the orange-clad clowns on unicycles, scooting up and down, outside the main gate – Egan accused the protestors of threatening workers and vandalising tools.
From the eye-witness accounts this hack has listened to, and the video that was recorded inside the site, this accusation is completely false. Egan can only be considered a total scum-sucking liar. And, as Egan attacked Shell to Sea for breaching their promises on a peaceful solidarity action, he too, and the Shell company in a broader sense, will only go down on record, and in the history books, as protagonists of lies, misinformation and promoters of twisted truths.
The truth of the matter, from this hack’s point-of-view, is the infiltrators were incredibly successful. There was no violence, no confrontation, no mess, only a positive and moral-boosting direct action that did indeed send Shell to Sea, at least for a while.
People here sit in anticipation for the following week’s morning pickets. There is some fear there will be retaliation and revenge from the high embarrassed police force and the meeting this afternoon stipulated profoundly that no one should rise to any police provocation, no matter how hard they come down on the people.
But, for now, all is calm and cool on the camp. Curry is simmering on the stove, the rain is lashing down outside the communal hut and the conversation has wound down to Britney Spears shaven head and dyslectic postmen. A good place to end this report.
e-mail:
Homepage:
