Over the last two weeks on an isolated corner of the the Atlantic coast of Ireland a protracted struggle has taken place between the loca community of Rossport and the Shell and Statoil corporations backed up by the Irish state on the other. The article lists some of the coverage Irish anarchists have produced of this struggle.
I'd appeal to anarchist elsewhere to consider acting in solidarity with this struggle - in particular by picketing Shell or Statoil filling stations and depots. Anarchists in a number of cities in Britain have been doing this over the past week. Please post reports of any actions to this thread and to indymedia.ie
Locals prevent shell resuming work on Corrib pipeline at Rossport
An audio interview with a member of the Workers Solidarity Movement who is at the Rossport Solidarity Camp and has been joining the pickets http://radio.indymedia.org/uploads/shellrossport.mp3
Recent articles from the WSM press in connection with Rossport
This video shot in Rossport in June features locals explaining the issues and a Bolivian energy activist on the struggle in Bolivia
Dublin members of the WSM took part in the occupation of the Shell HQ luncthtime Wedensday. Revoltvideo have put a video of this on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ViSXMsrNhQ
by Ronan - WSM - personal capacityFri Oct 13, 2006 22:09
Detailing a strange meeting with Shell representative in lobby of Shell HQ
Those of us in the lobby were treated to a rather surreal pantomime on the part of Shell and an Garda Siochana; the sergeant on duty did his best to play the strong man demanding that we leave a number of times. upon hearing us refuse, he huffed off only to return deflated with the news that our demand for a meeting with Shell management would be met, but only four of us seven could remain. We refused this condition and again he huffed off, only for a Shell PR person to emerge nonetheless. Shell representative Susan Shannon was treated to an hour long grilling about the sins of Shell in Erris and around the world. She seemd ignorant of Shell's role in ordering death squads upon the indigenous people of Nigeria, and could only respond with a blanket denial. Not surprising since she said that she would never work for a company that committed murder.
What was surprising was her admission of Shell's culpability in the poisonous pollution that is causing cancer and other illness in Durban, South Africa. As groundwork.org write: "Investigative studies by a local journalist have shown that the rate of leukaemia in South Durban may be up to 24 times higher than in other parts of South Africa. A study by the University of Natal medical school found that children in the suburbs south of Durban “are up to four times likely to suffer from chest complaints than children from other areas of the city” of Durban." The pollution emanates from the SAPREF refinery located in residential areas of Durban; this operation was made possible by the fact that apartheid regime which made the deal with Shell cared little for the fate of the 250, 000 mainly black residents of the immediate vicinity. Clearly in Susan's little world of doublethink, such total disdain for the lives of others doesn't actually count as murder, or so she says to herself every day.
Neither Susan nor her colleague Louise could provide us with any answers as to what action they would take should the protests at Bellanaboy continue. They kept repeating words like dialogue and permission, while failing to recognise that they have no permission from the people of Erris to site their refinery onshore, and they are not going to receive it. They seemd confident that there were people in Erris who supported their project but were silenced when we asked whether any of these supporters weren't on their payroll. They felt that Ireland was getting a good deal from their operations, despite the fact that they could write all their costs off in tax, and Irish people will have to pay market rates for the gas that is being refined with their tax money.
It would take intellectual gymnastics to keep up with the nonsense that Shell are trying to spin, but we know that behind their polished facade lies a history of murder and destruction. The struggle continues; Shell to Hell!
This is an edited SMS from a WSM member in the Rossport Solidarity Camp received 11.20 Fri 13 Oct. Bits in [] are explanations / comment added by Joe
"Several punches were thrown by Gardai yesterday. Gardai have assaulted a local school teacher [presumably Maura Harrington, RTE were 'reporting' that she 'fell over' while marching!] this morning. She's in hospital. Four people were arrested - all released without charge. There is extreme provocation from the Gardai going on but people are holding up well, remaining peaceful. Moral is high.
There were Gardai road blocks yesterday on both side of the Rossport Solidarity Camp and Glenamoy. Gardai have also been following local people"
by James - WSM - personal capacityFri Oct 13, 2006 22:12
Interview with WSM member who took part in a blockade of the Shell petrol station in Cork this morning in solidarity with the Rossport struggle . Interview is around 2 mins, 760k mp3. Quality is poor in parts as it was made by mobile on a train. James describes blocking the station, reaction of police (Garda) and public and laws used to undermine such action
John from Shell to Sea Cork talks of the pickets at the police stations, airport depot and urban filling stations, how people on the street are reacting, why they decided to step up the actions and why he as one of those dreaded 'people with English accents' is involved in the struggle.
The videos above are excellent - towards the last thrid of the first video you will see a short old woman questioning the police about their use of the 1994 Criminal Justice Bill. I'm pretty sure this is Maura Harrington (a local school teacher) who was hospitalised after a confrontation with the gardai this morning in Rossport.
by Joe - WSM - personal capacityFri Oct 20, 2006 21:06
Interview about National Day of Action in Rossport which saw repeated attempts to blockade the road to the refinery and Gardai (police) attacks on those doing the blockading.
Audio file is 3.5 minutes of Mp3 1.2 Mb
by Phuq Hedd (via indymedia.ie)Mon Oct 23, 2006 17:58
Interviewer: The struggle against Shell's attempt to impose a dangerous gas pipeline on a local community in Rossport (in the West of Ireland) continued today with a national mobilisation, called for by the locals, where people travelled from around the country to go down and support them. Every morning they (the locals) have been marching to the refinery and today people from elsewhere in Ireland joined them.
This report is from Davy, who is a WSM member living in the camp in Rossport and he reports on todays events.
Davy: Today was a national day of action called in Rossport for [?] people from all over the country came up to Rossport to support the local community in their ongoing fight against Shell who are trying to attempt to build an onshore gas-refinery in Erris. The morning started at about 10 o'clock when people gathered at a t-junction near the refinery site where shell ... on a road which Shell use to access the refinery site. There was a slow march up towards the refinery site which over time turned into a demi-blockade with, em the guards, with people walking very slowly in front of vehicles and then the guards having to pull people away. Effectively it was working pretty well as a blockade. When we reached the refinery site which was about a kilometer and a half away from our start point we stopped. People kind of re-grouped, we then marched back down the road and went further past the t-junction for about 2 kilometers, constantly blocking the trucks on the way out of the refinery site to do the pickup and the trucks coming back in. Then we turned around after going down those 2 kilometers and walked back up again and did this.
At this stage the police who had gotten very, very aggressive were throwing an awful lot of punches, punched a woman in the stomach, punched other people in the face, kicked people, quite violent, cornered us in. And then some of the local community led some of the people who had come down on a [??mission??] through the bog and back out onto the road again and they continued the blockade again. The blockade kind of dissipated around 12 o'clock.
Quite an enjoyable day was had by all and quite effective. Like, the blockade is I suppose, ... or I suppose more accurately the disruption continued to 12 o'clock today. Everyone was quite empowered by the whole process. People really felt empowered by the fact that all these people had come from all across the country: Dublin, Cork, Galway, Clare, Belfast, [noise of passing car] Donegal. It was a great show of solidarity today, there was about 300, 400 people on the demonstration.
Interviewer: Any people arrested?
Dave: Oh yes, sorry. One person was arrested over allegedly criminally damaging a Garda camera [noise of passing car] ... they were released 3 hours later without charge. The police as I said before were very, very aggressive. They really laid into people, punched people. I think a lot of people who came down from around the country had heard a lot about it on the internet or on the news and stuff were really shocked when they saw first hand exactly how the police were acting, that it was real, real aggression and ... you know, very vicious the whole attitude [noise of passing car] their whole demeanour. And so I think it's very useful in that ... like the technology for what's going on down here has spread further again.
Interviewer: How do people who are down there, the locals and people in the camp feel the actual day went? Are you pleased with the turn-out?
Dave: Oh, very pleased with the turn out, yeah. Probably, oh a good hundred, hundred and fity people come down for it and then there's a big turn-out from the local community as well. People were quite happy, obviously there's different reactions exactly ... exactly ... you know how different people saw the day, but I suppose it's very difficult to tell because with anything like this your talking necessarily about just how succesful today was but how it sort of effects future actions, and does it empower people here to go on doing more, which I think it will, or does it make people angry, a little more a little less, you know does it disempower people which I can't see how it could, so I suppose yeah, it was quite a good day.
make this your Anarkismo.net front page
Saturday October 14, 2006 17:01
by Joe Black - WSM - personal capacity
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Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Detailing a strange meeting with Shell representative in lobby of Shell HQ
Those of us in the lobby were treated to a rather surreal pantomime on the part of Shell and an Garda Siochana; the sergeant on duty did his best to play the strong man demanding that we leave a number of times. upon hearing us refuse, he huffed off only to return deflated with the news that our demand for a meeting with Shell management would be met, but only four of us seven could remain. We refused this condition and again he huffed off, only for a Shell PR person to emerge nonetheless. Shell representative Susan Shannon was treated to an hour long grilling about the sins of Shell in Erris and around the world. She seemd ignorant of Shell's role in ordering death squads upon the indigenous people of Nigeria, and could only respond with a blanket denial. Not surprising since she said that she would never work for a company that committed murder.
What was surprising was her admission of Shell's culpability in the poisonous pollution that is causing cancer and other illness in Durban, South Africa. As groundwork.org write: "Investigative studies by a local journalist have shown that the rate of leukaemia in South Durban may be up to 24 times higher than in other parts of South Africa. A study by the University of Natal medical school found that children in the suburbs south of Durban “are up to four times likely to suffer from chest complaints than children from other areas of the city” of Durban." The pollution emanates from the SAPREF refinery located in residential areas of Durban; this operation was made possible by the fact that apartheid regime which made the deal with Shell cared little for the fate of the 250, 000 mainly black residents of the immediate vicinity. Clearly in Susan's little world of doublethink, such total disdain for the lives of others doesn't actually count as murder, or so she says to herself every day.
Neither Susan nor her colleague Louise could provide us with any answers as to what action they would take should the protests at Bellanaboy continue. They kept repeating words like dialogue and permission, while failing to recognise that they have no permission from the people of Erris to site their refinery onshore, and they are not going to receive it. They seemd confident that there were people in Erris who supported their project but were silenced when we asked whether any of these supporters weren't on their payroll. They felt that Ireland was getting a good deal from their operations, despite the fact that they could write all their costs off in tax, and Irish people will have to pay market rates for the gas that is being refined with their tax money.
It would take intellectual gymnastics to keep up with the nonsense that Shell are trying to spin, but we know that behind their polished facade lies a history of murder and destruction. The struggle continues; Shell to Hell!
This is an edited SMS from a WSM member in the Rossport Solidarity Camp received 11.20 Fri 13 Oct. Bits in [] are explanations / comment added by Joe "Several punches were thrown by Gardai yesterday. Gardai have assaulted a local school teacher [presumably Maura Harrington, RTE were 'reporting' that she 'fell over' while marching!] this morning. She's in hospital. Four people were arrested - all released without charge. There is extreme provocation from the Gardai going on but people are holding up well, remaining peaceful. Moral is high. There were Gardai road blocks yesterday on both side of the Rossport Solidarity Camp and Glenamoy. Gardai have also been following local people"
Interview with WSM member who took part in a blockade of the Shell petrol station in Cork this morning in solidarity with the Rossport struggle . Interview is around 2 mins, 760k mp3. Quality is poor in parts as it was made by mobile on a train. James describes blocking the station, reaction of police (Garda) and public and laws used to undermine such action
Interview is at http://radio.indymedia.org/uploads/shellblockadecork.mp3
Also - Audio interview with Cork SoS organiser
John from Shell to Sea Cork talks of the pickets at the police stations, airport depot and urban filling stations, how people on the street are reacting, why they decided to step up the actions and why he as one of those dreaded 'people with English accents' is involved in the struggle.
5 minutes, 1.7mb mp3
download from http://radio.indymedia.org/uploads/corksos.mp3
Indymedia uk is reporting protests in support of the struggle in Mayo in England Wednesday
A Shell station in Bradford was visited by a Samba band, see:
https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/10/353301.html
There was a protest and roof banner drop in Leeds, see:
https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/10/353255.html
A roof top occupation and pumps switch off in Brighton, see:
https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/10/353309.html
Shell Depot Blocked in Tyneside
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/10/353354.html
Fair play to all involved!
The videos above are excellent - towards the last thrid of the first video you will see a short old woman questioning the police about their use of the 1994 Criminal Justice Bill. I'm pretty sure this is Maura Harrington (a local school teacher) who was hospitalised after a confrontation with the gardai this morning in Rossport.
Here is the link to a short piece we made concerning the background to the Corrib scheme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLpDmh4BU8w
This is particularly pertinent at this time with the abuse of protesters going on.
Interview about National Day of Action in Rossport which saw repeated attempts to blockade the road to the refinery and Gardai (police) attacks on those doing the blockading.
Audio file is 3.5 minutes of Mp3 1.2 Mb
It is located at
Interviewer: The struggle against Shell's attempt to impose a dangerous gas pipeline on a local community in Rossport (in the West of Ireland) continued today with a national mobilisation, called for by the locals, where people travelled from around the country to go down and support them. Every morning they (the locals) have been marching to the refinery and today people from elsewhere in Ireland joined them.
This report is from Davy, who is a WSM member living in the camp in Rossport and he reports on todays events.
Davy: Today was a national day of action called in Rossport for [?] people from all over the country came up to Rossport to support the local community in their ongoing fight against Shell who are trying to attempt to build an onshore gas-refinery in Erris. The morning started at about 10 o'clock when people gathered at a t-junction near the refinery site where shell ... on a road which Shell use to access the refinery site. There was a slow march up towards the refinery site which over time turned into a demi-blockade with, em the guards, with people walking very slowly in front of vehicles and then the guards having to pull people away. Effectively it was working pretty well as a blockade. When we reached the refinery site which was about a kilometer and a half away from our start point we stopped. People kind of re-grouped, we then marched back down the road and went further past the t-junction for about 2 kilometers, constantly blocking the trucks on the way out of the refinery site to do the pickup and the trucks coming back in. Then we turned around after going down those 2 kilometers and walked back up again and did this.
At this stage the police who had gotten very, very aggressive were throwing an awful lot of punches, punched a woman in the stomach, punched other people in the face, kicked people, quite violent, cornered us in. And then some of the local community led some of the people who had come down on a [??mission??] through the bog and back out onto the road again and they continued the blockade again. The blockade kind of dissipated around 12 o'clock.
Quite an enjoyable day was had by all and quite effective. Like, the blockade is I suppose, ... or I suppose more accurately the disruption continued to 12 o'clock today. Everyone was quite empowered by the whole process. People really felt empowered by the fact that all these people had come from all across the country: Dublin, Cork, Galway, Clare, Belfast, [noise of passing car] Donegal. It was a great show of solidarity today, there was about 300, 400 people on the demonstration.
Interviewer: Any people arrested?
Dave: Oh yes, sorry. One person was arrested over allegedly criminally damaging a Garda camera [noise of passing car] ... they were released 3 hours later without charge. The police as I said before were very, very aggressive. They really laid into people, punched people. I think a lot of people who came down from around the country had heard a lot about it on the internet or on the news and stuff were really shocked when they saw first hand exactly how the police were acting, that it was real, real aggression and ... you know, very vicious the whole attitude [noise of passing car] their whole demeanour. And so I think it's very useful in that ... like the technology for what's going on down here has spread further again.
Interviewer: How do people who are down there, the locals and people in the camp feel the actual day went? Are you pleased with the turn-out?
Dave: Oh, very pleased with the turn out, yeah. Probably, oh a good hundred, hundred and fity people come down for it and then there's a big turn-out from the local community as well. People were quite happy, obviously there's different reactions exactly ... exactly ... you know how different people saw the day, but I suppose it's very difficult to tell because with anything like this your talking necessarily about just how succesful today was but how it sort of effects future actions, and does it empower people here to go on doing more, which I think it will, or does it make people angry, a little more a little less, you know does it disempower people which I can't see how it could, so I suppose yeah, it was quite a good day.