This year´s St Patrick´s day, Monday 17th March, has been called as an
International day of action against shell, in solidarity with the people
of Rossport, County Mayo, Ireland.
Since 2000 the small rural community of Rossport have been engaged in an
epic battle trying to prevent Shell, Statoil, and Marathon from building a
potentially devastating toxic onshore gas refinery and high pressure
pipeline in their remote and environmentally sensitive region.
People from all over Ireland are set to join forces and show their united
strength by going all the way to London to demonstrate on shell´s front
door step.
Gluaiseacht, the Irish environmental network organising the trip, are
calling for people to join them at the shell head office in London, or
there is also a call out to take solidarity actions at shell garages and
offices, St Paddy´s day parades and Irish embassies all over the world to
coincide with the visit from 15th-17th March.
Meet 11am, Monday 17th March, at the shell centre which is on the South
Bank in front of Jubilee Gardens (SE1) right next to Waterloo station and
across from the London Eye.
What´s Wrong With shell? - The Corrib Pipeline Project
Shell are the biggest stakeholder and beneficiary of the project, so have
therefore been the main target of protest.
The costs to the Environment, Community & Health
Since shell started building the refinery, Carrowmore Lake, which is a
Special Area of Conservation as well as the local water supply to 10,000
people, has been polluted with dangerously high levels of aluminium coming
from the building site. When the refinery is operational the toxic waste
from it will be dumped into Broadhaven bay, where 220 sightings of seven
whale and dolphin species, plus sightings of two seal species have been
recorded.
The actual gas pipeline will operate at such high pressure that according
to the Irish government’s safety study if ruptured could potentially kill
people and destroy buildings for hundreds of metres around. This is all
not to mention the irreparable damage fossil fuels, like gas, are having
on destabilising the global climate.
Community Strength
From the summer of 2005 mass pickets shut down the refinery construction
site after five Rossport residents were imprisoned for refusing to allow
Shell’s sub-contractors access to their and their neighbours' small farms
which the pipeline is to go through. But in October 2006 the Irish state
came to the aid of shell by bringing in a massive two hundred strong
police unit to physically force a path for Shell to commence work. A large
police presence, consisting of Gardaí (Irish police) from all over
Ireland, has stayed at the site to aid the work to continue undisrupted.
Although the resistance to shell in County Mayo is strong, the Irish state
& shell´s tactics of brutality, repression and intimidation has paid a
price on the people fighting the pipeline project.
So mark St Paddy´s day by showing solidarity with their fight!
