Extra gardai on duty at Shell pipeline after €150,000 damage to machinery

Extra gardai are on duty in Co Mayo this weekend after violence broke out at a protest against the Shell gas pipeline last Sunday when a security guard had his arm badly injured and €150,000 worth of damage was done to machinery, writes Jim Cusack.

Sixty protesters, mostly local people but including anarchists who travelled to Ireland for the G8 summit protest, were said to have been involved. Gardai made six arrests last Wednesday and Thursday after examining CCTV images and are preparing prosecutions files.

The protesters targeted a construction site at Aughoose last weekend as part of an annual protest campaign, and security guards at the scene were assaulted.