"About 120 protesters outside Mullingar station Ming Flanagan, Maura Harrington, etc. Supporting McCabe. M" - Ex-Garda Commissioner Callinan
"You can judge a man by his friends" Brian Purcell - SG of Dept of Justice
"Some shower Brian" Callinan
News release - Issued by Shell to Sea - Friday, September 23rd, 2011
-- Locals and supporters to regroup at Bellanaboy refinery at 1pm --
Work at Shell’s tunnelling compound at Aghoos in Co Mayo was stopped for several hours this morning (Friday, September 23rd, 2011) during a Shell to Sea day of action. Campaigners will regroup at lunchtime for further actions, while a solidarity action also took place in Western Australia.
Shell to Sea campaigners, who had travelled from around Ireland for the day of action, started blocking the road close to the gates of the Aghoos compound just after 6.30am. Gardai attempted to violently clear the road, but campaigners managed to prevent access to the compound for several hours.
Local campaigners and supporters will meet at 1pm at Gate 1 of the refinery site at Bellanaboy for lunch, a street party and further actions.
A solidarity action also took place today in Broome, Australia, where the local community is resisting a dangerous gas pipeline project. Shell is one of the companies behind the Broome project.
ENDS
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Maura Harrington
Terence Conway
http://www.facebook.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/
The Shell to Sea Campaign has three main aims:
1) That any exploitation of the Corrib gas field be done in a safe way that will not expose the local community in Erris to unnecessary health, safety and environmental risks.
2) To renegotiate the terms of the Great Oil and Gas Giveaway, which sees Ireland’s 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent* off the West Coast go directly to the oil companies, with the Irish State retaining a 0% share, no energy security of supply and only 25% tax on profits against which all costs can be deducted.
3) To seek justice for the human rights abuses suffered by Shell to Sea campaigners due to their opposition to Shell’s proposed inland refinery.
*This figure is based on the estimate, issued by the Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources (DCENR) in 2006, that the amount of recoverable oil and gas in the Rockall and Porcupine basins, off Ireland’s west coast, is 10 BBOE (billion barrels of oil equivalent). Based on the average price of a barrel of oil for 2010 of $79, this works out at $790 billion, or €580 billion. This does not take account of further oil and gas reserves off Ireland’s south & east coasts or inland. The total volume of oil and gas which rightfully belongs to Ireland could be significantly higher. Also, as the global price of oil rises in the coming years, the value of these Irish natural resources will rise further.