why is shell jailing
protesters in ireland?

shell to sea // nov 2005
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it's a tale both sordid and depraved.
we won't bother to change the names to protect the innocent. there are no innocent!

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residents of the eris peninsula in north mayo have for five years being fighting against a proposed high-pressure gas pipeline line taking gas from the corrib gas field to a proposed inland refinery in ballinaboy. the pipeline will pass over land, approaching farms and houses as close as 20 metres in some cases.

the corrib gas pipeline is the first test of a new cheaper "on-shore" recovery technique. the main advantage of this revolutionary technique is its low cost. the disadvantage is that in the initial phase the gas will come onshore at an awesome 345 bars - by far the highest pressure gas has ever been put through a land pipeline in an inhabited are anywhere on earth! (gas pressure is measured in bars. a bar is 14.5 pounds of pressure per square inch. the tyre-pressure of a normal car is about 2 bars).

transporting gas at this high and uneven pressure overland is completely and utterly without precedent. what is known is that when such pipes have been used ones carrying gas at a much lower even pressure from refineries have ruptured and exploded.

the most recent example in mexico on july 8th 2005 caused 2 deaths and dozens of injuries. flames had spread across a 600-meter (650-yard) radius, destroying six houses, 19 vehicles and heavy earth-moving equipment. at rossport the pipes will be within 70 metres of peoples houses!

a consortium comprising shell, marathon and stataoil is building the pipeline. several landowners refused to allow representatives from the consortium onto their lands claiming that shell had not obtained the necessary "consents". the high court did not even pause for thought or to ask whether consents were given. he granted shell an injunction in april and this july five landowners were jailed for refusing to allow shell to move onto their own land.

the “rossport five” were kept in prison for over 90 days. they have now been released and are continuing their resistance. locals with some help from outside have being blockading the proposed refinery site, the shell depot and the site where the pipeline is supposed to come ashore, since july.

since the jailing of the "rossport five" there has been a massive outpouring of support in mayo with demos of 3000 people in castlebar and mayo. nationally the pressure has been stepped up with blockades of shell and statoil garages and depots and mass protest rallies in ireland, scotland and norway (statoil is majority owned by the norwegian government).

the rossport five and the shell to sea campaign are in for the long haul. the campaign is locally initiated and led, but they have appealed for support. 3 blockades on the refinery site, the shell depot and where the gas will come onshore were continuous for over a month and shell have suspended activity. but building work and resistance activity will be stepping up from around march.

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callout to come join the blockades >>

for more info see:

free the rossport five: www.freetherossportfive.com >>
shell to sea: www.corribsos.com/index >>