BP Chairman on the WP menu

by Fergus Fri Aug 15, 2003 20:43

http://www.amcham.ie/events/transatlantic.htm

by Seáinín Fri Aug 15, 2003 20:50

I would have thought the Indonesian Government is the party you should be going after.

by ipsiphi Sat Aug 16, 2003 14:30

amongst other things.

by Sid Sun Aug 17, 2003 12:15

I thought the Workers' Party were going to eat him. Bloody cannibals!

by Fergus Sun Aug 17, 2003 22:27

What an appetite !
Even where the party political back biting doesn't exist, it's so firmly engrained in some people's minds that they dig it up at any percieved opportunity and the vomit hits the comments section.

Hey Sid, we could use your humour at the Conrad Hotel on Sept 9th. After Peter Sutherlands speech, you could crack a few one-liners to induce chronic vomiting among the exclusive guests.
At that stage the LSD from the drinks & canapes should be starting to take effect...

As regards 'BP haven't done anything wrong'

See http://www.fpcn-global.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9

And yeah ... BP are burning the planet too

by Seáinín Mon Aug 18, 2003 02:58

Don't see any crimes committed by BP on that link. That character says he doesn't want hospitals, schools, roads or western goods. Who exactly is he speaking for?

BP are just there to do mining.
They could gladly do without the shitty political situation. Again, you're not seeing the root cause - the lousy Indonesian regime.

What we need, right around the world is regime change, just like we had in Iraq.

by Fergus Wed Aug 20, 2003 18:39

Indonesian troops for BP gas project

http://www.fpcn-global.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=65

Prevention is better than cure

Trouble in the Pipeline

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,785098,00.html

Some people trust BP, I don't.

Business is constantly faced with the challenge of reinvention.

However, I think in BP's case changes they have made are only cosmetic (greenwash) and that the underlying causes of abuse; such as the insatiable profit motive will continue to domininate.

by boss Thu Aug 21, 2003 18:18

Eamonn McCann
Hot Press 9/5/2002



It’s perfectly proper that political parties should make an election issue out of the refusal of an Irish leader to explain what his associates have been up to in Colombia or to spell out the relationship between his organisation and one of the groups involved in the appalling violence currently raging in that misfortunate country.

The man at the centre of a Colombian controversy which shouldn’t be allowed to go away is Peter Sutherland, former Irish Attorney General under Garret FitzGerald, then chairman of Allied Irish Banks at the height of the off-shore account scam, later a European commissioner, subsequently director general of the World Trade Organisation, currently on the board of the multinational Ericsson company and the Royal Bank of Scotland. Oh, and chairman of British Petroleum. A certified member of the executive committee of the world ruling class.

It was in his capacity as chairman of BP that Sutherland became involved last month in what the Times described as a “shouting match” at the Royal Festival Hall in London. A number of shareholders at BP’s annual general meeting on April 18th wanted answers to questions about the company’s use in Colombia of a security firm with links to right wing paramilitaries who in turn have been accused of horrendous human rights abuses.

Sutherland was having none of it. The allegations were “outrageous”. He ordered the shareholder to “sit down now!”. When the persistent chap continued to demand answers, Sutherland, according to press reports, “finally cracked” and declared, "This AGM is not going to be allowed to become a pantomime”.

Outside the hall, a group of Colombian trade unionists and lawyers held a press conference giving details of BP's alleged involvement with irregular armed groups in Colombia. BP's drilling sites are militarised, they maintained. An entire Army brigade, the 16th Brigade, with a notorious human rights record, is dedicated to defending BP installations in the Casanare region, they alleged. The security firm employed by BP, Defence Systems, has been implicated in the killing of members of the Colombian oil workers union, USO, they charged. Both the security forces and the security firm are involved in a war of terror against trade unionists working for BP and against communities protesting that BP's activities have ruined their livelihoods, they complained.

Although a number of share-holders continued to press their point, little progress was made at the meeting towards establishing how much truth, if any, there might be in these startling allegations. Apart from his generalised dismissal of the suggestions as “outrageous”, Sutherland refused point blank to respond.. "We on the board and...most of the shareholders are not concerned with these matters," he declared.

Has Sutherland been denounced by any mainstream politician or media commentator in Ireland---where, let’s remind ourselves, he was once a member of the cabinet and chief law officer of the State---for refusing even to attempt to rebut the serious changes laid against his subordinates? Of course not. Why then should Gerry Adams be pursued for an explanation of what three Republicans were doing in Colombia?

We cannot say for certain that Adams even knew that the three had travelled to Colombia, much less what they had gotten up to upon arrival. But we do know that Sutherland will have had full access to all information about BP’s operations in the country. Why isn’t Miriam O’Callaghan giving him the third degree? Where are the editorials in the Indo and Times? How come the issue hasn’t been raised at the election press conferences of the major parties?

The reason has to do with the nature of our political system and with the scabrous character of the parties which dominate the system and whose policies mirror its malign priorities.

*************************************************************

The main reason for making the effort to get out and vote is that the election provides an opportunity to give some of the most disgusting no-goods in the land a hard kick in the goolies.

We all know it matters little whether it’s Ahern, the man who signed more than 1,500 blank cheques (fifteen hundred!) for the crook Haughey to use for thievery, or Noonan, the ghoul who issued threats to a women dying in pain as a result of the State’s neglience if she didn’t accept the lousy deal he had offered, who becomes Taoiseach.

Fianna Fail guarantees a continuation of lies, corruption and kow-towing to a morally diseased hierarchy. Fine Gael wants to throw thousands of public sector workers out of their jobs. The PDs are gibbering with eagerness to flog off every State asset which isn’t bolted down in between telephone calls asking judges to go easy on rapists. Labour wants into government with any of the above and offers as its Big Idea that the pension fund should be raided to pay for public services because it’s terrified to suggest taxing the rich.

What matters is how much resistance will emerge after the election to these pro-capitalist priorities. What we need in Leinster House are representatives of discontent, men and women who will use their positions as TDs to amplify the voice of dissent and offer a focus for every fightback which arises against rottenness, political leaders who recognise that real power doesn’t reside in the Dail but in the boardrooms and charnel houses of high finance and who understand that it’s not when TDs perambulate through the lobbies but when workers walk out and communities come together in organised angry array that the ruling class feels a tremor of unease.

Disillusion with the main parties and with their rigged system is widespread and deep. This is likely to be reflected in a number of constituencies in more solid support than the opinion polls suggest for the Greens and Sinn Fein. But, dismayingly, neither of these parties is willing to rule out joining a coalition to prop up either Ahern or Noonan as Taoiseach. Indeed, each is avid to be in a position to be asked.

My own advice is that where you can you should give active support to parties and candidates who unambiguously pledge in no circumstances to vote to put Fianna Fail or Fine Gael into government. Vote for candidates who undertake if elected to accept only the average wage, turning over what’s left to grass-roots campaigns. (There should be a law about this---that all political representatives receive the average income of the people they represent. It is an idea which, when you think about it, makes so much sense you don’t have to think about it.) Vote for candidates who are up for a fight from the outside and whose presence in the Dail will be felt by representatives of the parasite rich as a kick in the goolies.

Go for: RICHARD BOYD BARRETT (Socialist Workers' Party) in Dun Laoghaire; CLARE DALY (Socialist Party) in Dublin North; RITCHIE BROWNE (SWP) and FIINIAN MCGRATH (Independent) in Dublin North Central; LISA MAHER (SP) in Dublin South; BRID SMITH (SWP) and LINDA KAVANAGH (Workers' Party) in Dublin South Central; SHAY RYAN (SWP) in Dublin South East; MICK MURPHY (SP) in Dublin South West; JOE HIGGINS (SP) in Dublin West; MICK BARRY (SP) in Cork North Central; MICHAEL O'SULLIVAN (SWP) in Cork South Central; SEAMUS HEALY (Independent) in Tipperary South; JIMMY KELLY (SWP) in Waterford; and CATHERINE KENNEDY (SWP) in Wicklow.

What would we call that?

A start.

by Ruairi Thu Aug 21, 2003 18:30

Tuesday 9th September 2003

The Conrad Hotel, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin

Drinks & Canapés hosted by The Conrad Hotel 12.00 to 12.45

Lunch at 13.00


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GUEST SPEAKER
MR. PETER D. SUTHERLAND

‘Transatlantic Relations’


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Mr. Sutherland is Chairman of Goldman Sachs International and of BP plc. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Investor AB, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc. He is also associated with the World Economic Form, Foundation Board Member; The European Institute (USA), Director; Trilateral Commission (Europe), Chairman; The Conference Board, Global Counsellor; and the Hong Kong Chief Executive’s Council of International Advisors.

Prior to taking his current position, Mr. Sutherland served as Attorney General of Ireland, EC Commissioner responsible for Competition Policy, Chairman of Allied Irish Banks and Director General of The World Trade Organisation (GATT). His numerous awards include the European Person of the Year Award, the Irish People of the Year Award and twelve honorary doctorates from universities in both Europe and America.

His publications include the book ‘Premier Janvier 1993 ce qui va changer en Europe’ and numerous articles in law journals. He chaired the Committee that reported to the EEC Commission on the functioning of the Internal Market after 1992 (The Sutherland Report).


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Ideal networking/cost effective entertainment forum
€60 per person or €600 per table of ten
Four-course lunch includes wine, pre-seating and name badges

Company Logo on table of 10


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by hopespringseternal Fri Aug 22, 2003 12:35

Get into this meeting and make your protest loud and clear! Make sure to put on a tasteless tie or you'll blow your cover!!

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