March 20 - Action at TOP

national | anti-war / imperialism | news report Monday March 22, 2004 02:38 by j26

A small group left the main march on Saturday and blockaded TOP Oil in Amiens St in protest at their continuing refueling of military planes at Shannon.

Outside Pearse St. Garda Station small groups of people rolled up their banners and flags and peeled quietly away from the main march which was winding its way past the gates of Trinity College. It had the look of a planned desertion as many of the participants were carrying black or black and green flags and banners. This had the look of an anarchist/anti-capitalist black action. I asked one why they were leaving the march and he told me that they were going for an action at TOP oil. Despite the fact that it was not publicly announced, and that no call was made for people to join, and not knowing whether I was welcome, I decided to tag along. It seemed to make more sense that participating in a long march to listen to more speeches. Besides I was sick of seeing the SWP mock charges (they’re quite good the first time you see them, but they get so boring after a while) There is a time and a place for that, and a rainy day in March didn’t seem like one of them. In all about 30-35 made their way along the quays and up past Busaras as the rain bucketed down. I joined in as we passed the IFSC and got several quizzical looks as people tried to work out who I was. I think some thought I was a journalist (I’m not - except the odd post to Indymedia) or a Garda (while my friends think I look like one - must be the haircut - I ain’t one of them either). Pretty soon the group had arrived at their target - TOP Oil in Amiens St. Several of the members of the group masked up to keep their identities anonymous.

As soon as we arrived 2 masked members entered the forecourt and tied up the pumps with cable ties. Everyone then proceeded to blockade the entrances to the forecourt with bicycles, banners flags and most importantly bodies. Very soon a Garda on a motorcycle arrived. The manager of the forecourt looked severely peeved and stood on the forecourt glaring at the protestors and smoking cigarettes (!!) on the forecourt. The first Garda was followed shortly by 14 other Gardaí, some on foot, more motorcycles, a van and 2 jeeps. They didn’t seem to have any real idea what to do. They were happy enough to pose for the camera though. Eventually one of them asked who was organising the protest and on being told that there was none, told us that it was an illegal and criminal action and that if we moved off to the side we could have our protest and everyone would be happy thanks very much. There ensued a stand-off which lasted until the Gardaí decided to drive their van through the centre of the protest. It was pretty obvious that any attempt to fight back would have resulted in numerous arrests. As the tension escalated, the perpetrators of the cable tying decided (validly) that it would be better for them to leave the protest rather than risk arrest for criminal damage of something similar. Then it settled down into an old fashioned stand-off. At this point one or two people started to approach me to find out who I was, and some seemed disappointed that I was not a journalist, merely a person who is against this war.

There was considerable support form passing traffic, although there were one or two jeers also. Of course there were a couple of people who will always pass a picket or protest line and this time was no exception. The first was an elderly lady who insisted on driving her Micra into the forecourt. The protestors stood up to the attempted entry, but the Gardaí intervened and pushed the protestors out of the way. The same happened very shortly after at the other entrance to the forecourt when a van decided that his diesel was more important than the lives of the thousands of people whose deaths we have become complicit in due to the use of Shannon. The timing of the two attempts to enter the forecourt were a little suspect, coming so close together and testing both sides of the blockade. It would not be surprising it they had been asked by the Gardaí to come and test the blockade. It seems very strange that only one other car made any real attempt to enter the forecourt and these people did not continue after being informed of the reason for the protest, but that these two should arrive in such a short space of time and be so insistent on entering. Even having entered the forecourt, some of the protestors made every effort to talk them out of actually purchasing fuel, but to no avail.

About 5 o’clock it was decided to break off the action, the point having been made. In all the action was effective, but it could have been more so had the groups involved not been so secretive about it in advance. I still do not know what group(s) participated in it as I did not feel it was appropriate for me to ask as everyone was looking suspiciously at me (I did enjoy the feeling of me being the bogeyman for a day though!). Had it been announced, or had an anti-capitalist bloc or even an unspecified action been announced, then perhaps many more would have turned up. As the group dispersed at the end, a few more protestors were arriving, certainly lending credibility to my assertion that publicity for the action was poor.

Anyway, photos will follow soon once I have them shrunk down to size (presumably 1mb+ pics aren’t welcome on the servers). In deference to a previous discussion on the matter in another forum, the faces of all participants will be blurred. If anyone who was there feels the need to correct any errors I may have made, or to add in any important info I left out, please do - I’m writing this from memory, and some mistakes are inevitable.