Free the Rossport 5 Demonstration

by paul sherlock Sat Jul 23, 2005 19:09 p_sherlock at yahoo dot com

more pictures from the Free the Rossport 5 demonstration

by paul sherlock Sat Jul 23, 2005 19:11 p_sherlock at yahoo dot com

even more pictures from the demonstration today

by Aidan Sat Jul 23, 2005 19:37

The numbers at the march show that momentum for the campaign is still strong. It was a great turn out. However, the march turned into a repetitive SWP like demonstration -listening to two hours speeches. The march began with well over 1000 people. most people involved in the Dublin shell to sea presumed the march was going to the Norwegian embassy on Molsworth street. A few individuals - probably Jerry Crowley and Kieran Allen took it on themselves to ignore this directive and brought the march to the GPO. Most of the crowd were lost after 5mins of speeches . This was a great opportunity to bring the campign directly to the Norwegian state who own 70% of Statoil. After the blockades at Statoil stations yesterday which included over 300 people it would have been logical to proceed to the Norwegian embassy today. It was a great opportunity to utilise the numbers on the march and demand the withdrawl of Statoil from the Corrib gas field. If anyone will pull out of this deal it will be the Norwegain state/ statoil. However this opportunity was lost when some took it on themselves to march the peoples energies down to the GPO for the usual repeptive string of speeches. In short, great numbers on the march but a completely wasted opportunity to do something practcical and different.

by Claire Sat Jul 23, 2005 20:24

Obviously the families wanted it that way, and whatever the families and the Mayo based campaign decide, so it shall be. It is their campaign and they have directed it exceptionally well so far. What is suggested in Dublin is subordinate to the main campaign, and that is the way it should be.
People did drift away midway through the speeches at the end, which was a problem, but I'm sure suggestions can be made to prevent that happening again.

by eeekkkkk Sat Jul 23, 2005 22:07

Norway is the weakest link. Norway is the only place on the planet where one these companies is directly accountable to actual ordinary human beings in anything resembling a democratic manner. Statoil is majority owned by the state there. It used to be a state company. It has a lousy reputation as a result of recent bribery scandals. There is an strong ongoing environmentalist left current of opinion in Norway which wants it renationalised. Shell and marathon are only accountable to shareholders so unless things get to a big accident or dead protesters they will not blink.

by Claire Sat Jul 23, 2005 22:44

... good points, but I was really answering the point about 'a few individuals' hijacking the march. There seems to be a misapprehension that the SWP are taking over, which isn't the case. (I have nothing to do with them, and don't support them at all.)
The points about the destination & composition of the march are well worth making, but it seems to me that the preoccupation with old feuds is clouding some people's judgement and has already caused a lot of distraction and wasted time.

by Terry Sun Jul 24, 2005 02:25

More pictures and a report of the demo can be found at:

by Verdigris - Shell to Sea Sun Jul 24, 2005 02:54

Dublin demo !

Joe, who gave a fiery, fiery speech at the GPO.

Belles of the march

Ciaron, doyen and spearhead of the Irish anti-war movement.

by Elaine Sun Jul 24, 2005 05:40

Like A People Scorned ! (Photos)
Photos from yesterdays demo

Solidarity

Rossport Farmers are Lucky! In Nigeria they'd by Dead Already! SHELL We Know Your Record!

Sligo Sez...

Dread Block

If I Can't Dance, I Don't Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution!

by Elaine Sun Jul 24, 2005 05:50

...

by Elaine Sun Jul 24, 2005 05:58

.... to sleep, to sleep, perchance.. ?

by Similar St. Miller Sun Jul 24, 2005 17:02

Aidan makes a good point about the conservative actions compared to the strong mood among most there. The Norwegian embassy would be good place to take protest. I think that the speeches were too long, however there were some very good speeches most notably Joe Higgins and a woman who was very good on the question of opportunistic capitalist political parties (eg. Labour). There should be a targeting of Statoil over the next days. It does not take much to shutdown stations and costs them serious money. There is also a good responce from the public.

by Marcher Mon Jul 25, 2005 10:26

I think Claire's point is spot on. Everything should come from the families. But the problem is ascertaining what that is. There are five families, with extended family members, active supporters and hangers-on.

There have been times when different people from Mayo have sent different, sometimes contradictory, messages or instructions from Mayo. This needs to be resolved.

As for the SWP, anyone who thinks they're not desperate to hi-jack this campaign needs to grow up a little with all due respect.

by mayoman Mon Jul 25, 2005 10:31

As far as I am aware, there has been a functioning Dublin Shell to Sea committee for the past while. Since the jailings, this has been an effective means of communication and organisation involving WSM, SF, grassroots people, and others. SWP attend but then go off and do their own thing anyway without informing anyone else. If WSM, SF etc did the same, the Day of Action on Friday would have been a disaster.

by krossie Mon Jul 25, 2005 13:33

Claire:
"Obviously the families wanted it that way, and whatever the families and the Mayo based campaign decide, so it shall be. It is their campaign and they have directed it exceptionally well so far. What is suggested in Dublin is subordinate to the main campaign, and that is the way it should be.
People did drift away midway through the speeches at the end, which was a problem, but I'm sure suggestions can be made to prevent that happening again."

Well yes i agree BUT.....

the families and Rossport locals themselves need to get together free from ALL AND ANY political groups and decide what they want then let us ALL know if possible.

We need better communication and one voice were possible.

Regional groups should be support groups - and the people in Mayo should have the final say. But its very difficult when you don't know who is speaking for who!!

For example at the last Shell to sea Dublin Dr. Jerry Cowley told us that the proposed route was to the embassy and that was what the families wanted. He asked for our opinion most of us were completely for it though 2 people (both SWP members) still backed the GPO.
So our belief was that that was were it was to go and that was what the familes wanted and that was what most of us felt made sense
.
When he was approached on the day he said that they had decided it was "inconvienant"

Who decided that and when!

Krossie (wsm / Dublin Shell to Sea)

by Daithi Mon Jul 25, 2005 14:14 Donegal

As anyone who goes regularly to Rossport will know. They make the decisions about what is done, where and when. They are very clear about the way forward and would not allow any group or political party to derail them. They have nothing but good things to say about many of the groups and individuals that are being attacked here by people who are obviously ignorant and have their own agendas to pursue. Go to Rossport, talk to people there. They will welcome you, but also make it clear that you do only what they want done. They will also tell you that they have worked well and happily with Sinn Fein, the Socialist Party and the SWP, as well as Jerry Crowley and other Independent TDs. So, stop this trying to divide the campaign!!

by mayoman Mon Jul 25, 2005 14:18

There is only one group attempting to divide the campaign for their own petty purposes.

by Similar St. Miller Mon Jul 25, 2005 16:19

I think that the campaign should put forward the most militant tactics. If the families and friends don't like it they should not be a break on the rest doing stuff just because of a genetic relationship with the 5 in prison. Shell are a multinational capitalist company that exploit all workers and small farmers not just the people in Mayo. I think that any disgusting conservatives such as the pro-capitalist Labour Party should be told to leave the campaign. Pat Rabbitte is doing his best to protect Enda Kenny and the Shell company. He went on radio recently to speak of his talks with Shell and how he wants the 5 prisoners to do a compromise deal. It should be noted here that one of the prisoners is an active Sinn Féin member. The Green Party have also been around the campaign. Sinn Féin and Greens at some stage will want to end the protests and actions. The Sinn Féin leaders are a conservative and sectarian group. Remember that they get funds from capitalists such as Coca-Cola. If there will be anyone dividing a campaign it will be the pro-capitalist Labour, Sinn Féin and Greens!

by mayoman Mon Jul 25, 2005 16:30

I suspect it may be someone posing as an SP member - if not I am saddened to think that it might actually be an SP member!!

If the latter, then you ought to be out on the streets alongside SF, anarchists, SWP and others instead of predicting the end of protests in which you are not even involved!. So far you have been fairly conspicious by your absence despite the good job being done by Higgins.

Anyway, this oul nonsense only plays into the hands of the enemies of the campaign.

PS. None of the five men are members of SF as far as I know. Not that it matters one way or the other.

by Marxism Today Mon Jul 25, 2005 16:31

Divide and ruling again.

Sinn Fein are not a pro-capitalist party.

Your comments may fool some of the people but the actions of SF activists and supporters, speak far more than the infantile rantings of west brit socialists.

As far as this campaign goes, the families are in control and they will have the final word.

Sectarian rants about supporting parties in this campaign are bogus....

by Anti-Capitalist Mon Jul 25, 2005 16:34

You take support from where you get it. The basic platform (no pun intended) of this campaign from what I can see is that they don't oppose capitalism per se. They support the oil being extracted and don't care if it is Shell. The 5 are fighting for their rights as dwellers to be considered and for the courts/state to stand up to multinationals not to abolish them. I support the over throw of capitalism but that is not this campaign.
Take your ultra-leftism else where.

by Con to Sea Mon Jul 25, 2005 16:50

None of the five men are members of Sinn Féin.

On a related issue I think some people are being unduly sensitive here.

Everyone agrees the families should be in control. The difficulty is that 'the families' is not some monolith, but a collection of people with disparate opinions and politics, joined by people like Cowley and local supporters all of whom are happy to speak 'on behalf' of the families.

So we can have a situation where someone attends a meeting and says A, B and C are the demands of the family and the next day it turns out one family disagrees with the decision, and another wasn't aware of it. (I am basing this on an actual case).

I'm not accusing anyone of being malevolent, or hi-jacking the campaign. The simple reality is that the communications system linking the families to support groups is deeply flawed. Instructions are occasionally contradictory and often not disseminated widely enough. This leads to more mistrust and suspicion.

In organising events in Dublin there are, to my knowledge, three separate and unique lines of communication to separet and unique individuals and sets of Dublin activists. Anyone who thinks this doesn't cause problems needs to pay more attention.

by krossie Mon Jul 25, 2005 17:10

There is one Shell to sea group in Dublin and new members from any party or none are highly welcome - next meeting is tomorrow.

http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=71119

and they're very Tuesday

Krossie

by mayoman Mon Jul 25, 2005 17:20

Well said that man! The bottom line is that a disparate group of organisations and individuals have come together on this issue because it relates in one way or another to their own objectives and principles. I also find, as an outsider, that there is considerable common ground between say anarchists and republican activists on this being a community led resistance rather than something led by "the party", whoever the party might be. Ironically, it seems to some of the Leninist groups that have difficulty with that rather than anyone else.

If this campaign is successful - and it can be - it will be a massive victory over the state and big business. That is something everyone involved wants, and that ought to be enough to keep us all together on the issue.

by awesome Tue Jul 26, 2005 01:48

why should it be up to the famillies;the men have said their standing up for their village. I believe its time to ask the people of Rossport and neighbouring villages what they want, the majority were happy to let the pipeline through, until a few farmers said "stop we've had enough". from what i've heard the people of rossport cant say anything incase they make enemies for themselves, which is a sad state as we live in a freestate. I believe its time the local people came together without SF or any other political party or shell to sea( not many locals on this group) and decide for themselves which course of action they want to take! GIVE THE PEOPLE THEIR RIGHTS TO SAY HOW THEY FEEL!