Report on statoil picket

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Saturday August 27, 2005 12:32 by rory hearne - dublin shell to sea & SWP

successful picket on ussher quay

Pickets took place across dublin (and nationally) at statoil stations demanding statoil withdraw from the corrib gas field consortium. around 25 people took part in the one at usher quay in Dublin city centre. There was great support from the motorists and for most of the time the garage was completely empty.
some motorists were determined to break the picket and demanded the gards moved us out of the way.

The state and gardai protect the 'democratic' right of motorists to break the protests but of course dont touch the criminal's who have given away the resources that belong to the people of Ireland ie Dempsey, Fahey, Ahern, Burke et al.
Its vital now to keep up the momentum of the campaign and get a big crowd to the blockade on September 10th and thousands out on Oct 1st to march to the dail.
dublin shell to sea meets on tuesday night in An Taisce building at 8pm

here is the article from today's independent and irish times yesterday

Garda steps in to allow driver pass oil picket


A GARDA had to intervene and allow a motorist enter a Statoil petrol station after protesters supporting the jailed Rossport Five blocked a forecourt.

Supporters of the five Mayo men had urged the public to picket stations owned by Statoil, a shareholder in the Corrib gas pipeline project, around the country between 5pm and 7pm yesterday.

More than 20 Statoil stations across Dublin were targeted by picketers while outside the capital protests sprung up in Dundalk and Waterford.

Around 15 members of the Dublin branch of the Shell to Sea campaign protested outside the Statoil filling station at Usher's Island and blocked the path of motorists attempting to fill up.

The protest started peacefully with picketers stopping cars and handing out leaflets before stepping aside. Many motorists decided to turn around and use a different filling station rather than pass the picket.

However, tensions escalated when one irate motorist attempted to cross the picket line but was prevented from doing so.

A nearby garda had to intervene telling campaigners that while they had the right to protest they could not block the forecourt. The motorist was eventually able to pass in.

Statoil stations to be picketed
Tim O'Brien




Pickets are to be placed on selected Statoil fuel stations tomorrow as opponents of the proposed Corrib gas pipeline step up their campaign against the project.

Speaking at a rally in Dublin's ATGWU Hall last night Ms Bríd Ní Seighín said the plan was to convince Statoil it should withdraw "from the consortium proposing to pump dangerous, untreated gas along an untested pipeline built on unstable bogland".

Ms Ní Seighín, a daughter of Micheál Ó Seighín one of the five men jailed since June 29th last, also said the Shell to Sea campaign was planning a blockade of the Statoil premises in Dublin docks on September 10th.

This would be followed by "the biggest mobilisation possible" outside the Dáil on October 1st.

The rally, which was attended by some 200 people, was also addressed by Rory Hearne of the Dublin Shell to Sea campaign, Maura Harrington of the Mayo campaign and Fintan O'Toole of The Irish Times. Pledges of support were also heard from affiliated groups represented at the meeting.

Using a slide show to illustrate the effect of the construction work on the village of Rossport Ms Ní Seighín said an 18-wheel lorry upturned on the roadside and one of three tracked machines sunken to cab level in the local bog, were evidence of the intrusion of the development company. Other slides showed hundreds of people taking part in protests which fellow speaker Maura Harrington said gave "the lie" to propaganda that suggested only a few people were involved.

Ms Ní Seighín showed slides illustrating the path of the proposed pipeline alongside the edge of a local road. She also cited British standards for such pipelines which she insisted recommended pipes be kept a minimum of 170 metres from settlements, and US standards which recommended the pipes be kept 295 metres away from settlements.

She said the area inside these boundaries was defined as the "kill area" in the event of an explosion. The Mayo pipeline she added would be set just 1.2 metres into the ground, running alongside the road.

Fintan O'Toole told the meeting that the terms under which the State was allowing the gas field to be exploited were generous to an unprecedented level.

It was he said acceptable in the 1970s for oil exploration companies to give the State a 50 per cent stake in oil and gas finds. As well as this exploration companies funded the costs and paid regular taxes.

However, he said the current agreement which he said was negotiated by "the disgraced Ray Burke" gave the State no interest in the finds which by right belonged to the Irish people.

On top of this, he said, the exploration companies had been given generous tax rates and all of its costs could be recovered before any tax was payable. There was a lack of backbone he said, which made "politicians become supine within five miles of an oil company representative".

Meanwhile, the five men who were jailed after refusing to give an undertaking to the High Court that they would not interfere with work on the pipeline, were visited in prison by two Mayo councillors yesterday.

Henry Kenny (FG) and Paddy McGuinness (FG) spent over two hours with the men in what was described as a difficult meeting. The pickets outside the Statoil stations will take place between 5pm. and 7pm tomorrow.