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Bellanaboy, Community Under Siege - Day 11. mayo |
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news report
 Friday October 13, 2006 17:30 by Bob & Niall - Rossport Solidarity Camp. rossportsolidaritycamp at gmail dot com
 “I only talk to people I can trust”. Supt. Joe Gannon refuses to hear protestors’ complaints. This morning’s protest at the proposed gas refinery site at Bellanaboy, Co Mayo saw another Shell to Sea campaigner injured by over enthusiastic police. Local schoolteacher Maura Harrington, an outspoken opponent of the Corrib project since the beginning was taken to Castlebar hospital by ambulance shortly after 8am today. As the convoy of vehicles approached the junction between the haulage route for the site and the main road, Maura was among a small group who came forward to block their path. A line of Gardai hurried forward to contain them and she was pushed back, falling over and banging her head on the road. Eyewitness accounts say that she received a two-handed shove from a Garda. She was examined by Dr Jerry Cowley where she lay; he expressed the opinion that she may have incurred a concussion and that she had received a hard knock to the back of the neck and head. The site ambulance was called out by Gardai but Mrs Harrington refused to go on the basis that it was a private ambulance paid for by Shell and she did not want to avail of it. This ambulance had passed ten minutes before and gone up to the site. It was approximately 30 minutes before an ambulance arrived from Castlebar, during which time Maura remained immobile on the ground covered by coats and blankets. |
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Comments (33 of 33)
Jump To Comment: 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Read the book Riding the Dragon by Jack Dole, with help from the envioment Health Fund, and then come back to indymedia with your coments about S/HELL and the way the deploy police to get their own way; Plus why are the Irish Garda in more force when a few S/HELL HQ people are staying in the hotel in Geesalia, (you woundn't see it for the President,) if they had the consent of the people which they do not. So once again they deploy force. There were three (3) Garda vans, up to 20 or more garda at the trailer at Bellanaboy on tuesday when there were just 2 ladys in the trailer at Bellanaboy, so many garda for just 2 women? something is dreadfully wrong with our system if this is unchalgened, A serrious waste of money and garda time. Read the stories about how enviomently friendly S/HELL are to their neighbors and why do S/Hell pay out 100s and 100s of millions yearly for all their destruction that they say wont happen, just like they say it wont happen here ! Who would you believe a company that needs over 100+ garda to make it safe for them to build a refinery that every one , well most of the people gave consent to BULLSHIT. Just like the garda are saying that there just doing their duty by punching and crippling people yea thats right,I was serrious crippled by the so called S/hell cops who one or more of them violently kick me in the back of my leg when I was just walking up the road away from the protest. I go back to the surgon shortly to try to have it repaired. SO who shitin who .. NOT ANY MORE, hopefuly there will be some humans rights members at the gate before it's to late. IT'S to late for S/hell thy will never have the peoples consent , when bertie goes away, so will dempsey and the end to this S/hell chemical nightmare. There is a social in McGURIES on the 26 of Jan, I was hoping to attend but will be at the surgons, maybe if I'm lucky I''ll be there , have a few more copies of 10nov06 to hand out ..Thanks to everyone that helps out at the gate.
I have great admiration for the courage and determination of the Rossport people in their struggle against an injust decision by the state to ride roughshod over them in the so called "common good" which facilitates a cheaper and more profitable solution for another corporate monster, Shell. It is unfortunate that Joe soap Paddies in this country, when interviewed by Joe soap Duffy, display little compassion for the plight of these people. The're too busy with their simple minded, I'm alright Jack greedy attitude to realise that one day they might be that soldier at the wrong end of the "common good". When that happens, I advise them to go quietly and hang their heads in shame for not standing up for their neighbour.
The Rossport people should know that they have many, many thinking supporters throughout the country who look on in admiration at the united efforts of a local community. We know that they are ordinary people that have no desire to take on the forces of the state but are left with no choice at this stage. Regardless of the outcome, which I hope will be in their favour, they can hold their heads high and look their grandchildren in the eye and know that they did their duty. That's as good as it gets! If there is any way to contribute money to support these people, I would be glad to help.
>these boardcasters have the ears of the nation and they can sway public opinion
They do indeed, (most of it) and yes they can. That is their role. A public opinion control tool.
That's one of the reasons why indymedia exists.
Thing is, you think that S2S came off badly in the interviews and I think that RTE did, - by showing bias and lack of freedom of expression. (again).
I suppose ones perspective depends on where your hopes or maybe your faith lies? If you WANT a world of biased media and a nation of controlled public opinion, then maybe you see it going that way.
Another example of shell to sea claiming to be the victims
Johnny, where I come from, when someone extends their arms, lays their hands on another person, and applies pressure with their hands to that person, they would be defined as having pushed that person. A person cannot "fake" beung pushed. From the footage it is clear that she did not see the push coming, and therefore had no chance to protect herself. Obviously no-one would deliberately fall on their head. Look at the stills which have been provided. You have accepted the possibility that you are wrong and I must conclude that yes, indeed, you are.
Hope that you folk are not filling up from shell or statoil stations for the spin up here.
Bendy Bobby, from what I have observed up in Rossport/Bellanaboy, you don't have anything to fear. The locals come accross kind and friendly, you're more likely to get a cup of tea and a bun than homophobic abuse.
However, the gardai up there are vicious. They will say and do anything to provoke the crowd. It's them that you may get homophobic comments from, but who gives a shite about them!
I am a student in NUIG and a member of the new Left-Wing Alliance. We are organising travel up to Rossport this Friday, October 20th for the day of action.
If you, or anyone else, is interested, contact 087 7592730
Shell to Sea!
.....the tide has turned and ye have lost the middle ground who would have previously supported the Rossport 5. Shell has out manouevered the protesters by appearing to be prepared to talk and compromise in some way.
Its a shame - you appear to be snatching defeat from the jaws of victory! You were 3-0 up but have managed to squander it by a series of own goals!!
Was it just me or did the sight of Maura Harrington lying in agony at the foot of the cross remind anyone of the crucifixion? Think about it. The sadistic Gardai jeering and spitting could have been the butch Roman Soldiers. Jerry Cowley played the role of Joseph of Arimathea offering succour when needed. The Irish Read cross ambulance would have represented the three days in Hades while its noble counterpart from Belmullet was the ascension into heaven.
The Rossport 5 have stolen Maura's thunder she is the unsung martyr who has been overshadowed by those thick-tongued simpletons. She must distance herself from them and establish herself as protester supreme. This is another example of a corrupt patriarchy keeping women down just like the catholic church has done.
Rise up sisters and gays (of which I am one. Yes I am gay. The only gay in Erris).
I was sickened, absolutely sicked to have seen what I saw. As the venerable Dr Cowley was treating the prone heroine (Maura Harrington) one of the Shell to Sea protestors assaulted him with a corrugated plastic placard - smacking him just above the eye. Footage on RTE showed a bloody contusion on the bewildered politicians head. Not only would I like to see a photograph of this incident I would also like the personal details of this spy (or insider or whoever it was that was posing as a campaigner) to be made public. We must remove these vile infiltrators, stooges of the gardai, from our ranks.
Lets out the thug.
Hi All,
I've watched the clip of the so-called assualt on Maura Harrington repeatedly and I simply cannot see (or should that read sea) the guard in question pushing her - in fact it looks to me like she was pretending. I may however be wrong. Furthermore those crosses bearing the names of the Ogoni Nine do look very threatening when wielded in such an aggressive manner.
To end I would like to let the protesters know that I do not begrudge a single cent of my tax money spent on the security operation - as a source of so much incident it brightens up this old mans morning. Please take heart though, just because you will (probably) lose the fight does not mean you shouldn't keep it up.
All the best,
Johnny
i have to say you miss the point a bit CG, just because your group receive criticism doesn't mean you have to go on the offensive, i have supported the rossport people but the piece on pat kenny and joe duffy showed that a p.r war is now being campaigned and the sheel 2 sea group are losing it. a don't know whether some of the people come off a bit extreme when they are on air but they don't seem to be getting the same hop off any of the national boardcasters. there is now a great fear that they will be seen as a bunch of loonies. kino might not give a fuck about pat kenny, joe duffy or even matt cooper but these boardcasters have the ears of the nation and they can sway public opinion and as i said after last week its turning against.
ok, for the next week you can listen to the Joe Duffy/Maura Harrington interview
from the liveline page:
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/liveline/
by following the link for fridays program:
http://www.rte.ie/rams/radio/latest/Fri/rte-liveline.smil
maybe after that, you could pick it up here, for as long as it remains available.:
rtsp://streaming2.rte.ie/2006/1013/13102006rte-liveline.rm
or you might get a version of it, (without ads), here:- http://w4.buz.org/misc/
Remarkable Pat Kenny interview with RnaG journalist on the spot, Maolmhuire MacDonnacha (hopefully as spelt). The latter on one or two occasions was livid at Kenny's line of questioning but held his ground on Maura's 'manhandling'.
Please post a link to the Joe Duffy piece.
This posting on the BAD PR:
I'm in two minds about giving any more attention to what comes out of rte, but once again I would suggest to readers to take with a pinch of salt these comments on what other people thought of interviews that you may not have heard. It's a cheap shot.
Listen to the interview, and make up your own mind.
Or listen at least for it's comical value - for example the caller who’s main response to any issue he doesn't want to talk about is to say "ah, she's lost the plot and calls on Joe Duffy to help cut her off, then we have the caller who says "Why she was carrying a cross, I don't know, at a shell protest" and when Maura tries to educate the caller, she is ridiculed by the presenter for speaking of the link between Shell and the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa!
Then after much shouting down there is a caller who launches into a rant about the "bully-boy" tactics of rossport protesters on air - You couldn't make it up.
Anyway, at least listen and make up your own mind. It'll be gone from rte soon, so I'll post it again.
To me the spin is obvious, Note how the program presenter puts specific questions to callers, note how he cuts Maura off, speaks with such a patronising tone, always playing the non-biased nice guy. Oh he is good, that Joe Duffy.
It is, though, a sad reflection of the state of Irish society, how many uninformed, unfeeling, rude and arrogant callers can be found, with oh such deep faith in the law and the justification of any action by the state police because "they're doing they're job/duty".
I wonder how much they were hand picked by RTE. Or are they just a reflection of what has been created by years of state controlled media.
How on earth are the Gardai allowed to get away with this? My sympathy goes out to that woman who was brutally attacked by those ignorant brutal Police we have who are supposed to be 'protectors of the peace'. Certainly no sign of that now...
The interview with Maura Harrington on Joe Duffy didnt do the cause a whole lot of good. Abscent from work and the tax payer paying her wages is not what the public want to hear. What she failed to say was that her daughter is now also taking a wage from the state, subbing for her at the local school. Taking the only ambulance from Belmullett to hospital, a return journey of 2 hours is not what the people of Belmullett want to hear either, when there was a Red Cross one available at the site. Its the mercy of god that it wasn't needed while it was taking her there. A sick child, a pregnant woman or injured fisherman could have been put in danger by her antics.
Complete claptrap. You can be assured that "neutral" is anything but neutral. If there were even a smidgen of evidence that anyone were assaulting gardai then you can be sure there'd be the usual brutal arrests followed by hysterical calls for the "English IRA" to be arrested and deported. The gardai are thugs for the most part as documented clearly on Indymedia.ie. They are at their most heavy handed when they're confronting small women, innocent passers-by and young people. You can see some of the brave defenders of the peace battering the shite out of a young girl here:
http://www.indymedia.ie/cgi-bin/newswire.cgi?id=3261
You'll note that not one of them was convicted or disciplined for this police riot.
You'll also note that when they are confronted by people that are not prepared to "protest peacefully" they run with their tails between their legs:
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/74528
So far all the assaults have been perpetrated on the people of Erris by the Gardai (including the arrest of some fishermen that rescued one of the gardai from the sea recently).
Frankly I think the people of Erris have been incredibly restrained (and I'm not just saying that because I agree that they're justified in trying to stop a life-threatening pipeline being laid beside their homes).
Neutral, Shell are responsible for death and destruction in Nigeria and other parts of the world. The people of Erris are on the frontline against the exploitation of our western seaboard and the destruction of their own way of life. Have you ever faced that? Do you know what it feels like? Do you think that when a gard can push someone to the ground and get away with it, while if a protestor lays a finger on a gard they can be done for assault things are not perhaps a bit unbalanced? Would you remain "peaceful" when faced with what the people of Erris are faced with.
Dave, Maura and other campaigners from up there are under massive pressure I would challenge you to remain articulate and rational sounding under those conditions.
We are all trained from an early age to remain passive and compliant when things are done to us, first by parents, themselves conditioned into control, then by teachers and later by bosses, police and other authority figures. We are allowed to protest but only within boundaries defined by authority figures. A bit rich to criticise Mayo protestors when one looks at the level of violence committed by the system that is oppressing them. When an individual or community begins to stand up and break through their internalised oppression, defining their own boundaries for action, it is to be celebrated and applauded, even if it looks and sounds messy, even if, especially if, they make mistakes. If more of us stood up to bullies and predators there would be less violence in the world and if the level of action that others take makes you uncomfortable I think you should walk a mile in their shoes before criticising.
just listened to Maura Harrington on Joe Duffey ...to say she comes across as selfcenterd and selfish would be an understatement .
Shell should pay her to go the air everyday.
As far as I recall the EIS was done by an outfit called ERM.
They are based in Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin.
The one thing I know about them is that they were given the job of doing a safety review of air traffic and red zones at Shannon Airport, and they did their study, and produced a report that contained ZERO data about military aircraft using the airport. And therefore the results of the report, and the new safety zones drafted up, showed risk only calculated from civilian planes, not the ones carrying military equipement, which in fairness would be a higher risk, and have wider blast zone, etc.
And although the taxpayer funded that report, it was a government, or Aer Rianta name on the cheque, so, ...you get what you pay for eh?
would jus like to say,hope maura harington is ok after ordeal.Its a pity it has to come to this.Rte today(joe duffy show) i noticed duffy kept cutting across anyone who spoke in favour of rosport and gave plenty uninterupted time to "others".One caller mentioned investigating the government who gave the gas away.This would be a very good idea.This is the same government who gave away our fishing rights.Ireland had nearly 200 miles of a fishing zone and whats left of it now?Gave it away.
Regarding the project at rosport: was an EIS carried out?
Article 6 (2) of law section of EIS Directive ..."the fundamental purpose of an EIA is to ensure that decisions on environmentally significant projects are adequately informed in terms of information eminating from relevant sources(information from the public concerned,represents one of theese information sources) as is expressly recognised by Article 6 (2) of the Impact Assesment Directive."...
Article 5 to 10 of "law" section of EIA Diirective clearly states that
" certain requirements are to be respected with regard to the conduct of an EIA. Theese requirements include an obligation to consult the public concerned (Article 6) and to take information (including information derived from public consultation) into account in the decision making process (Article 8 )
Also ,question,why was the Arhus convention never ratified in Ireland?
Looks like Shell came into town and "bought" round them.i.e.bought everything except gas.
Wish you all the best of luck ,remember,slurry cant be spread after November first,that would include pig slurry.
Just for information, at least two interviews with RTE (one TV and the other radio) were due to take place yesterday, giving first-hand ShellToSea accounts from the protests at Bellanaboy... both were pulled at very short notice, even though Morning Ireland went on to play the recorded musings of named and anonymous people from the pro-Corrib side unanswered.
This approach by the State broadcaster is nothing short of blatant censorship, and because of the increasing tensions and state-sponsored aggression here in Mayo, is helping to actually put people's lives at risk.
If the highly contentious Corrib Gas Project is not suspended immediately to allow the real issues to be addressed (including the application of planning laws, national ownership of resources, environemntal and basic human rights, among many others) it is inevitable that someone will get seriously injured or even killed. Pushing and shoving while lorries of stone and gravel zoom by is a tragedy waiting to happen.
Please stop before it's too late. Stop the Corrib Gas Project before it kills!
"Barney",
Personally I couldn't give a f**k what Pat Kenny has or has not time for. and you sound just like him with your "probably showed", but let us explore it, as sadly some people do seem to consider him a point of reference.
I would encourage anyone who does consider him so, to listen carefully to Pat Kenny's show. Listen out for his smarmy attitude and biased reporting.
Listen to the way he won't let the reporter at the scene tell the story, and when he doesn't like what is being said, he uses the excuse of "being clear about it", to dismiss the reporter's account of garda heavy handed-ness as "oh, well presumably he was doing his job" with a "so that's ok then" tone.
He makes it clear that he has no understanding of the ethics involved in refusing the Shell sponsored ambulance, laughing at an injured persons dignified choice in waiting for a "pc" ambulance, and successfully uses this ambulance issue to dominate the report, not a difficult task really considering it's his show. - and what is that jaded tone "saying the rosary" comment about?
You can listen to the show today (Friday 13th October 2006) from the link here: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/todaywithpatkenny/
For the next week, your can pick it up on the archives, it appears that rte does not maintain a historical archive of the program.
This piece starts at 14mins 15seconds.
Listen also to the feedback which he reads out at 1hour 5 mins 45 seconds, and his response to this feedback.
He explains why he wouldn't mind having the pipeline at the end of his garden, although not outside his kitchen window, because life is full of risks anyway, according to Pat's personal view, electricity pylons are just waiting to fall on us, yet we walk under them. Planes are just waiting to fall out of the sky, yet we get on them. every day.
OK Pat, thanks for being upfront with your opinion...
If you can't listen at rte.ie, you might find the programs by following the link.
In the last comment if you click on the image then it will display as an animation.
Maura Harrington pushed to the tarmac leading to head injuries
Maura is carrying a sign and is pushed by a Bhean Garda
When I mentioned "thuggish tactics" I was, of course, referring to those of the Gardaí. Goes without saying, of course!
Well, just keep on listening to RTE, and you won't hear of them whether they happen or not!
Don't you see that RTE are spinning the ambulance thing to take attention away from the assault?
Oh, and Barney, do you really think that Pat Kenny has God-like powers to make or break a campaign? Or that he represents a single person in this country??!! RTE are desperate - they had Joe Duffy accusing Maura Harrington of being a sponger, a caller (clearly a journo or PR hack) calling the Rossport people "neanderthals".
Just like the British when they were losing the war in 1921, the screams get louder the worse their case gets. Like the British, they call campaigners terrorists to drown out the issues. The Gardaí arrest fishermen because they criticised Shell; they arrest random people to try and taint the campaign because their thuggish tactics are beginning to come out.
The Rossport campaign has brought out the real agenda in Irish society. I used to believe there was some integrity in the Irish press - that has gone. The same as regards the Gardaí - I am sure there are decent people among the rank-and-file, but the Gardaí at large no longer represent the interests of the country. Ray Burke promised Shell our oil for free - the corrupt government force through the corrupt deal with armed Gardaí who are trying to provoke people into react to their violence so they have an opportunity to deal with them as the Nigerian government dealt with the Ogoni.
Traitors are running this country at all levels.
Well done to Maura for the stance she has taken and all the Shell to Sea protestors at Bellanaboy and elsewhere.
I think Maura should have taken the Shell paid ambulance and put her own health first, Maura, tabhair aire duit féin! Ambulances are scarce on the ground around Ireland at present, and if I were her, I would have no hesitation in jumping into the first one that came my way and wouldn't have given a shite who was paying for it. You were lucky you got a second ambulance so quickly, people should not put their lives at risk by refusing the nearest ambulance.
All the best to everyone involved and I hope I will not hear of any more injuries.
Ádh mór oraibh
Bail Ó Dhia oraibh!
pat kenny's piece on what happened today was a major attack on your campaign, and probably showed that people are getting weary of whats's happening,when people in the country are crying out for ambulances to refuse to get into one and jeer the crew seems a bit stupid by the protesters, kenny made it clear he had little time for this carry on. it begs the question if someone has a heart attack on the road or a serious injury will they get into the ambluance then? bad day for the campaign
The Role of the Gardai -
Every day the police are breaking the laws they are supposed to enforce. Despite what mainstream media are saying, they are not just doing their job, far from it. They relish in the abuse of their power. They goad and they taunt, they intimidate and they threaten, they stamp and they punch. They itch for the fight and they are out of control.
It's sad ... they love being Shell's cops.
Maura’s assailant Garda GW163, bad photo due to subsequent harassment from Garda GW65.
Mairead Corduff was punched in the chest earlier this week by Garda KY103 Niamh Corkery …
... assisted by Garda KY218 Mary McGinty who was holding Mairead at the time.
.
Go home, before someone gets seriously hurt because of ye.
Erris Fishermen arrested yesterday by Gardaí including Garda Dave Mulhall who was rescued from sea in Oct '97 by those very fisherman - 'The Chief' Pat O'Donnell and his son Johnathan who was 12 at the time.