Shell to Sea Protest in Dublin, Saturday December 2nd

by Shell to Sea Wed Nov 22, 2006 15:29

Just to make it clear- this is outside the Shell Headquarters at 2PM.

by Concerned Sligo Wed Nov 22, 2006 15:39

Anyone who read the Sligo Weekender 21/11/06
There is a highlighted letter about Corrib Gas in favour of the project
It was written by Mr Gerald Rolf a geologist
He neglected to mention that he worked for Shell for fifteen years!!!

by supporter Wed Nov 22, 2006 15:49

Will this be an all ireland shell to sea march?

by Sligo Wed Nov 22, 2006 17:27

Corrib gas supply is critical for us

The Corrib gas facilities protesters can't see the forest for the trees since they are trying to stop the use or availability of a gas supply that will soon be critical to Ireland's energy mix. The Kinsale gas field is all but depleted, the gas pipelines flow from Scotland will be almost gone or rationed by 2020 depending what Russia and the Eastern Block of Countries decide, the world’s LNG [liquefied natural gas] will all be spoken for by the U S, China, India, Japan, Germany, UK, and France.
Wake up, the world's annual production has been greater than annual replacement by 25% to as much as 40% every year since 1981. Reserves are depleting. World daily demand may exceed daily deliverability in the next few years. Ireland is at the bottom of the energy food chain. Anyone who does not understand that nor see what the lack of future energy supply will do to the Irish economy is out of touch with reality.
We need the Corrib gas and its pipeline in place and on stream yesterday. So all you out of county protesters go home and order more coal since you will be needing it as without Corrib gas and other yet to be contracted for supplies you will be walking back to the 1980's economy.

Gerald Rolf,
geologist
Larkhill Road
Sligo

by Louise Gaffney Wed Nov 22, 2006 17:53

The real facilitators of this whole project legal and illegal,Garda thugs to boot, are the Government. WHY are the public displays of protest not being organised for Ahern's office and his own house and the same for McDowell.

Enough people are enraged at what they saw the cops doing under orders from the top ie Ahern and McDowell. Are some people in the S2S lacking an appettite for upsetting the politicians who call the shots ???

L G

by Tadhg Wed Nov 22, 2006 18:44

Dear Louise, There is a democratic structure in the way Dublin Shell to Sea works, and over the course of the last 18-20months or so, many strategic and tactical decisions have been taken, compromises made, issues fought over and resolved.

We as a group have come to a conclusion that it is not in our interest at this point to target specific politicians in their role as constituency representatives. Therefore, at a democratically convened and minuted meeting in Dublin earlier this month we reached a decision that we would not protest at advice clinics or homes of TD's, but we would target the Fianna Fáil Ministers in the government in their role as officers of the State.

This decision can of course be overturned, or reviewed or kept up, as circumstances dictate. We are open to suggestions.

Individuals are of course not bound by the decision, and there is nothing to stop anyone from mounting a protest at a TD's clinic, but we'd prefer if people could actually attend clinics and ask their elected reps about what the government is doing in Mayo.

Last night there was a review of a planned protest on December 2nd, and various points of view were put forward. We had decided last week to suggest to the Mayo group of Shell to Sea that if they wanted to do something in Dublin in December, our suggestion would be a demonstration outside the Shell Offices on Leeson Street.

Since we had not heard anything back, we decided, after much thoughtful discussion, to commit to the plan we had come up with.

Hopefuly we'll see you and anyone who supports the campaign on Adelaide Road in December.

by petrolEyum Wed Nov 22, 2006 20:58

what is the point of protesting at the office on a saturday when its closed?

why not blockade a petrol station - a source of shell's revenue?

a simple protest (standing in the cold, listening to speeches) - come on...

by Har Wed Nov 22, 2006 21:39

Good point. And worse even who will even see the demo if its down on leeson street. If you are going to go to Leeson street- why not o connell street?

by Anomie - not the swp Wed Nov 22, 2006 21:49

why not o'connell street....later in the thread another person , " good point, i agree with a march on o'connell street" and yet later, " i concur so lets have it on o'connell street". If you want march on O'Connell Street come to an organising meeting on Tuesdays in Seomra Spraoi, put the point forward then argue your case. At the end of the process a vote will be taken and the decision will be taken whether or not to act on the proposal. This is called democracy.

by Tadhg Wed Nov 22, 2006 22:31

I wanted to protest at the Norwegian Embassy because it's near enough to Grafton Street to be noticed by Christmas shoppers, but not actually a very busy street in terms of traffic, so there'd be fewer problems with the cops. I'm pretty sure they would not allow us to do a march through town on a saturday in december even if we wanted to. Maybe they would, but I imagine we'd be annoying a lot more people than we'd be converting.

Someone else said the top of Grafton where we did the haircut in the Summer (Dublin Man Gets Haircut http://www.indymedia.ie/article/77594), and another person suggested the Statoil Depot at the port (http://www.indymedia.ie/article/71764).

We talked it through and decided on various factors in favour of Leeson Street.

Maybe next time we should start a discussion thread on the internet to decide, or pick the suggestions out of a hat, but for now we have a democratic decision to do this, so please support us if you can.

by what about the 1st? Thu Nov 23, 2006 01:24

http://www.fiannafail.ie/events.php4

by Joe Duggan Thu Nov 23, 2006 17:55

Nice one Dublin, thanks for that link, please do spread the word everyone. Is this the "National Rally" on 2nd of December ?

Folks whatever about a token picket on Saturday 2nd December at the closed corporate Head Office of Shell, I agree with the woman who suggested mass pickets on Ahern's constituency office or his house on the day or and a rally through the city.

by plant - swp/iawm/pbpa/davit league/another europe/Globalise resist Thu Nov 23, 2006 18:25

"I agree with the woman who suggested mass pickets on Ahern's constituency office or his house on the day or and a rally through the city." - come to the shell to sea meetings, argue your case. If theres a *majority* in support then it will be acted upon.

by Wednesday Sat Nov 25, 2006 00:36

I am also wondering about this action being called a National day of action. I was under the impression that this would not be a national day of action for a number of reasons which have been discussed at the meetings of late.

Just a word to all you lovely people who took the time to look at the events page and this listing and give your suggestions please do come along to the meetings to not only show your supprt but also to get involved in a more practical way besides tapping away at your computer. Please do not read that as a sarcastic comment it is a very genuine invite :) See you there.

by Joe Duggan Sat Nov 25, 2006 17:49

To Plant etal, I for one do not live in Dublin and I am not in any organistion, I was however incensed by what I saw on the TV re police thuggery and I think a demonstration/ rally, call it what you like, in the capital city would be most appropriate. A gathering at a closed corporate building takes attention of the political class who ordered and are responsible for all this and it seems a rather sterile gesture.

by Carlsbad Mon Nov 27, 2006 14:42

Firstly, in answer to Mr Rolf (Sligo) and the rest of the "we need the gas yesterday - the people of Erris don't matter" brigade :
Shelltosea is not against bringing in the gas, even though Ireland will get very little benefit thanks to the government's give-away. Shelltosea simply wants proper safety measures in place for the people of Erris who will have to live near the refinery and / or pipeline.
When a high-pressure gas pipeline at Carlsbad, New Mexico, operating at just 46.6 Bar (less than a third of the proposed 150 Bar for the Corrib pipe), ruptured due to internal corrosion (19th August 2000), the blast wiped out a family of 12 camping over 200 metres away. Safety for unsheltered persons was deemed to be at more than 400 metres.
In other words any high-pressure pipeline should be at least 400 metres away from the public road and dwellings. This is a basic, common sense safety precaution that the public have a right to expect and the government have an obligation to insist upon.

Secondly, Shell have indicated a willingness to alter the course of the pipeline - why then must people in Rossport continue to live under Compulsory Acquisition Orders issued after the government changed the law to make these available for private corporations. This seemed to go against the Constitution - can anyone clarify the legality of it ?

Thirdly, there are a lot more gas and oil interests off the West of Ireland, no doubt some of these will turn out to be productive. Are we to allow the government to give them away same as the Corrib field ? I don't think so.

by freegas Mon Nov 27, 2006 14:48

Thirdly, there are a lot more gas and oil interests off the West of Ireland, no doubt some of these will turn out to be productive. Are we to allow the government to give them away same as the Corrib field ? I don't think so.

perhaps you can convince the government to spend 200mill a year in exploration then, this opinion of giving it away shows your knowledge perfectly

or maybe you think that there are big FREE GAS HERE signs all around the Irish coast?

by Starstruck - Dublin Shell to Sea Mon Nov 27, 2006 15:22

Decisions re actions,marches etc are made at open ,democratic meetings,every Tuesday night at 8 in
seomra spraoi, (www.seomraspraoi.org) in Dublins case, for example.
If you want to influence these decisions,you are free to come along and do so at the meetings.
Such plans cannot just be changed at the drop of a hat on an internet thread,just by going "eeeew,I think
O'Connell Street is better"
Maybe it is,if you want it there,comne along and help organise one there,ittakes a lot of work.

by roisin ni fhagain Mon Nov 27, 2006 15:41

Shell agus an saille.
Cén áit ba ceart Shell caoi a cuir ar an gás?

http://snappoll.com/poll/149711.php

by Tadhg Tue Nov 28, 2006 09:53

It wouldn't be a matter of spending a penny on exploration. As in most (virtually every) other country, the state could let the energy compnaies do the exploration, and if they found anything, half of it would belong to us.

And if they said no we're not exploring? Well it wouldn't put us in a worse position than we're in now would it?

We're like someone who's got gold buried somewhere in their garden and no shovel. You think we should let the person who does the digging keep ALL the gold. I think they should have to split it with us.

by Mick Butler Tue Nov 28, 2006 18:07

Is S2S putting up posters for this event at Leeson St ? The corpo have finally instructed their workers not to remove posters until after the event/s advertised on the posters, in line with the change brought about by the campaign earlier this year and the vote by DCC councillors on May 22,2006 to revoke the ban.

Best wishes M B

by Lar Tue Nov 28, 2006 18:26

Is this thing on Dec 2nd a national demo? There was one advertised on shell2sea website awhile back but its not there now. Should posters have been up before last weekend?

by Anomie Tue Nov 28, 2006 20:20

Dec 2nd is NOT a national protest/national day of action. Look at the original post - its simply a protest.

by tree hugger Wed Nov 29, 2006 01:49

There will be people travelling to this event from outside Dublin. Certainly from Mayo and also probably from Donegal and Derry, Kerry and Sligo, as far as I know, and I'm sure other places.

You can call it a National Protest if you want.

Most activists feel that large-scale mobilisations should be to Bellanaboy rather than dragging people to Dublin.

by Dr Nick Thu Nov 30, 2006 17:36

The picture on the poster has me confused?Is this a protest on the gardai/justice in Ireland or a protest in solidarity with the people of Rossport?

by leave it Dr Seuss Thu Nov 30, 2006 17:48

The protest is in solidarity with the people of Erris who are under occupaion by a large force of police doing the work of Shell security guards, and who are actively using violence and intimidation against the local population to force through the installation of a huge, polluting refinery.

Hence the phrase "end the siege".

Clear now?

by Jacqueline Fallon Fri Dec 01, 2006 22:28

In response to Dr. Nick:

I thought going by the picture on the poster that it was a protest about An Garda Síochána too, as I saw some Gardaí tearing the posters down right in front of me on my way to work this morning. Further up the road I discovered one that the Gardaí had missed, and I read it and only then realised it was a Shell-to-Sea poster.

Obviously, some members of An Garda Síochána are very annoyed and pissed-off that people are angry about the fact that some members of their force who, in their opinion, were lawfully carrying out their Garda duty of: beating the shite out of Shell-to-Sea protestors, punching protestors in the face, others in the stomach and legs, throwing some into ditches and harassing others, causing fear and distress to local protestors and all these acts were, in their opinion, perfectly acceptable and legal and all part of their State sponsored combat protests training!

Perhaps, an image with more emphasis on the Shell-to-Sea campaign itself might be more informative to the general public, I mean some people who glanced at it from a distance, might have thought it was a Garda Síochána recruitment poster or advertisement for a support group given the way they are all huddled together!

Well done to all Shell-to-Sea protestors everywhere. See ye all in Dublin tomorrow.

by take your pick Sat Dec 02, 2006 02:00

There were many more posters for the event, various groups made their own. The Gardaí certainly seem to like the "shell cops" one best!

by s. Sat Dec 02, 2006 18:22

WSM sticker

by taguon Sat Dec 02, 2006 21:21

Reports from march/rally today? Atmosphere, morale, anything achieved by the action? RTE is giving 150 as the number in attendance. That's fairly low...