Skip to main content

March 2010

Shell: We are sorry

By: 
shellapologises

Unfortunately this is not a real Shell statement. The speech is by the Yes Men (http://theyesmen.org) in an effort to try to shame Shell.  Good luck!!!

Belfast Solidarity with Pat O'Donnell, Shell To Sea

By: 
M.R. - Indymedia

Solidarity action in Belfast (as well as London) shows continuing support of the Shell to Sea Campaign against the exploitation of public fossil fuel resources and the arrests of citizens in Rossport, West Ireland.

Court rules Garda Supt. M. Larkin responsible for Violation of the Rights of Shell to Sea activists.

By: 
Niall Harnett - Indymedia

Shell to Sea Protesters were Unlawfully Detained by An Garda Síochána within Shell Compound for 'operational reasons' which did not satisfy Judge.

On Thursday 25th March 2010 at Belmullet District Court, charges against 9 Shell to Sea protesters were withdrawn or dismissed by Judge Gerard Haughton, because the '9' had been unlawfully detained following their arrest and they were not brought to court 'as soon as practicable', amounting to a 'conscious and deliberate violation of their constitutional rights'.

In the 'test' case of Mr Eoin Lawless, potentially effecting all of the 9, the court ruled that the accused was/were held for an unreasonable amount of time before being charged, they were denied 'station bail' and were unreasonably delayed before being brought to court to allow them to apply for release on bail. Barrister Leo Mulrooney, acting for the 9, had put it to Garda Superintendent Michael Larkin that he had failed in his duty to vindicate the rights of the prisoners, and when asked to account to the court for his inaction, Judge Gerard Haughton expressed dissatisfaction with Supt. Larkin's explanation.

No noticeable benefits have accrued to Erris from Corrib

By: 
Sean Harrington - Letters to Western People

SIR – As I anticipated might happen, Mr Brendan Cafferty has avoided addressing the essential points of my letter of last week, namely that the Erris community, which has been so sorely divided by the Corrib project, is exhibiting no noticeable benefits, either economic of infrastructural, from the project, other than a short-lived boost in local jobs, which is now on the wane.

Nationalise the oil

By: 
Gerry Casey, eirigi Sligeach - Daily Mail letters

SLIGO-North Leitrim Fianna Fail TD Jimmy Devins suggested this week that ways of extending the Corrib gas field to benefit the north-west need to be explored.

Solidarity with the Chief at Castlerea Prison – Protesting Pat O'Donnell's jailing by Shell

By: 
FSB! - Indymedia

50 days and counting into his Shell-imposed imprisonment, Shell to Sea shows support for their hero and friend

After a week when nearly all the court cases against Shell to Sea campaigners were defeated, withdrawn or thrown out, over a hundred opponents of the Great Oil & Gas Robbery from all around the country gathered outside the gates of Castlerea Prison this Saturday afternoon to protest the continuing imprisonment of their good friend and Shell to Sea colleague Pat O'Donnell.

Protest hears calls for Pat 'The Chief'' O'Donnell's release

---End of cases against 25 campaigners this week has exposed biased policing in Erris---

Shell seeks review of emissions licence

By: 
Lorna Siggins, The Irish Times

THE ENVIRONMENTAL Protection Agency (EPA) has received an application from Shell EP Ireland to review its emissions licence for the Corrib gas terminal. The review application aims to honour a commitment given to the Erris Inshore Fishermen’s Association in 2008 to revise plans for discharging produced water into Broadhaven Bay.

The fishermen have been told the company will discharge at the wellhead, rather than in the bay, subject to EPA approval.

Taking on Shell Oil in Ireland: The Strange Saga of Pat O’Donnell

By: 
Michael McCaughan - Towards Freedom

"Civil disobedience is not our problem....Our problem is civil obedience... Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world, in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country." - Howard Zinn, US historian,1924-2010

Mayo fisherman Pat O’Donnell, described by Judge Raymond Groarke as a thug and a bully, was jailed for seven months in Castlebar Court in February for his activism against Shell’s planned gas pipeline through his community. For most people observing from afar, with little more than tabloid headlines to feed on, the story ended there. Strange then that Pat’s home has been besieged by well wishers, the phone has been hopping and over 600 letters of support have been sent from around the world. Strange too that Pat’s daughter Aisling received gifts sent from well wishers in London for her recent 9th birthday, a reminder that in jailing Pat the state has also punished his wife and children. Strange also that the ‘thug and bully’ should be visited by two priests from his home area bringing messages of support from the community while Socialist MEP Joe Higgins called in to denounce the jailing as “an outrage.”