BEAT THE BOREHOLES Guide

Here's a "How to Beat the Borehole" guide with practical information & ideas for action. Join Beat the Boreholes & show solidarity with the communities on-going struggle. Frustrating, delaying & ultimately stopping the drilling work will delay the proposed pipeline tunnel. The project is already three times over budget & 10 years late; let the resistance continue!
Picnics, banner holding, ceol on the sand, cockle picking, seaweed collecting, sandcastles, kayaking, rowing, swimming....the choice is yours!

Access points
There are two public piers; one either side of the estuary. Rossport & McGraths at Pollatomish. There are also several people who have land next to the estuary that we can use for access.
 

Tides

There will be on average one low tide within each working day. At low tide large areas of the estuary are accessible by foot. Inter-tidal sands are above water for between 1-6 hours depending on location. Some areas even at high tide only have a water depth of knee/waist height.
The current is at certain points & times one of the strongest in Europe & care must be taken. However we have been kayaking in the estuary a fair amount & and it feels safe to kayak/row in if working with the tides.
People are advised to take part in a kayak safety training session at the camp before going on any kayak actions. We also recommend that everyone wears a life jacket when in the water and follows the safety instructions.

Drilling Rigs

Drilling can take place between 07:00-19:00 Monday to Friday according to the planning conditions; although everything else, such as moving the rigs and staff can happen outside of those times. Security usually arrive at 06:30 and workers around an hour later, although security are present all through the night. The rig platforms have to be lowered before they are moved. This takes about an hour and so far they have always been moved at high tide.

Here you can download pdf with more close ups of the platforms.

How to get to them by land
At low tide many of the borehole platforms will be accessible by land - they are currently very close to the estuary sands – meaning that at low tide you can literally walk out to the rigs from either Rossport/Aghoose/the camp.

Some of the borehole locations are inaccessible to the jack up platforms. To drill at these locations, Shell will drive the drilling equipment onto land using a ramp, beach/track plates and a tracked dumper.

If the platforms aren't directly accessible by foot they will be near enough to stage a protest/to combine with a water based action such as swimming/kayaking the last stretch.

How to get to them by sea
The platforms are accessible around high tide by sea. We have several inflatable kayaks for use & a curragh (rowing boat). They can be launched from various strategic locations up the estuary depending on where the rigs are. Around low tide kayaks can be used in combination with walking across the sands. Larger vessels (such as ribs) can get stranded on the sands so ask campers which the best routes to navigate are!
 

How to stop the drilling once you're there
We're still working this out – be creative and try any ideas you have. Here's some ideas that might work:

* Congregating/kayaking under the platforms and where the drills are

* Climbing up onto the platforms and occupying machinery will definitely cause disruption & should stop work

* Disrupting the tugs as they move the rigs, once they've lowered them
 

Shift patterns/working hrs/moving rigs
Each borehole is going to take up to 2,5 days to drill, than the platforms will have to be moved to another location. So far the holes have taken between one and 3 days.

All supplies/materials/workers and security staff are brought to the estuary (and onto the platforms) by boats which are launched from Ballyglass pier (see below)

Messing up shift patterns/supplies also can help to delay the work.

Other locations
Ballyglass

Ballyglass is a public pier on the Bellmullet peninsula about 30 min by car from Pullathomas. It is used by Shell workers, security staff, safety personal for launching all the boats, and mooring boats for the night.

There is also small compound where all staff have been clocking in and out when starting/finishing their shift.

Ballyglass is definitely another good location for various actions – from leafleting and talking to the workers, holding banners, blockades - it`s only up to people`s imagination.

Equipment

There is some equipment and materials for actions available in the camp, but if you have your own and want to use your stuff for actions - that`s great.

for more info contact the camp! more pics coming soon