Day Trip To Bangor

Many of us will have heard of Shell to Sea and Rossport Solidarity Camp by now. We have seen fleeting glimpses of this proud community and their fight to safeguard their health, safety, livelihood and environment. We have seen stories of decent local people being jailed for refusing to cooperate with the destruction of their community. We have heard accusations and counter accusations regarding the sinking of a fishing trawler and stolen diesel. We have seen Micheal D Higgins, later to become our proud president, praising the actions of this campaign as essential to democracy. Less than a week later we saw the infamous baton charge by hoodlum gardai against peaceful demonstrators trying to protect their community and more recently, the threats, by gardai, to rape members of the camp.

I was shocked to realise that this struggle has been going on for eleven years.

Having read an article recently on royaldutchshellplc.com regarding an environmental disaster involving the release of untreated effluent into the bay and breaches in building regulations at the Shell compound in mayo, I was moved to join them in their struggle. I had heard about a day of Solidarity that is a regular thing at the camp, and decided to go to the beautiful county of Mayo to offer my support.

The trip was unremarkable. Wanting to be there early, I had decided to travel late and sleep in the car, so as to be on the spot when I awoke. I knew the camp was in the vicinity of Rossport but did not know exactly where. The countryside passed unnoticed in the darkness as I made my way north though Mayo and eventually I found myself at Rossport pier. I unpacked my sleeping bag and settled for what remained of the night.

I awoke to the magnificent sight of Sruwaddacon Bay, where the Children of Lirr spent their last 300 years. It was a dry bright morning and cotton mist rolled down the hills across the bay. I set off to find the camp. The fabulous scenery was only spoiled by an area of yellow flashing lights. The machinery of destruction on a hillside in the distance. I soon found the camp and was met by a fellow Galway Occupier, who told me that they had all just gone and gave me directions where to find them.

That is when the darker side of this issue first became apparent to me. As I left the communal building of the solidarity camp I saw a Garda jeep with 4 or 5 gardai inside. I immediately noticed that I was being filmed by a young Garda in the back seat. I had heard stories of this sort of intimidation before and waved cheerily as I made my way to my car. I had gotten about ½ a mile when I spotted the flashing blue lights in my rear view mirror. I found a safe place to pull over and got out of the car to meet them. Two gardai got out of the jeep, both wearing blue fleece jackets without identifying numbers. Neither identified themselves and the larger one asked me for the usual details. I asked why I had been stopped and was informed that I had a broken rear light. (The indicator cover is broken.) I furnished him with my details and after a thorough check of test, tax, insurance and tyres I went on my way. I noticed immediately that they were following behind but thought nothing of it. The spectacular scenery of Sruwaddacon bay caught my eye, and i pulled in to take a photo, as the gardai passed me by.

Resuming my journey, I found the garda jeep pulled in further up and was a little unnerved to see them pull out and follow me. I proceeded without incident until came to a petrol station at a crossroads where I pulled in for a coffee. The garda jeep sped off down the Bangor road.

I had been unsure of which way to go from there until then. Now I was following them.

A few miles down the road I came to a junction with a line of about a dozen yellow jacketed private security guards, blocking the entrance to a very out of place fenced area. Across from this scene were a small group of people blocking the path of a jeep with a yellow light on top.  I recognised some fellow Galway Occupiers among them being manhandled out of the way by gardai  and turned off to find a place to park, beeping encouragement as I passed.

The rest of the day involved a lot of pushing and shoving and jumping in front of lorries and jeeps. I am new to this sport but soon got the hang of it as the morning wore into afternoon. I also noticed people in the field around the compound, playing “catch me if you can,” with Shell Oils private security.

Tempers flared briefly and shouting was done at the stone silent gardai, but overall it was good natured and there were only minor injuries to protesters.

I should note that as I parked my car, a passer by quietly wished me luck and warned me that I’d be done for parking there. Before I could engage her, she hurried off, saying she couldn’t be seen talking to me. Such is the aura of distrust in this community.

There are deep personal issues running throughout this conflict and the community is divided by the offer of employment in this environmentaly destructive industry.

Although I am back at home in Galway, I do not feel removed from this struggle as I have made my own emotional connection to this debate. I lost my daughter at the age of ten to an asthma attack on a hot summer day in the smog filled city of London. The direct result of environmental pollution.

They have been talking about electric cars for 30 years now.

I saw a saw an article recently about a man who drives a motorbike that runs on compressed air.

I am given to believe that companies like Shell Oil are suppressing this technology, by buying up patents and locking them away for ever.

If there had been a few electric cars on the road, that fateful day in London, my daughter might still be alive.

Needless to say, I will be a regular visitor to the wilds of Mayo in future and hope to be jumping in front of many more lorries.

This “work” must be stopped if we are to save what little natural landscape remains in this country. It is pointless to continue with it anyway. Environmentaly friendly technologies do exist. Solar panels and turbine generators have become standard in many homes and electric cars are becoming more common, despite their prohibitive price .

At the rate the good people of Rossport and surrounding area are slowing down the work, oil based technologies will be obsolete by the time they are finished.

I would suggest that anyone who has a day or two to spare, go to Pollathomas, find the camp and get involved. You will be saving lives, and who knows, Shell just may concede defeat and pack in the whole operation.

As the lady in the Rossport post office said, when asked for directions to the camp, “Turn right at the top of the road, right again, then right again. If you get lost just ask a garda. There are lots of them around.”