"The Pipe" to be screened in Mayo

The Pipe is a compelling documentary of Rossport's struggle against the economic might of Shell and the tragic divisions that have split a once peaceful and close knit community. Now, hot on the heels of its success with sold-out screenings at the BFI London Film Festival last month, The Pipe goes on general release in Mayo Movie World, Castlebar, from December 3 and in Belmullet from December 5. Risteard Ó Domhnaill's passionate, brave and beautifully shot documentary, produced by

Rachel Lysaght (Underground Films), for Scannáin Inbhear, has already picked up the best documentary award at the Galway Film Fleadh 2010, as well as being highly acclaimed by audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year.
Rossport is a tiny village of farmers and fishermen in north Mayo that has, for years, been resisting Shell's attempts to install a high-pressure pipeline to transport unprocessed gas from the massive new gas fields off the coast to an inland refinery.
The government gave Shell compulsory acquisition powers over farmland in Rossport, and in June 2005, five local men were imprisoned for 94 days for defying a court order allowing Shell workers to enter their land.
This set in train a cycle of protests, heavy-handed policing and a legal conflict that continues to this day.
Years of protest have left bitter divisions in the community between moderate campaigners, those perceived to have 'sold out', and hardliners whose tactics have included direct action and a hunger strike.
For four years, Ó Domhnaill's intimate access allowed him follow three members of the community; Willie Corduff, one of the Rossport Five and his attempts to defend the farm his father reclaimed from the bog; Monica Müller who controversially refused to join protests but whose court action has delivered a major blow to Shell, and Pat 'The Chief' O'Donnell, a local fisherman who is repeatedly arrested for daringly sailing his small fishing boat into the path of the gigantic pipe-layer The Solitaire.
The film captures the anxiety, anger and disillusionment of years of conflict as well as their passionate connection to the local environment, and the spirit, humour and heroism that sustains them.
The Pipe is produced by Scannáin Inbhear with funding from Bord Scannán na hEireann, the Irish Film Board and TG4.