Shell to Sea

Members of An Garda Síochána and residents of Glengad and Barnacullew scuffle over ownership of a road (June 2007)

Shell to Sea (in Irish, Shell chun Sáile) is a campaign based in County Mayo, Ireland which opposes the proposed construction of a high-pressure raw gas pipeline through Rossport, and continues to oppose the ongoing construction by a conglomerate of Royal Dutch Shell, StatoilHydro and Marathon Oil of a refinery at Bellanaboy intended to refine the untreated gas from the Corrib gas field. The stated aim of the campaign is that the gas be refined at sea, rather than inland, as is done with Ireland's only other producing gas field off County Cork. They maintain the proximity of a high-pressure pipeline is a risk to local residents, a claim rejected by Shell

Background

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Shell to Sea banner, Belmullet, January 2009

Opposition to the gas consortium and government's plans among local residents grew during 2000, when local residents felt they were not being given adequate answers to questions they had about a refinery and raw gas pipeline intended for their area. A Channel Four documentary stated that "huge pressure" had been exerted on Mayo County Council's planning office to grant permission for the inland refinery. Due to a loophole in Irish law, no planning permission was necessary for the pipeline. The council duly granted permission, a decision that was immediately appealed to An Bord Pleanála (ABP) by local people and environmental groups.

After holding two hearings, one being the norm, and producing a report on the refinery proposition, ABP refused permission in 2002. Setting another precedent, this decision was reversed in 2003 after political pressure from the Fianna Fáil government (see Corrib gas controversy).

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Shell to Sea protesters destroy a section of fence around the Shell compound, Glengad beach, September 2008

Local landowners in Rossport were told that the raw gas pipeline would be coming through their lands. They would be subject to Compulsory Acqusition Orders if unable to reach a deal with Shell . Some agreed to allow Shell on their lands. Others refused, and Frank Fahey, then Minister for the Marine & Natural Resources signed 34 Compulsory Acquisition Orders. Those who had refused were threatened with legal action. Legal action was eventually brought against four landowning farmers and their former teacher who had joined them in blocking Shell workers coming on their lands, and lived in nearby Ceathrú Thaidhg. Bríd McGarry, who had also blocked Shell workers from her lands, was not brought to court. Mary Corduff is quoted in Our Story:The Rossport Five as having seen an internal Shell memo to the effect that McGarry was not to be brought to court because of her gender. The five men were sentenced to jail indefinitely after refusing to promise to allow Shell put the pipeline through. They became known as the Rossport Five.

24-hour pickets on the Shell sites at Rossport, Bellanaboy and Glengad began after their jailing . Rallies in support of the men's stance were held in major towns and cities, and Shell and Statoil filling stations were picketed .

Motivation

The campaign has a diverse support base, including people from many different political backgrounds and those with no strong politics at all. Werner Blau, a physics professor at Trinity College, Dublin, and part-time Rossport resident, told his neighbours that the pipeline intended for Rossport would not even comply with United States standards which were "pretty lax". In its rankings of countries' facilitation of oil and gas companies, the World Bank rates Ireland in its highest, "very favourable" category, along with Pakistan and Argentina. By comparison, Nigeria is rated average. Mike Cunningham, a former director of Statoil, said: "No country in the world gives as favourable terms to the oil companies as Ireland." This is a result of legislation created by Ray Burke, who served as Minister of Communications and Energy.

Shell to Sea mural on a gable by the Glenamoy River

It has often been claimed that the IRA or Sinn Féin have an element of control over the Shell to Sea campaign. This story has been encouraged by the former Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, various national newspapers and local businessmen . Members of many different political groups are involved in the campaign, and prominent local Sinn Féin member Paddy Ruddy works for Shell. Most local campaigners are former Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael supporters, and Philip McGrath, one of the Rossport Five, used to be an election agent for Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny.

Before this, members of the campaign were caricatured as tree-hugging hippies and "sub-intellectual" peasants. Stories of infiltration by political activists from outside the area and intimidation of project supporters have also been rife, but these have been rubbished by local independent TD Jerry Cowley and local Fine Gael TD Michael Ring . Ring was originally a staunch supporter of Shell to Sea until but now opposes their actions. Allegations of intimidation were also made by the Gardaí, though there have been no arrests made or individuals questioned. Pro-Shell businessman and president of Belmullet chamber of commerce Derek Reilly told the media that what is being described as "intimidation" is actually boycotting of pro-Shell businesses by Shell to Sea supporters. He told the Irish Times: "It has never been anything more serious than that, but that is serious enough."

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Protest at gate of intended refinery site, Bellanaboy, September 2007

Many Irish people from outside Erris are concerned about aspects of the proposed project beyond the injustice visited on the Rossport Five and the health and safety fears of Erris residents. These include allowing private companies to acquire property without the permission of the owners and what many regard as the amazingly generous terms given to the oil companies by successive Fianna Fáil governments .

People from the Niger Delta now resident in Ireland have been especially interested and supportive of the campaign, having had first-hand experience of living in an area that Shell has been active in, and many have visited the area to show support. A mural of Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed after leading a campaign to reduce Shell's influence in Ogoniland, has been painted on a gable in Rossport.

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Lock-on at Bellinaboy Bridge, July 2007

The suspicions of many that Shell were bribing influential Erris people for support were strengthened when former Irish Air Corps pilot and owner of an adventure centre in Elly Bay on the Mullet peninsula, Ciarán Ó Murchú told a rally at Bellanaboy in October 2006 that Shell E&P Ireland tried to "buy his support" with an offer of €15,000 for a climbing wall in 2005. He said that company officials promised him that no one would know that the money came from Shell if he accepted it. He rejected the offer, which he said was very tempting, but believes that other businesses have experienced similar approaches.

Negotiations fail

The Rossport Five were released in late 2005. Peter Cassells was appointed as a negotiator to arbitrate between the campaigners and Shell. As his remit did not include discussing the refinery, he was regarded as a distraction by Shell to Sea. The pickets at Bellanaboy continued for over a year, during which no work was done by Shell.

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A protester attempts to handcuff herself to a lorry removing peat from the refinery site at Bellinaboy, April 2007

On Tuesday September 26 2006, protesters prevented Shell's employees from entering the site of the intended refinery at Bellanaboy to begin work. Around 150 locals and protesters blocked the entrance to the refinery site and began to recite the rosary. The workers turned back after discussions with Gardaí.

One week later on 3 October, scores more Gardaí were brought in from around the country, which increased their numbers to around 170. The Gardaí beat protesters away from the site gates and on to, then off, the roads near Bellanaboy for the first time. This marked a departure in Garda tactics which they have held to. An Irish Times editorial stated: "The Garda baton charges that occurred on Friday morning in Bellanaboy were not the product of Sinn Féin or Provisional IRA machinations; they were the product of abject Government incompetence." A decision to avoid arresting protesters in order to damp down the negative publicity that would ensue was discussed in the police force's magazine, Garda Review. An attempt was made to block workers' access to the site by lying on the road but protesters were dragged off the road, thrown over fences and into ditches by the Gardaí. A number of people were injured and one young woman was brought to hospital.

With the daily protests at Bellanaboy continuing, protesters occupied Shell Ireland HQ on Dublin's Leeson Street.

On the October 12, three people were arrested at the morning protests.

On Friday October 20 there was a large scale protest at Bellanaboy, and one protester was arrested and released without charge.

A second large scale protest march was planned for November 10, the anniversary of the execution of Ken Saro Wiwa and eight other anti-Shell activists in Nigeria in 1995. When protesters worked their way around Gardaí lines, clashes occurred, resulting in several injuries. Small groups of demonstrators who had been unable to get to the refinery attempted to blockade the nearby Lennon's quarry which supplies material for the construction of the site.

There was political controversy in Ireland about the use of such force on a peaceful demonstration. The Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said in a statement that the Irish government's position was clear in relation to the Corrib gas situation - that the negotiating is over and "that is it". In relation to the policing of the protests, he and Opposition leader Enda Kenny would only reiterate that "the law must be obeyed".

A further large scale protest at Bellanaboy scheduled for November 24 was cancelled by the protesters for fear of further serious injuries from Gardaí.

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Shell to Sea press conference, November 2006. Front (L-R):Martin Ferris TD, Jerry Cowley TD, Joe Higgins TD, Trevor Sargent TD. Back: Labour Party president Michael D. Higgins TD and Senator David Norris.

2007

On June 5, five protestors chained themselves together outside the Bord na Móna facility in Srahmore near Bangor Erris where Shell have being dumping the peat removed from Bellinaboy.

Demonstration and blockade at Shell's Irish HQ, Leeson Street, Dublin, May 2007

On September 12, a protester from Dublin charged with public order offences has his case dismissed in Belmullet because of conflicting Garda evidence. On September 13, Judge Mary Devins likened the protest to Tiananmen Square in 1989, and demonstrations in Dublin by groups of farmers and taxi drivers, while delivering a verdict on the protesters who had chained themselves together in June. She dismissed most of the charges and sentenced the five to community service for "reckless behavior". The judge also disclosed that she had been receiving letters about the campaign and the cases before her, some sent anonymously.

2008

In April 2008, a new group was set up by people formerly active in Shell to Sea. Pobal Chill Chomáin proposed moving the refinery to Glinsk, which would have removed the necessity to transport the raw untreated gas near people's homes and under roads, and also saved Shell the extra cost of refining offshore. The proposal was rejected by both Shell and the government.

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Shell to Sea kayak training, Glengad, August 2008

In the summer of 2008, a new security firm, Integrated Risk Management Services, was brought in to defend Shell's preparations for the landfall of the raw gas pipeline. In August, Shell to Sea began training for marine protests in anticipation of the arrival of the Allseas pipe-laying ship Solitaire, the biggest of its kind in the world. The Shell to Sea Fleet was composed mostly of inflatable dinghies and kayaks, but also included a small sailboat, a currach, and two rigid-hulled inflatable boats, one of which was used purely as a safety boat.

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A member of a five-man team guards the boats while his colleagues board the pipe-laying ship Solitaire, Killybegs, September 2008

In the meantime, a local Porturlin fisherman, Pat O'Donnell, laid 800 crab pots along the intended path of the Solitaire, and defended them from Shell survey boats which attempted to remove them. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food stated that as both parties had licenses for their activities, they would have to sort it out between themselves. Two Irish Navy ships arrived in Broadhaven Bay to assist the Garda Water Unit in dealing with the protests. The Solitaire was boarded by Shell to Sea activists in Killybegs. Not long after it arrived to Mayo's coast, the ship's company said it had suffered damage to its crane. It returned to Donegal, and has since returned to Britain for repairs.

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Members of An Garda Síochána and Naas-based Integrated Risk Management Services guard a section of fence on Glengad beach which had been openly destroyed by a group of forty people in September 2008

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Iollan Ó'Mongáin, son of Maura Harrington, is detained by four Gardaí in September 2008. A Shell security guard tapes the detention

On September 15, a plastic bag containg a bottle of petrol, a can of paint, some batteries and a clock was found outside the Dublin HQ of Shell Ireland. Shell to Sea and other groups denied involvement and Gardaí later arrested a teenager, saying they believed he acted alone. No-one has yet been charged in relation to the incident.

On the September 9 2008, Shell to Sea spokeswoman Maura Harrington began a hunger strike to coincide with the arrival of the Solitaire, the Allseas pipe-laying vessel, in Broadhaven Bay. Harrington was until recently the principal of Inver Primary School, by Broadhaven Bay. She ended her protest on September 19, after the ship was damaged and had to leave Ireland for repairs. During a short speech after ending her strike, Harrington criticised Pobal Chill Chomáin.

2009

In March 2009, Maura Harrington was sentenced to a month in Mountjoy Prison, for assaulting a Garda at McGrath's pier (see top picture).

See also

• Controversies surrounding Royal Dutch Shell
• Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People
• Rossport Five
• Rossport Solidarity Camp
• Royal Dutch Shell safety concerns

External links

• Shell to Sea website
• Shell's page on Corrib gas project
• Mayo Gas Information (Pobal le Cheile)