Rossport Solidarity Camp:
If you need more information please visit

• www.struggle.ws/rsc/ (camp website)
  
• www.shelltosea.com (campaign website) or
  
• www.indymedia.ie (for reports and features).
  
• Contact Rossport Solidarity Camp:
  by email rossportsolidaritycamp@gmail.com or
  by phone 00 353 97 209 44.

List of News Stories:
• Free at last: Rossport heroes vow to fight on 9/30/05
• Mediator set to be appointed as Rossport men freed 9/30/05
• Rossport men released by High Court 9/30/05
• The Silence of The Irish Farmers 8/31/05
• FIGHTING MAD & FIGHTING SHELL: Rossport Solidarity
• Pipeline protests hit Shell 7/3/05
• Rossport Resistance Steps Up A Gear 7/3/05
• Update from Rossport 5 7/2/05
• Members of Ógra Shinn Féin occupied the Statoil Filling Station on Northumberland St today 7/2/05
• Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams denied visit Shell pipeline protestors 7/2/05
• Details of the Solidarity Camp in Rossport, and upcoming protests and meetings across the country 7/2/05
• Five imprisoned over pipeline obstruction 6/29/05
• Shell Vs. People Of Rossport: "Mafia Threat"s from Judge Before He jails The Rossport Five 6/29/05
• Rowdy meeting ends Shell's 100-year split 6/29/05

Fergus Black
© Irish Independent

Saturday October 1st 2005

AFTER 94 days in prison, five men tasted freedom yesterday after an epic David and Goliath battle with the multinational Shell oil company.

The Rossport Five will savour their triumph today when they will head a major rally in Dublin - just 24 hours after their release.

There were tears and cheers for the Co Mayo men who faced prison rather than obey a High Court order not to interfere with the construction of the Corrib gas pipeline.

The famous rotunda of the Four Courts has seldom seen such emotional scenes as those that greeted the men as they walked from court into the arms of family members and friends.

The eldest of the group, 65-year-old Micheal O Seighin, with his wife Caitlin by his side, spoke of his delight at being free.

"It was OK in jail. Not having freedom was the worst part, not having a nail file, very small things," he said.

The story of the titanic struggle that has gripped the nation took a further twist yesterday as it emerged that Shell itself may face a possible contempt of court hearing.

The company had demanded the men's imprisonment. But yesterday High Court President Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan told counsel for Shell, Patrick Hanratty, he wanted the company to address its breach of an undertaking not to do anything not permitted by the licence of Marine Minister Noel Dempsey.

Later today, the men will take their place at a rally organised to highlight what many saw as the "scandal" of their three-month sojourn in jail.

The continued defiance of brothers Philip and Vincent McGrath, Willie Corduff, Micheal O Seighin and Brendan Philbin turned them into national heroes since they were sent to prison for contempt of court on June 29. But all five will be back in the High Court on October 25 to hear whether they will have to face punishment for their initial contempt.

There were also encouraging sounds from Shell E&P Ireland (SEPIL) which had applied to have its temporary injunction against the men set aside. The company said it welcomed a Government-led mediation initiative and safety review.

SEPIL managing director Andy Pyle said the corporation fully recognised the concerns of the objectors and the very difficult situation the men and their families had been through.

"For the past three months we have worked to bring about the conditions under which the men could come out of prison while maintaining our lawful right to complete this authorised development", he said.

Onshore and offshore works had been suspended and the company had offered to engage in third party, independent mediation, he said.

The Rossport Five were mobbed by well-wishers and media as they walked triumphantly from the Four Courts.

They said they had no regrets and the fight to protect their families and their safety would continue.

Mr Philbin said it was very hard in a democracy that they had to go to jail to prove their point.

"I thank all the prison inmates and say hello to all the staff in the kitchen of Cloverhill," said Mr Philbin.

"I feel we've won a victory," said Philip McGrath.

© Irish Independent
www.unison.ie/irish_independent/ & www.unison.ie/

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Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent
Irish Times
01/10/2005

Minister for the Marine Noel Dempsey hopes to nominate a mediator within the next week to initiate negotiations between Shell and Mayo landowners over the Corrib gas onshore pipeline.

Contact is expected to be made with both parties over the coming days in relation to an agreed nominee, following yesterday's release of the five men opposed to the pipeline from Cloverhill prison. However, the Minister told The Irish Times last night he believed the men should be given some breathing space and time with their families.

Bonfires are due to be lit in north Mayo tonight to welcome home the five - Micheál Ó Seighin, Willie Corduff, Brendan Philbin, Philip and Vincent McGrath - after 94 days in jail. The five are due to address this afternoon's Shell to Sea campaign rally in central Dublin, along with Dr Owens Wiwa, brother of executed Ogoni leader and Nigerian writer Ken Sara Wiwa, Ictu general secretary David Begg, Siptu president Jack O'Connor and Frank McBrearty jnr.

"Feet on the ground won it," one of the five, retired schoolteacher Micheál Ó Seighin (65), said yesterday after the court hearing. "It shows that Irish people expect a higher state of democracy, and they expect more of their Government in relation to people's safety and welfare."

Vincent McGrath, whose home is 70 metres from the proposed high-pressure pipeline, said that the five would return to prison all over again if they had to. The group had been forced into their position when no State agency took responsibility for the pipeline, he emphasised.

Shell E&P Ireland's chief executive Andy Pyle said he believed a compromise could be reached, and said he did not envisage anyone being imprisoned again - although the company is still pursuing a permanent injunction against six named landowners.

"We fully recognise the concerns of the objectors and the very difficult situation which the men and their families have been through," Mr Pyle said.

Discovery of documents for the permanent injunction is listed for the High Court on Tuesday, while the company must return to court on October 19th to explain a breach of its ministerial consents by sworn affidavit. The five men must return to court on October 25th to hear if punitive measures should be taken over their contempt of court.

Yesterday's breakthrough was welcomed by the Minister for the Marine, who said that his safety review is expected to be completed by mid-November. A two-day public hearing as part of this is being held in Mayo on October 12th and 13th.

Mayo TDs Dr Jerry Cowley (Ind) and Michael Ring (FG), who had publicly supported the men and their families, expressed delight at the men's release. Dr Cowley said that last week's visit to Norway by members of the men's families had played a significant role, as he believed Statoil, partner in the Corrib project, had put pressure on Shell. However, Shell has denied this.

Mr Ring said he hoped that Shell and the Government would "do more listening to the local people so that this very serious situation can now be resolved". Mr Ring's party leader and constituency colleague Enda Kenny said he was happy that Shell had taken on legal advice he had given it in relation to the temporary injunction.

Labour Party marine spokesman Tommy Broughan said the men had "done a service to this country", in that there was a need for much greater accountability and a public debate on how the State's natural resources were exploited, "and for whose ultimate benefit".

Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said that the Government had "sown the seeds" which led to the dispute, and had serious questions to answer in relation to planning permission for the project and granting a foreshore licence for the controversial pipeline.

© The Irish Times

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RTE News
30 September 2005

The five Mayo men who were jailed for breach of an injunction against their protest over the Corrib gas pipeline have been released from custody.

The President of the High Court has warned them about their future conduct and will decide next month whether they are still to be punished for an illegal protest at the Corrib Gas Development site.

Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan also said he will hear evidence that Shell itself was in breach of court orders by continuing development, despite undertakings not to do so.

Lawyers for Shell had asked that the temporary injunction against the men be lifted, as it is now not possible to carry out any work on the site because of a safety review.

Speaking outside the High Court, one of the five men, Brendan Philbin, said today's decision was a victory for the ordinary person.

He said it had been a difficult for the men and their families but that the protest had been worth it and that they would do it all again.

He thanked the public for their support and the staff of Clover Hill prison.

High Court decision is welcomed

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has welcomed the release of the men.

Mr Ahern said the Government would implement any changes that may be recommended by international safety inspectors.

Supporters and relatives who gathered at the site of the planned gas terminal at Bellanaboy said they were absolutely delighted with the development.

The men were jailed for breaching a court injunction not to interfere with the construction of the Shell Corrib pipeline.

This morning, legal teams representing Shell Ireland and the men made contact with each other.

The communication followed an offer by the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to appoint a mediator.

Shell Ireland said it was hopeful that Noel Dempsey's statement had brought a momentum to the process and the company was committed to finding a way to move the situation forward.

Mr Dempsey had been trying for several weeks to find a formula to get the men out of jail, sitting down in round table talks with Shell to address the safety issues surrounding the highly controversial pipeline.

Dr Mark Garavan, a spokesman for the men, said they had made it clear seven weeks ago that they would engage in talks if the injunction was lifted.

Mr Dempsey said that across the political system people wanted the controversy to be resolved.

Members of the Shell to Sea campaign have insisted that they would continue to demand that the company build an offshore instead of onshore terminal.

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The Town Crier Column
With Patrick Naagbanton

August 31, 2005
The Port Harcourt Telegraph

Riding The Dragon; Royal Dutch Shell and The Fossil Fire, is a befitting title of a publication by the American group, Environmental Health Fund (EHF), written in 2002 by Jack Doyle, a Washington-based writer and researcher. The author had argued in the 351-page book "Royal Dutch Shell is a giant oil company with annual gross sales exceeding $175 billion. It is typically ranked as the world's No. 1 or No. 2 oil company. It is also the world's seventh largest chemical company. Shell has been developing Fossil energy-coal, oil and gas for more than 100 years ".

"Whether chemical or indigenous people, refinery community or tropical forest, a price has been paid - and continues to be paid-in the hydrocarbon quest. Well blowouts, oil spills, refinery explosions, polluted rivers and oceans, and now global warming - all come with the territory. Still, the hydrocarbon dragon is a fire-breathing beast that neither shell, nor any other oil company, has tamed ". Pains and grief under the weighty thumb of the oil and gas Transnational Corporations (TNCs), while enforcing the flow of oil and gas have actually marked the world; they have unleashed on us anguish unheard of, in human history.

Those who question them or their practices anywhere in the world, go down the drain unsung. The world is their chessboard with which, they brandish it gleefully. They have an unquestionable power to our lives and our death. They run governments and ruin governments. They enthrone governments and de-throne governments. This is their world. The epoch of corporate empire and tyranny. Those who ride the shelling dragon must be prepared to tell a sad tale either in wreckage or in the grave. The fossil fire is very hazardous.

Recently, Michael .O. Seighin, Willie Corduff, Brendan Philbin, Vincent McGrath and Philip McGrath, these poor farmers from a tiny village community of Rossport of the Eris peninsular in the northwest of Mayor in Ireland, now famously referred to, as Rossport 5 defied the smoke-darkened dragon. Today, they have an unsweetened long story to tell. Small-scale farmers are they, who eke out miserable living from their badly off quality land. Their journey to dungeon started in December 2004.

Shell sent letters to the Rossport villagers, informing them that, the company would enter their properties (lands) to lay a 5 miles long pipeline. The shell-shocked villagers staged peaceful protests to reject such proposal. The pipeline shall be the highest in the world, a consortium of Royal Dutch, Statoil, which the Norwegian government owns 70% of it and Marathon Oil Corporation, an American energy player, owned the pipeline. The pipeline when completed is expected to pump unsafe and untreated products along it, which is said to be substandard, from the Corib Gas field to a proposed inland refinery in Ballinaboy.

"Gas was found off the coast nine years ago and shell's plan is to land the gas on the beach at Broadhaven and pipe it 5 miles inland for processing throughout the peat of the Bog of Erris " wrote Angelique Chrisafis, Ireland correspondent for the London-based The Guardian newspaper. On January 10, 2005, Shell sent her workers again, to commence work on the pipeline, which will run through living homes, conservation areas and estuaries of rare plants and animal species in the area. Still, oppositions against the project swelled from Rossport and other green campaigners around the globe. The work was halted and Shell and her partners including the Irish government were unhappy.

Like a shady "Black Market ", order which corrupt Nigerian judges grant to cement injustice against defenseless people of the country. A Shell's injunction, sorry, a ruling from Justice Finnegan, the President of the High Court of Ireland, was issued, it mandates the company to have unhindered access to Rossport private lands. The order, also restrained them from blocking the construction of the pipeline. Subsequently, they were sent to Cloverhill Prison, an Irish prison built since 1854. They are to remain in the prison for an indefinite time until they "Purge their contempt " by accepting the pipeline to pass through their lands.

Today is Rossport 5. Shell in Ireland, United Kingdom (UK), If Shell can do this to their people and homeland, one can really pictures the magnitude of atrocities they commit abroad, while prospecting or drilling hydrocarbon. In 1987, at Iko, a small rural community like Rossport in the Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria, appalled by the ecological devastations of their richly endowed land, they organized a peaceful protest against Shell. Shell played skillfully politico-military stuff with the bloody junta of dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, and sent in soldiers armed with weapons of mass destruction, to teach the local folks not to oppose them any longer. Shell's soldiers killed poor people, raped women and looted properties of the villagers of Iko.

I visited the community again recently, with a delegation of respected British parliamentarians, a 64-year-old woman who spoke to me briefly about the Iko incident of 1987 broke down in mournful tears as she narrated the tragedy. I could not help it, but to stop the "interview " halfway to save the poor woman the agony of a bad corporation in Iko. On October 30, 1990, the unlucky dwellers of Umuechem, another pint-sized oil-producing community which hosts Shell, and which belongs to the Etche group in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has their tale to tell too. Armed with branches of leaves, which locally symbolizes peace amongst the rural residents, to protest the plundering of their environment and desecration of their lives.

A detachment of Mobile Policemen, a special task force which grief-stricken communities in the Niger Delta, that have encountered them called them, "Kill and Go ". The force has a terrible record of extra-judicial executions, rape and looting. Shell sent them to Umuechem to carry out among the poor locals what they know. The rest of the story belongs to the dark pages of the history of Shell in Nigeria. Hordes of protesters and non-protesters alike in the community were sent to their early graves. Properties were stolen, while the Shell's task force raped women (both married and unmarried). All over the Nigeria's delta, the company is well-known not only for emitting deadly gasses from their pipes or dumping of harmful wastes in rivers, streams and rivulets, but for their propensity for to do raw violence.

The, Ogonis of the northeast of the Niger Delta, in the early 90s, led by the late Ken Saro Wawa, a committed Nigerian writer, columnist and activist, waged a non-violent struggle against Shell's for good environment and respect for his Ogoni people. All over their history book is the agony of the Ogoni. Shell gave moral and financial support to a wasting operation of a task force called Rivers State Internal Security Task Force (RSISTF). A twosome of yellow-belly and demented majors, Paul Okinstimo and Obi Umahi, leaders of the RSISTF at different times, had field days trafficking in the blood of poor Ogoni women, children and men, suspected to have supported Wiwa's struggle. Ken Saro-Wiwa and other 2,000 Ogonis are now in their various identified and unidentified graves, that is the high price of oil and gas.

Riding the dragon can be dangerous; Jack Doyle and his Environmental Health Fund (FHF) had warned us. The silence of the Irish farmers in our new burden. The Town-Crier must stand at the barricade with Denny Larson, an avid environmental activist from San Francisco, USA and director of Global community Monitor, Monique Harden of the Shell Corporate Accountability Coalition, USA, and Anne Rolfes of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, USA, over to you all, in this season of barricade and a taste for a new desire.

We must not allow Rossport 5 die like the Ogoni 9, my solidarity to Judith Robinson of the Environmental Health Fund (EHF), USA and Sister Majella Mc Carron, a selfless Irish activist who spent several years working to save the dying Ogoni environment. Thanks our novelist Jennifer Johnston, a distinguished Irish writer whose book, The Old Jest (1979) and The Shadow on Our Skin (1977) shot her into our literary consciousness, and many others at the barricades. My solidarity for the protests, blockades and boycotts to free the suffering Rossport natives, we must dance this rock of freedom against the red men and women, who plunder our lives for oil and gas and save the poor old men from Rossport.

Mobile: 08033367823
Email: patricknaagbanton@yahoo.ca
Copyright 2004© The Port Harcourt Telegraph

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FIGHTING MAD & FIGHTING SHELL: Rossport Solidarity

August, 2005

Rossport Solidarity Camp Solidarity Week begins on August 22nd and includes:

• Talks by local people on the impact the proposed pipeline will have on their community if it were to go ahead
• Update on the Shell to Sea Campaign
• Non Violent Direct Action Training
• Protests
• Wind Powered Movies
• Social Night, Local Story Telling and music
• Kids Space
• Skills Sharing
• Report back from recent solidarity delegation to Columbia.
• Talk on Peak Oil.

Camping Space and meals provided at the camp

If you can give a workshop or skills demonstration please contact us.

Camp wish list:

• old carpet
• pallets
• tools
• buckets
• water containers
• building wood
• fire wood
• camping gear
• blankets
• phone credit
• rain gear
• polyprop
• old furniture
• straw bales
• candles
• bicycles
• lanterns
• paints and old sheets
• leisure battery

For more information contact: Michael at: 086 3588890 www.shelltosea.com www.indymedia.ie/mayo

On August 27th and 28th Rossport Solidarity Camp plays host to the Tenth Grassroots Gathering. Since the winter of 2001 Nine Grassroots Gatherings have taken place in Ireland, with discussion and organisation around a wide range of issues. Each one takes place in a different city from the last and is organised by a different group of people from the last. Grassroots Gatherings have taken place in Limerick, Galway, Dublin, Cork, and Belfast.

The format for the first day is workshops, that is a small number of speakers giving a ten to fifteen minute talk followed by open discussion.

The workshops will consist of people from local community campaigns talking about the different tactics, forms of organisation, and methods they have used in their campaigns rather than a concentration on the issues. There will also be some skills share workshops.

The format for the second day is plenary, that is open discussion around a particular theme. In this case the theme is to be how can different local community campaigns support each other and how can green/left activists support them.

Speakers have been invited on the following topics/from the following groups: Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment aka CHASE (involved in campaigning against incineration), Gorleben anti-nuclear protest camp in West Germany in the '80s, contempory anti-pylons groups, Galway for a Safe Environment (involved in campaigning against incineration), the campaign against Merrill Dow Pharmaceuticals in Cork in '87/'88, East Galway anti-superdump campaigners, Derrybrien Development Society.

For more information phone: Terry at 086 1682416 Or e-mail galwaygrassroots@yahoo.com

For information about the situation in Gorleben see: http://www.nirs.org/mononline/gorgall.htm
http://people.freenet.de/ask/Castor_2001.html

For details of some of the older Grassroots Gatherings see: http://grassrootsgathering.freeservers.com/previous.htm

A Taste of What to Expect (Some Photos from the June Bank Holiday Solidarity Gathering) http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=70173

How to get to Rossport:

By Car:

From Ballina:

Take the N59, the road going to Belmullet, first town you meet is Crossmolina, after Crossmolina you come to Bellacorick Power Station, which is disused turf burning station, you will also notice a wind farm here, there is a sharp right hand turn in the road, you are continuing on the N59, travelling in the direction of the village of Bangor Erris, also known just as Bangor.

You go through Bangor Erris until on the other side of the village you come to the oil road, on your left is Srahmore, this is the site Shell are using to store removed peat from where they are building their refinery, there is a fork in the road, and just in front is a Marian grotto, the road on the right looks like it isn't in Mayo, this is the 'oil road', you go up the 'oil road'. At the end of this road you should see some concrete sheep. This is Ballinaboy, where the refinery is being built. You turn right to Glenaboy bridge and from there left to Rossport.

From Castlebar:

Follow signs for Achill, a few miles outside Castlebar you turn right up the R312, follow this road straight for about 25 miles, passing through the townlands of Beltra and Derreen, and you arrive at Bellacorick power station, at which point you follow the same directions as if you were coming from Ballina.

By Public Transport.

There are trains and buses to both Ballina and Castlebar. See: http://www.buseireann.ie/site/home/ for buses and http://www.irishrail.ie/home/ for trains. From those places you can get transport from a private bus company called McGraths (097) 87842. Their buses leave Ballina at 5.15pm from outside Dunnes Stores, that is, from the carpark beside the Humbert Monument. Their buses leave Castlebar from outside Heatons Store, which is at the top of main street, opposite side of the road from the drop off point for the Bus Eireann buses. They will leave you off at Rossport cross, but they do not run on Sundays (return from Rossport cross 10.45 a.m. Monday to Saturday, 10 euro return). Alternatively you can get as far as Bangor via the Bus Eireann route from Ballina to Belmullet. These leave Ballina bus station at 12.15 and 18.10 Monday to Saturday and at 13.00 on Sundays. See: http:// www.buseireann.ie/site/home/

Should there be sufficient interest we will run a feeder bus from Ballina on either Friday night or Saturday morning for people travelling from around the country, if you are interested contact Michael at: 086 3588890

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Pipeline protests hit Shell

Tom McGhie, Mail on Sunday
This Is Money, UK
3 July 2005

SHELL has suspended work in Russia on parts of a controversial £6bn gas and oil pipeline - the most expensive in the world.

As the group last week cemented the merger of its Dutch and British arms in an attempt to draw a line under recent troubles, a Russian government report accused the oil giant of environmental vandalism.

The report last week strongly criticised Shell's venture for destroying the land around riverbanks on the island of Sakhalin, north of Japan. Moscow warned of possible fines.

Hundreds of indigenous people blockaded roads leading to Shell's Sakhalin Energy oil and gas facilities last week as protests grew over the alleged damage.

The project is two years late and £1bn over budget, but its success is essential to Shell, which has faced criticism over the past two years for its failure to find new reserves.

Last week, Shell escaped criminal charges in America for overstating reserves and chief executive Jeroen van der Veer told Financial Mail he wanted to put the scandal behind him.

The Sakhalin-2 project involves running a pipeline 500 miles to carry gas and oil from rigs off the north of the island to a port in the south. But the pipeline crosses 1,100 rivers, many rich in salmon.

The pollution caused by diverting rivers and destroying riverbanks has already led to damage to salmon-breeding grounds and has threatened the vital fishing industry.

Three months ago, Shell was forced to reroute the pipeline, which could eventually pump 140,000 barrels of oil a day, because it threatened the feeding grounds of the Western Grey Whale. There are thought to be only 100 left. The company halted work for studies into the project's environmental impact.

Shell said: 'There is suspension on the work around the rivers to allow for more training for contractors on environmental matters.' Malcolm Brinded, executive director of Shell Exploration & Production, met protesters from Russia who visited London last week to complain about the damage that Shell had allegedly inflicted on the environment.

It has also emerged that the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development, which has so far refused to fund part of the project, is sending a team to the island next month for the second time.

Shell desperately needs funding for the project and many banks look to the EBRD for guidance on whether to invest.

Financial Mail revealed last year that Shell had exaggerated the charity work it had done to help the community in Nigeria, where it has faced savage criticism for causing pollution and failing to stop human rights violations.

The era of the domination of North Sea gas comes to an end tonight when a tanker berths at National Grid's new £130 million terminal on the Isle of Grain, Kent. The ship, above, is carrying 31 million cubic metres of liquid natural gas from Algeria - enough to supply 47,000 homes for a year. As North Sea supplies start to dwindle, Britain will depend more on dearer LNG from areas such as Egypt and Algeria.

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Rossport Resistance Steps Up A Gear

by Terry - Shell to Sea
Sunday, Jul 3 2005, 1:56pm info@shelltosea.com
www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=70605

Refinery Construction Site Picketed; Fishermen Prepare To Blockade 'Things'; Roadside Vigil A Win

"What we intend to do on Monday, if they do not open, is picket from 6.30 p.m. to let them know that we will not be backing down. We are choosing that time for people who will be at their jobs during the day. If work resumes at the site we will start picketing at 11 a.m. The purpose of the picket is to persuade employees working at the building of the refinery to halt work, as some have done, and to show that we are not forgetting the five innocent men in Cloverhill prison. "
P.J. Moran, Ballinaboy Resident.

WORK CONTINUES AS NORMAL AT THE COMPANY'S SITES IN MAYO

So reads the Shell press release of Friday July 1st. At the refinery site at Ballinaboy everything, mostly signs and flagmen huts, that was on the "oil road" outside the site was cleared away by Shell-Statoil-Roadbridge-Sicim by 3.15pm on Friday, and inside machinery had stopped work by 3.30pm.

This morning in Rossport the truck illegally carrying pipes to the Shell-Statoil-Roadbridge-Sicim compound, which had been halted on the roadside since Tuesday the 21st of June, was removed after negotiations, and with that so ended a 12 day, 24 hours a day, roadside vigil, which highlighted the inadequacies of the developers traffic management plan, or rather its virtual non-existence. The truck left without entering the compound.

There were only security guards present in the compound this morning (Sat 2nd July) and no construction workers, it is very quiet, with the amusing addition of a massive number of "Keep Out"signs. Take notice that there is a right of way through the compound. The photos below were taken from within it.

At the moment it is rumoured that work in Ballinaboy, where peat is being removed in preparation for construction proper, will be halted for two weeks. During the two days of pickets last week, on Thursday and Friday, some workers downed tools and joined the demonstrations, while lorry loads were unable to make it through the picket lines.

Meanwhile the dredger-platforms previously in Broadhaven Bay have left and are currently off Erris head. Local fishermen have sworn that there will be 30 to 40 fishing boats in between them and the bay should they attempt to return.

According to the Shell-Statoil-Roadbridge-Sicim schedule for building, construction was due to start on the pipeline on the 25th of February. It hasn't. Construction of the landfall, where the off-shore pipeline comes on land, was due to start on June 1st. It hasn't. Due to the climatic conditions and boggy land construction of the development can only proceed during the summer months.

"We want any one who can help the Rossport 5 through legal representation, aid, advice or practical assistance to get in touch via email or a single number. Hopefully this will help to provide a direct point of contact into the heart of the Rossport residents requiring practical assistance. PLEASE ENSURE IT IS CLEAR THAT IT IS NOT AN INFORMATION HOTLINE - IT IS PRIMARILY FOR ANYONE WHO CAN PRACTICALLY ASSIST THE ROSSPORT 5 OR OUR SAFETY CONCERNS RELATING TO THE PIPELINE."
- Alan McGrath, Rossport resident and nephew of Philip and Vincent McGrath (two of those in prison). That contact is: freetherossportfive@eircom.net 087 7747885

Remember to write to the prisoners:
Willie Corduff
James Brendan Philbin
Vincent McGrath
Philip McGrath
Micheal O‘Seighin

Cloverhill Prison
Dublin 22

Details of a bank account for donations to the campaign will be released on Monday.

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Update from Rossport 5

by M. Ní Sheighin
IndyMedia Ireland
Saturday, Jul 2 2005, 4:16pm
www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=70590

In Cloverhill prison this morning, July 2nd, Micheál Ó Seighin said that what the 5 men who are in jail want is for the normal technical standards of the oil and gas companies themselves to be applied by Shell. They are not looking for any privileges.

They will not purge their contempt if it means putting people's lives in danger. They have no contempt for the courts, but human life has a higher value than a High Court injunction.

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Members of Ógra Shinn Féin occupied the Statoil Filling Station on Northumberland St today.

by Ógra Shinn Féin
IndyMedia Ireland
Saturday, Jul 2 2005, 5:39pm
www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=70593

Members of Ógra Shinn Féin occupied the Statoil Filling Station on Northumberland St today at 4pm. Two activists entered the station shop and chained themselves together while almost two dozen picketed in the forecourt and distributed leaflets to passing motorists.

Ten minutes after the protest began two Gardaí­ arrived and attempted to force their way into the shop but the two inside managed to keep them out.

Ten minutes later a second Garda car arrived and with two more officers and together they attempted to force their way into the shop. They managed to push the door partially open and then one officer pushed his baton through and used it to force the protestors away from the door, striking one comrade a number of times.

Once inside the Gardaí­ forcibly ejected the two who joined the picket outside for the remainder of the protest which concluded peacefully a little over an hour after it began.

Support from passing motorists was high and the station was shut down for over an hour while thew protestors were present. I've just got a text that the station is still closed and there's no-one at the station.

This is the second Statoil station closed by Ógra Shinn Féin in as many days and they are committed to continuing these actions until the demands of the Rossport Five are met. Hope to get pictures of this one up on Monday.

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Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams denied visit Shell pipeline protestors

Jul 2 2005 - 14:37:18

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said today that the five men jailed for obstructing the construction of a Shell gas pipeline in Co Mayo are right to take a stand.

The five are currently being held in Cloverhill prison for refusing to obey a High Court injunction taken out by Shell.

Mr Adams tried to visit the prison today but was not allowed in because he is not their local political representative. Five local TDs have already visited the protesters.

Mr Adams said the men have serious and legitimate concerns about the pipeline being put through their lands at Rossport and has called on the government to intervene to secure their release.

Further protests are planned for tomorrow in Mayo.

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Details of the Solidarity Camp in Rossport, and upcoming protests and meetings across the country

by Terry -
Shell to Sea Saturday, Jul 2 2005, 5:22am
info@shelltosea.com
address: http://www.shelltosea.com
www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=70581

The Solidarity Camp - why it is there, how you get there, what it is doing and what it needs, plus protest actions and meetings around the country.

Arising out of the solidarity gathering on the June bank holiday weekend, a number of supporters of the local residents' struggle for justice against the multi-nationals and the state have been camped out in Rossport. This has been ongoing since Tuesday the 19th when the call went out to join the roadside vigil which highlights the intrusive and obstructive and dangerous nature of the plans of Shell-Statoil-Roadbridge-Sicim to put 60 to 70 trucks a day on narrow country lanes with next to no traffic management plan. See: Update: Shell Truck Blockade Continues

The story at that link gives a taste of the purpose of being up in Erris, basically as the presence on the roadside has been going on 24/7 it was necessary for more folk to join in to relieve the local people who had initiated this action, who have farms to run and jobs to go to, who have the stress of court action and the stress of the corporate/state assault on their lives, homes and families. Some local residents involved in campaigning against Shell-Statoil-Roadbridge-Sicim have been literally working day and night. Roadbridge-Sicim being the construction contractors.

The call out to bring people to the area went public, that is, outside the Shell to Sea network, in response to the situation where last Wednesday the landowners upon whom Shell had initiated injunction proceedings would have to be in Dublin at the Four Courts, thereby reducing the number of people on hand to prevent entry by Shell-Statoil-Roadbridge-Sicim engineers onto the farms. See one of their earlier attempts: Shell in Rossport 16/06/2005/ Today in Mayo: Shell attempt to seize land is defeated It is for doing this that five men are currently in Cloverhill Prison.

At the moment the on-going action is the picketing of the proposed refinery site at Ballinaboy, in an effort to persuade workers there to down tools, as some have been doing.

This has been happening on Thursday and Friday and re-starts on Monday. The solidarity presence consists of people from who have travelled from Ballina, Galway, Louth, Cork, Kildare and Limerick. We, and the local campaigners, are now looking for more people to join us, in response to the jailings.

The day to day tasks are preparing logistically for the arrival of more people, joining in the actions of local residents, and helping to publicise the situation on indymedia.ie. All actions are peaceful, carried out in consultation with the residents, and organised in a non-hierarchal and horizontal manner.

This is very much a struggle which has been going on for years carried out by people who will be materially effected in terms of quality of life should the development go ahead, the nature of that struggle will not change. The purpose of the solidarity camp is to contribute whatever support we can to that continuing struggle.

How to get to Rossport:

By Car:
There is a map here:
Note this does not have all the roads marked that you will have to travel on.

From Ballina:

Take the N59, the road going to Belmullet, first town you meet is Crossmolina, after Crossmolina you come to Bellacorick Power Station, which is disused turf burning station, you will also notice a wind farm here, there is a sharp right hand turn in the road, you are continuing on the N59, travelling in the direction of the village of Bangor Erris, also known just as Bangor.

You go through Bangor Erris until on the other side of the village you come to the oil road, on your left is Srahmore, this is the site Shell are using to store removed peat from where they are building their refinery, there is a fork in the road, and just in front is a Marian grotto, the road on the right looks like it isn't in Mayo, this is the "oil road", you go up the "oil road". At the end of this road you should see some concrete sheep. This is Ballinaboy, where the refinery is being built. You turn right to Glenaboy bridge and from there left to Rossport.

From Castlebar:

Follow signs for Achill, a few miles outside Castlebar you turn right up the R312, follow this road straight for about 25 miles, passing through the townlands of Beltra and Derreen, and you arrive at Bellacorick power station, at which point you follow the same directions as if you were coming from Ballina.

By Public Transport.

There are trains and buses to both Ballina and Castlebar. See: http://www.buseireann.ie/site/home/ for buses and http://www.irishrail.ie/home/ for trains. From those places you can get transport from a private bus company called McGraths (097) 87842. Their buses leave Ballina at 5.15pm from outside Dunnes Stores, that is, from the carpark beside the Humbert Monument.

Their buses leave Castlebar from outside Heatons Store, which is at the top of main street, opposite side of the road from the drop off point for the Bus Eireann buses.

They will leave you off at Rossport cross, but they do not run on Sundays (return from Rossport cross 10.45 a.m. Monday to Saturday, 10 euro return).

Alternatively you can get as far as Bangor via the Bus Eireann route from Ballina to Belmullet. These leave Ballina bus station at 12.15 and 18.10 Monday to Saturday and at 13.00 on Sundays. See: http://www.buseireann.ie/site/home/

Materials needed to get ready for more people and a permanent base; please donate if you can, Camping wish-list; carpets, pallets, tools; hammers, nails, hacksaws, shovels, forks, spades buckets, toilet seat, woodchips/sawdust, building wood food/fruit & veggies, blankets, camping gear, old furniture, boats & oars, polyprop rope, climbing gear, lanterns and gas lamps binoculars, people, strawbales, caravans, teepees, geodomes, mobile phone batteries, leisure batteries, transport, banner making gear, bikes, paints

If you are coming to camp:

Remember:
things to bring: rain gear, it is Ireland after all wellies sleeping bag tent torches fork/ spoon and bowl video cameras musical instruments and ... good humour!

Forthcoming Meetings and Actions:

• Castlebar Demonstration: Sunday at 3pm, meeting in the TF (aka Travellers' Friend) carpark.
• Ballinaboy Picket: Continuing again on Monday and subsequent days, picket of the Shell-Statoil-Roadbridge-Sicim construction site for the refinery part of the Corrib Gas project.
• Protest in Galway: Monday, at 10.30 AM, outside the Constituency Clinic (beside the Royal Rock Cafe, Ballybane Industrial Estate) of state minister, Frank Fahey.
• Public Meeting, Ennis, Co.Clare, Monday, July 4th.
• Shell to Sea Organising Meeting, Tuesday, Dublin, July 5th.
• Protest in Cork, Wednesday, July 6th. Meet 8 a.m. City Hall, Go to Shell main depot, Centre Park Road, linked in with international day of action on climate change. See: Story of previous action in Cork.
• Rally in Dublin, Wednesday, July 6th. Meet Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square, 7.30pm.
• Scotland all the time during G-8 protests: The distribution of 15,000 leaflets about the Shell in Mayo situation and holding of several workshops. Contact london@shelltosea.com or ask around in the Irish barrio.
• A national Shell to Sea organising meeting is scheduled for mid-July, to take place in north west Mayo, watch this space for details.

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Five imprisoned over pipeline obstruction

RTE
Irish Public Television

29 June 2005

Five men from Co Mayo have been sent to prison after the High Court found them to be in breach of court orders preventing them obstructing the building of a gas pipeline owned by Shell.

Sending the men to prison, Mr Justice McMenamin said the men could not take the law into their own hands.

The judge said the men had indicated that they had obstructed the construction and would continue to obstruct it. He said he had no alternative but to commit them to prison.

Council on behalf of Shell, Mr Pat Hanratty, said it was with great regret that the company had taken this step.

Shell, which wants to build the pipeline from the offshore Corrib gas field, had sought committal of the men to prison for their refusal to obey two injunctions preventing them from obstructing work.

Following today's High Court decision, the five men, Philip McGrath, Willie Corduff, Vincent McGrath, James Brendan Philbin and Michael O'Seighin, were taken to the Bridewell Garda Station.

Caitlin O'Seighin, Mr O'Seighin's wife, said she was very proud of her husband for standing up for what was right.

Willie Corduff said he was devastated. He said the men were being put in jail for trying to protect the health of their families.

The Mayo Independent TD, Dr Jerry Cowley, who was in court, said it was a scandal that the five were going to prison.

He said the community near Rossport, Co Mayo, was living in mortal fear because of safety concerns over the pipeline.

This morning, Mr Justice Finnegan gave them some time to consider but all five refused to give assurances that they would not obstruct construction work in the future

Fair use of copyrighted material

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Shell Vs. People Of Rossport: "Mafia Threat"s from Judge Before He jails The Rossport Five.

by IMC Ireland Editorial
Indymedia Ireland
Wednesday, Jun 29 2005, 5:50pm

The High Court has jailed five people at the request of Shell for attempting to stop the multinational from laying a controversial, high-pressure, "offshore" gas pipeline through their land in Rossport, Co Mayo. The judge ordered that the five men - four small landowners and a local supporter - be imprisoned "until they purge their contempt", meaning they will not be released until they have promised to allow Shell to dig up their land.

He warned them it was also in his power to seize assets, including their homes and farms. The judge also awarded costs against the five, Philip McGrath, Willie Corduff, Vincent McGrath, James Brendan Philbin and Michael O'Seighin. The landowners in question say if the pipeline goes ahead they will have to leave their homes because of the danger posed by the pipeline, which even Minister Noel Dempsey has acknowledged is "unprecedented" anywhere in the world. They had previously said they were prepared to go to jail rather than be "guinea pigs" in Shell's "experiment". Noel Dempsey has not yet given ministerial consent for the pipeline, yet the five were jailed for refusing to give an undertaking not to obstruct Shell from accessing their land to begin work. The jailing comes 10 years after the execution of nine Ogoni activists for their opposition to Shell's operation in Nigeria.

Record of Indymedia Reports as Events unfolded today - 29th June 05 Farmers attempting to stop Shell from laying high-pressure gas pipeline across their land in Rossport, Co. Mayo in the west of Ireland (a development of a type admitted to be without precedent by a minister in the Irish government) have been appearing in court in Dublin today.

Reports are coming in from supporters of the defendants that the judge, Justice McMenamin, has taken an extreme activist position on the case and threatened the defendants in a very disturbing manner.

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