Shell to Sea Issues Compulsory Acquisition Order on Shell Office in Belmullet

“Shell has decades of experience in compulsory acquiring lands against people’s wishes and we will endeavour to bring the same high standards to Erris” –'Shell' executive in mock ceremony

Local residents gathered at the Shell office in Belmullet early Monday morning to serve a Compulsory Acquisition Order (CAO) on Shell’s property and to prevent Shell workers from entering the building.

Campaigners got creative as they staged the mock ‘acquisition’ on Shell’s front doorstep. A ‘compound’ was established with construction barricades and traffic cones, and one person dressed up as a Shell executive served the acquisition order for the area. Campaigners dressed up as Shell workers attempted to lay a pipeline, and there were even a few private security mercenaries there to guard against protesters. However in the end the protesters broke into the ‘compound’ and ran away with the pipeline, much to Shell’s dismay! (Video footage to follow).

This light-hearted action highlights a much more serious issue that is about to come up in the oral hearing this week. An Bord Pleanála’s oral hearing into the ‘onshore’ part of the pipeline (which includes the largest subsea tunnel operation of its kind in Europe) will continue on Tuesday, when Shell will be making its application for CAOs on private lands in Glengad. Many of us remember the last time Shell were granted CAOs in 2005, which resulted in the Rossport Five spending 94 days in prison for not complying with the acquisition orders.

“It is outrageous that a private multinational can take land from local people without their consent. We remember the courageous stance of the Rossport Five and warn Shell that people will not give up their land without a fight,” says Laurence Coyle, a Glengad landowner who is under threat of a CAO from Shell.

On top of the Gulf of Mexico disaster, the recent gas explosion in San Francisco on Friday accelerates fears and safety concerns of the community here in Erris, County Mayo. So far there have been at least four deaths, dozens of injuries, and more than 50 buildings have been burned to the ground after the ruptured pipeline triggered a massive explosion and intense fires. This disaster contradicts Shell’s claim that people will be safe within 273 metres either side of the pipeline and affirms local people’s concerns that there is no such thing as ‘fail safe.’