Tearing Down the Barricades

This is a Call Out from the united community of Erris Co Mayo to all our national and international supporters, asking you to come to Glengad this coming Saturday 9th May at 6pm in the evening, on a Day of Action to help us remove Shell's illegal fences from the area.

As you know, Shell returned to Glengad with fences and machinery on Wednesday 22nd April, with force and violence. Since then there have been a number of attempts at removing the fences and stopping the work, with a mixture of failure and success.

As you can see from the photos and footage below, the will is clearly there to fight Shell, in spite of the fact that large numbers of Shell security and Gardai have been drafted into the area. But what is also clear is that numbers are needed to achieve success. Numbers, People, Bodies. That means you. Please come.

Related Links from Indymedia.ie:
Previous Indymedia Feature: United Community of Erris Remove Shell Nets. Previous Indymedia Feature: Shell security attack Willie Corduff after illegal Glengad compound dismantled Previous Indymedia Feature: Scuffles At Mountjoy As Maura Harrington Is Jailed
Indymedia.ie stories about Shell in Mayo from the Indymedia.ie Archives
Other articles by Niall Harnett on Indymedia.ie

Related Links outside of Indymedia.ie
The website of Shell-to-Sea - CorribSOS.com
Feel like doing something? Contact all politicians about this - Contact.ie

Rossport Solidarity Camp Contact Details: Phone 085 1141170 or email rossportsolidaritycamp (at) gmail (dot) com

Shell nets collected, shredded and bagged for export
(by a united community)

Following a cowardly and vicious attack in the dead of night by Shell mercenaries on Willie Corduff in the early hours of Thursday 23rd April 2009, members of the Erris community assisted by national supporters opposed to the Shell Corrib Gas Project, united at 3pm on Sunday 26th April to rid the Glengad beach and cliffs of Shell nets.

Nets covering mounds of rubble on the Shell site at Glengad were removed also, as Shell security retreated from their usual positions on top of the cliff and inside the perimeter fence surrounding the site.

The fence was cut open by local residents who proceeded to remove and shred the nets before carrying them to the gates of the Shell site which was being guarded by quite a large force of Gardaí.

Related Links from Indymedia.ie:
Previous Indymedia feature: Shell security attack Willie Corduff after illegal Glengad compound dismantled Previous Indymedia feature: Scuffles At Mountjoy As Maura Harrington Is Jailed
Indymedia.ie stories about Shell in Mayo from the Indymedia.ie Archives
Other articles by Niall Harnett on Indymedia.ie

Related Links outside of Indymedia.ie
The website of Shell-to-Sea - CorribSOS.com
Feel like doing something? Contact all politicians about this - Contact.ie

When you see nets, you know there's something fishy going on

For the third time this week nets at Glengad have been put up by Shell and taken down by local residents. The purpose of the net is to stop sand-martins from nesting in the cliff-face.

What was once thought to be a specially protected priority habitat for birds and wildlife has actually, in effect, become a priority habitat for Shell.

All sorts of chats, communications and rumours abound about the permission for this and the consent for that, the legality of one thing and the illegality of another. But as Kevin Moore, An Bord Pleanala Senior Planning Inspector predicted in 2002, everything about this project is wrong. And it’s the right thing to do to disallow it and to stop it whatever the law says.

Related Links from Indymedia.ie:
Previous Indymedia feature: Scuffles At Mountjoy As Maura Harrington Is Jailed
Indymedia.ie stories about Shell in Mayo from the Indymedia.ie Archives
Other articles by Niall Harnett on Indymedia.ie

Related Links outside of Indymedia.ie
The website of Shell-to-Sea - CorribSOS.com
Feel like doing something? Contact all politicians about this - Contact.ie

Hort Comunitari

Springtime in Europe and the Earth's life cycle is in bloom again. The 3 parts of the radio documentary capture magical moments in the recent history of one of the most exciting projects in Barcelona at present, our community garden in Gracia. This article was written after a lovely Valentine's weekend of much open, shared and participative activity; the highlight of which was our collective mural day in the garden. It is hoped that some of the life, current ideas, projects, tools, spaces, bargains, oddities, dreams, passions and goings on of the city and her peoples are communicated here-in.

Friday… Thinking about winning
Saturday… Painting pictures and feeling like we are winning
Sunday… Sharing passions, playing and doing, remembering the South

Related Links:
• The ongoing "war" against Barcelona's okupas and its social movement(s) - IMC-IE feature (October 17, 2007)
• We are thousands : Barcelona and the ongoing attack against its squatted social centres - IMC-ORG feature (29 May 2007)
• Barcelona: 3 early morning raids on 3 squats, including MAKABRA - IMC-IE article (November 20, 2006)
• Dunk's past indymedia articles

'We Will Fight Them On The Beaches'

Yesterday (January 22nd), Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin stated that it is "extraordinary" that gas from the Corrib field has not yet been brought onshore. Shell to Sea feels that what is really "extraordinary" is that the Government is still trying to force this experimental project through given the local community concerns regarding their health, safety and local environment.

Shell to Sea feel that the only way that this situation can be moved forward positively, is for Shell to halt their current operations in the area so that the Corrib debacle can be settled for once and for all. It is high time that the Government started taking the concerns of communities seriously and stops acting just in the interest of big business and banks.

In referring to the recent gas dispute between Russia and the Ukraine, Minister Martin failed to raise the most crucial point that this episode highlighted, which is that Russia has control of its gas supply, Ireland on the other hand doesn't and won't under the current terms.

Responding to Minister Martin's comments, Shell to Sea spokesperson Maura Harrington stated "Micheál Martin spoke of our need for energy security, but seeing as we will have to buy our own gas back from Shell, the real question is, in these dark economic times where is the 'security of finance' going to come from so that we can get 'security of supply'?".