Five men, known as the Rossport Five, Micheal O'Seighin, Willie Corduff, Brendan Philbin, and brothers Vincent and Philip McGrath remain jailed for their protests against the construction of a dangerous gas pipeline in County Mayo, Ireland. The five men are local farmers who have campaigned for some time about the safety aspects of the pipeline, and also the destruction of one of Ireland's last areas of pristine bogland. The five were jailed more than a month ago for refusing to abide by a High Court order preventing them from obstructing the construction of the high pressure pipeline from the Corrib gas field to an onshore refinery across their land.
Joe Higgins, Socialist Party member of the Irish Parliament, writes in Socialist World, I was in the High Court on the day that these men were imprisoned. The President of the High Court was not only threatening to jail these men but 'every landowner in Mayo' should they not obey his orders. The Rossport Five, as they have come to be known, were then bundled off to Cloverhill Prison when they were not prepared to say that they would give up their protest.”
They, of course, are not the only people concerned about Shell’s project. Last week, members of the London Irish Green Group, together with Green Party members from across London and Bedfordshire, protested outside Shell’s headquarters in London. At the protest, Noel Lynch, Chair of the London Irish Green Group, commented: ''We are here as Irish people and members of the Green Party to demonstrate our solidarity with those who are fighting for justice and fair play in Ireland and against the actions of the energy multinationals like Shell. Shell have done similar things in Nigeria, where they have used economic and political pressure to silence those whose lands are being destroyed by their actions, and now they are doing something similar in Ireland. We call upon the Irish government to support the fair and just demands of the Rossport Five, and for the onshore pipeline to be removed from County Mayo.''
Also last week, Shell E&P Ireland announced it would delay laying the pipeline until next year. The company said that the suspension would ''allow for a period of discussion and dialogue.''
Shell To Sea reports Dr Mark Garavan, spokesman for the five men in prison and the Shell to Sea campaign, called on the firm to ''use this pause to reconfigure the entire project, make it safer and better with an offshore terminal, and listen to the people of Mayo.''
Garavan also said while Shell remained committed to building the pipeline, the men (Rossport 5) could not purge their contempt. “The men are not there of their own volition: Shell got the injunction, Shell put them in prison, and it’s Shell that have got to get them out. The men are saying they feel the offshore suspension called by Shell should be seized on for a root and branch review of the whole project,” he said. “Shell should prioritize the safety issues people have over the pipeline, and Minister Dempsey should assist on this point.”
Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald described Shell's announcement as "a red-herring". "What people are most concerned about is the on-shore operation and a pipeline which will pose a real danger to the local community in Rossport. In actual fact campaigners are arguing that the pipeline should be based at sea, so Shell are not facilitating local people in any way by this latest announcement.”
"Shell has said that they have suspended the work in order to allow for a period of discussion and dialogue. If they are genuine about meaningful dialogue, then they will seize the initiative and lift the injunction against the men in Clover Hill prison. These men have spent too long in prison already because of their honorable stance on this issue."
Sign a petition demanding the release of these men at http://www.petitiononline.com/Rossport/petition.html
Sources: London Irish Green Group Irish Republican News, Ireland On Line, Shell To Sea, Socialist World, An Phoblacht
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