Galway : "Now is not the time to stand idly by. Now is the time to stand by Rossport"

by TD - Shell to Sea Fri Oct 27, 2006 23:19

one !.

Neil, back in Galway after his 18 month peregrination around the Globe, a portion of which was spent amongst Ecuadorian natives protesting against Big Oil and the ruthless exploitation of their country.

by cool j Sat Oct 28, 2006 03:58

Those photos are most heartning for my community under siege here in Erris - thank you one and all!!

by supporter of rossport Sat Oct 28, 2006 13:01

Joseph O Cuig last week asked for Éamon Ó Cuív and Frank Fahey to come out and let people know why have they been so quiet on the situation in rossport.
Still awaiting reply.
Also Micheál D Ó Higgín WHERE ARE YOU?
You were outraged about the war in Iraq and planes going there through shannon.
What about the people of Erris and their town being torn apart and their saftey ?????
Shame on these people who we have elected an entrusted to take care of our country.

Fool me once shame on you fool me twice and shame one me.
You'll not fool me the second time and proof of that will be in the upoming election.

by Stan Sat Oct 28, 2006 13:50

Guys - wrong target. Shell petrol stations are not owned by Shell.............Topaz bought them nearly a year ago. Besides the fact that I find this whole thing f**king insane and you are loosing the battle. A year ago I, like everyone else in the country, supported you. But whatever you say the facts are that Shell has made compromises and you are becoming more and more extreme. Shell made a balls of everything - granted - but now you are worse than them. This pipeline will be the safest one in the whole world at this rate - and that's great - and down to you but there are no real safety risks anymore and the argument about natural resources, while valid, is not one you can possibly win. Do you honestly think a Government in a modern democracy could renege on a deal it did with a company? That would undermine our democracy. They are looking at the terms for future finds to ensure the country benefits more - and you've probably made this happen. Well done. The best thing Shell to Sea could do now would be to declare victory and move on to a more deserving cause.

by dunk Sat Oct 28, 2006 13:54 fuspey at yahoo dot co dot uk

"the argument about natural resources, while valid, is not one you can possibly win."

and if that is the case, what is will be the situation for our species tomorow on the brink of extinction "oh well, they tried", so long family...

this situation has thankfully prompted a serious look at the reality of things. bottom line = our present way of living on this planet is unsustainabe and either changes or we go.

make your choice

by Stan Sat Oct 28, 2006 14:04

Hold on a second. Are you saying this argument is about natural resources or about safety? You are contradicting yourself.. Even if this project was nationalized - i.e. you win the argument about natural resources, the IMPACT of processing the gas will be the same. Do you think that an Irish company would somehow be more enironmentally friendly???????

If on the other hand your argument is about damaging the environment then you are at odds with what Shell to Sea say - which is that they are in favour of the gas but want it processed at sea - which incidentally would be MORE environmentally damaging.

Gas is far cleaner than oil - and the fact remains that we need energy. What do you think powers the PC that you are on right now? The answer is electricity - which is Ireland is generated mainly by gas.

by M Cotton Sat Oct 28, 2006 14:59

Frankly, you are talking rubbish. This is not an either or situation as you are trying to make out. Shell to Sea have never claimed this issue is about safety alone although that has always been their first priority - it is about several things - safety, health, environment, the local community and economics. I dont actually believe you are ,or ever were, a supporter of Shell to Sea. Otherwise you would know all of this already. The government and Shell in their duplicity are pretending to address these concerns by selectively focussing on specific issues while completely ignoring others. When Shell to Sea point out that there are other matters to take into account they are dishonestly accused of 'shifting the goalposts'. But you are too stupid not to see through the spin, it seems. The government are liars and bullies, using gardai to intimidate legitimate protest by a peaceful, law abiding community because they have totally lost the logical arguments and are now reduced to violence in order to get their way. Also it is not more environmentally degrading to refine at sea - there are equal and opposite consequences but the priority has to be to do it away from people, sadly, at the expense of the marine environment. The underlying lunacy of it all is of course that this dispute over the potential to burn colossal amounts of gas and oil is taking place at a time when we already know that we should stop burning any, right now, if we are to survive as a species - and are not to take many other species with us when we go. Instead of that Bertie Ahern, Noel Dempsey etc have created a thuggish fascist state, in their own image and likeness, in order to faciliate these corporate rapists to make a profit from helping to hasten the demise of human and much other life on this planet. Given that neither Shell to Sea nor the government appear to care about that, the fact remains that what Shell to Sea have argued for , if the project must proceed one way or another, has always been in the best interests of every aspect of the Corrib gas project: renegotiation of the licensing arrangements to secure some benefit for the country and for a refinery sited at sea away from human habitation. But the fools who run this country havent the wit to realise when they have been taken for exactly the ignorant gobshites they are by Shell, Indaver etc etc and are now locked into this idiotic arrangement - too proud and stupid too acknowledge that they have got the whole thing disastrously wrong. Greg Pallast has quoted one ex oil industry fixer who said 'you should see they eyes of the politicians light up when you mention the anonymous Swiss bank account'. Is there anything like that going on here? It would certainly explain a great deal of what is plainly a stupid situation.

by dunk Sat Oct 28, 2006 15:03

things can be improved:

rossport solidarity camp demonstrates an example of sustainable living, in all senses and the computer there is powered not by gas or oil but by the sun and wind

as gandhi said
"be the example of change you want to see in the world"

see for yourself

PHOTO ESSAY: Rossport Solidarity Weekend
http://ie.indymedia.org/article/76500

Rossport Solidarity Camp Weekend
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/76466

rossport solidarity camp: natural eco friendly energy use

by roisin ni fhagain Sat Oct 28, 2006 19:43

Is there a bus going to rossport from galway on the 10th for the international day of action?if so is there a contact number?

by cool j Sun Oct 29, 2006 03:02

Stan the Shell stooge makes a number of claims about Shell's current project - Firstly he claims Shell have made the pipe safe. Wrong!! they have no intention of alterating the pipeline route to any signficant extent and have admited as much in a recent court sitting in Dublin were they are currently trying to prevent their business plan and Frank Fahy's dodgy consents for this project being unvieled to the public. - I wonder why?
The pipeline itself will be running through an area with a history of landslides and bog-bursts while the design of the pipe itself has been called into question by a number of indepent international experts and in any case should be located no-where near habitation least of all adjacent to a village, farms and homes

Secondly your laughable claim that processing the gas on land is more environemntally friendly that doing it out to Sea - What utter tripe!! - So dumping toxic heavy metals and petroleum distillates into Broadhaven Bay, emitting vast amounts of Sulphur dioxide and methane etc. into the local atmosphere causing serious acid rain and having already polluted the local water supply with aluminium is better then going to sea where best international practice allows nearly all of the toxic waste from the treated gas to be pumped back into empty wells under the sea-bed were it is safely plugged and sealed.

Please do not waste peoples time on here Stan the stooge by coming out with such utter nonsense!!!!

by cool j Sun Oct 29, 2006 03:19

To nail another lie that the usual Shell trolls tried to spin in this thread - People may not know that a Donegal company who wanted to process the gas/oil at sea from the Rockall licences and give at least 10% of profits to the local area are currently sueing Noel Dempsey for ignoring their claims and giving the licences exclusively to large Foreign multi-nationals such as Shell.

PS - Another shamefull carve up of our remaining gas and ol resources is being planned by Dempsey's Dept in a Dublin hotel next month - The usual suspects have been invited including Shell, Stateoil etc.

by supporter Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:48

whats the name of the company? and why is this not in the papers or on the news?beause it should be.

by Jenn Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:59

I think it's called Grianan Energy. The media were trying to make out that there was some sort of link with Sinn Fein. What's the conference next month over new licenses?

by s2s Sun Oct 29, 2006 16:59

Exploring atlantic ireland -an exciting petroleum province-- http://www.energyireland.ie/atlantic/Exploring_Atlantic...e.htm

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/77581

Conference Format

The conference will have plenary sessions on Day One (Wednesday 8 November) which will take a strategic view of Atlantic Ireland as a petroleum province.

The Exploring Atlantic Ireland Conference will be opened by Noel Dempsey TD on Wednesday 8th November 2006.

by Niall - Galway Critical Mass Wed Nov 01, 2006 12:54

We'll be hoping to get the critical mass going again for the last Friday of November, finishing up at the Shell station again in solidarity with the Shell to Sea campaign. Thanks to all who showed up last Friday.

by supporter of rossport Wed Nov 01, 2006 18:35

Is there any bus going from galway to rossport on the 10th?

by Ralph Tue Nov 07, 2006 16:29

Anyone know if there's bus going down to Shannon on the 11th?