Sea-ing Sense International Sea Solidarity and Erris fisherman pledge to stop proposed Shell project

by Anon Thu Mar 15, 2007 14:22

I hope S2Sers all over the country are following your example and preparing for a summer of direct action against Shell.

by loch ness resident Thu Mar 15, 2007 14:48

one of the volunteers in the picture above (extreme right) appears to be training to take on Shell in an inflatable cow (or maybe horse?).

by Mark C Thu Mar 15, 2007 15:53

The very best of luck to you all in your training.

Wouldn't it be nice if Shell copped on, and the training never had to be put to use?

Mark.

by chrissie Thu Mar 15, 2007 16:49

Brilliant, trific! Good work from S2S & ISS - keep pushing to send Shell out! Support is growing in Ireland & UK

by cool j Sat Mar 17, 2007 08:58

Shell and the Dept of Marine failed to turn up at a number of scheduled meetings with the fishermen. The fishermen were simply calling on Shell to locate the pipe a safer distance from Broadhaven SAC. The report by the expert you mention which actually does not contain any referenece to what you just said about injecting the pollutants is based exlcusivley on information submited by shell in their own EIS which as confirmed by the EPA will not subject to any independent analysis or ongoing monitoring when the refinery is proposed to be up and running. The rest of your post is simply laughable in light of what has gone on in Erris for the last 2 years!!!!!!!!!.

by p.K Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:15

just to clarify a few points.
The E.I.F.A have not joined with S2S or ISS, or any other group.
The meetings mentioned above was in fact one meeting, that was cancelled by the EIFA because the dept of marine had nobody available to attend.
Shell offered to move the pipe for the fishermen, at the meeting in belmullet, but the fishermen insisted on it going back to source

You can verify any of the facts above by contacting the chairman or secretary of the EIFA

by John Mon Mar 19, 2007 14:49

Very encouraging, moving onto the water gives a whole new angle to the thing, different laws I think and perhaps the gards aren't so confident on the water.

by Erris fisherman Wed Mar 21, 2007 23:02

As a fisherman of Erris, I would like to state that I do not want or need ISS or any protest group fighting or protesting on my behalf.
The tidal conditions in and around broadhaven-bay are feared by fishermen in boats built to handle the atlantic ocean,never mind amuters in inflatable toys.
I want to put it on record, that If you protest aginst the pipelaying ship.
Do it for yourselfs, not for me.
I dont want anybodys drowning on my concence.

by cool j Wed Mar 21, 2007 23:33

Sad and tiresome having to read the same b*ll from the same Shell trolls appearing under different names!! - Is this the best Shell PR can come up with - Maybe this is what you get from employing clowns like Loftus and Cronin!!

PS - P.k , I have contacted members of the EIFA and they have informed me of the many lies and misinformation you and your type have attmepted put out here and elsewhere in desperate attempt to split the united front of the decent, hardworking fishermen of Erris. Sadly for you and your type is hasn't worked because people have taken time out and informed themselves of the type of company Shell are !!

by thruth Wed Mar 21, 2007 23:40

read the mayo adv on friday (-:

by p.k Thu Mar 22, 2007 13:26

cool J seems to think he has a monoply on truth.
I outlined the facts above, and asked you or anyone else that might think im lying, to contact the chairman or secetry of the EIFA.
When you do that "then" come back and tell me if I am lying!
Did you ever hear of the boy who cried wolf?
p.s "All facts are true"

by cool j Thu Mar 22, 2007 20:38

And he informed me exactly what is going on in relation to an ongoing whispering/smear campaign by people such as yourself connected with Shell.

By the way your statement earlier that Shell offered to move the outflow pipe is completly untrue. It was the EPA who insisted on it, and I understand that Shell have yet to formally repond. In any case the suggestion that moving the toxic outflow pipe a couple meters outside Broadhaven SAC somehow protects the SAC from contamination just goes to show the contempt officialdom has for local fishermen/people and the environment in general. Its the equvailent of suggesting to someone sitting in a large bath that the end of the bath they happen to be in will be fine despite the the fact that Sulphuric acid is being poured into the other end. I suggest P.K you dig out your primary school science book to read up on how water is rather a good medium for dissolving and mixing things in - particualry if there is no barrier between the two bodies of water - I was going to suggest you look up the term "osmosis" but i don't want to completly overwhelm you!!!

by pk Thu Mar 22, 2007 21:23

your not much of an ecoligst, (if any)
how far would it need to go before it would satisfy you?
I think most people including fishermen know that this issiue with the discharge is just being used as an excuse by and for S2S.
Can you point to an instance anywhere where a similar discharge caused any damage?

by cool j Thu Mar 22, 2007 22:02

The twit asks what damage these discharges. Ever hear of the term bioaccumulation - Dig out February's 2007 edition of National Geographic. Try informing your self of what Shell have done to the Marine Ecosystems from Nigeria to Russia, the Carribean coast and Durban South Africa which Terence Conway a native of Inver at the recent public meeting in the Broadhaven reported on, having been there last November. May i suggest your get out more and learn before you make more of a fool of yourself.

PS - You claim most fishermen know about what Shell are doing - Maybe thats why so many have turned out at ShelltoSea events and/or lodged objections to the EPA. Fishermen have also been beaten up by Shells cops as you well know since it happened they day after the EIFA called for the Gardai to stop attacking protestors at Bellanaboy. No doubt Johhny Carey helped you out with that one!!!

by pk Thu Mar 22, 2007 22:15

"cool" J maybe you should try an other pseudonym for yourself, you don't seem well suited to your present one.
you are educated, qualified, and persistent. but on most things you comment on you are simply wrong.
How many fishermen ever attended a S2S demonstration? answer = very few and you know it!
There are many more fishermen working on the site , than there is protesting against the refinery (or the discharge) and you know that also!
If you didnt realise that, then research it.

by cool j Thu Mar 22, 2007 22:37

How can a person be classed as a fisherman if he's working as scab labour for Shell at Bellanboy - your begining to sound rather desperate now. Instead of coming on here with the first thing that enters your head why don't you get out and meet some real Erris fishermen - people who actually make their living from it - not scab labour brought in to earn a quick buck from outside Erris.

PS - Word of advice - When you do meet them I wouldn't go spouting off about what lovely people Shell have working for them - Especcially given the number of local fishing-boats damaged/rammed by Shell operated vessels near the Corrib gas field over the last two years. Including one incident were the Shell employee skippering the boat was proven to be drunk at the time!!

by looker on Fri Mar 23, 2007 14:00

Cool j seems to be under the elusion that there is a big fleet of fishermen going to ram their boats across the whole of Broadhaven bay, i think you'll find that if your relying on the fishermen on the protest line, you will get an almighty shock as there are only a handful. there. also why are you turning against the people going into work? for your information there are a lot of locals and some fishermen amongst them, working on the site; it makes me so mad listening to the bull'''' that is coming off this site; The reason S2S hav'nt got the real locals on their side is because of people like you cool j, if we don't agree with everything that you say your either an employee of shell or a throll; for God sake lay how the genuine facts and not this crap!! by the way I am notin anyway connected with shell or have anything to do with what goes on in Ballinaboy, I am however a real born and bred local not someone drafted in!!!

by mnc Fri Mar 23, 2007 15:07

First they divided us into "the good protesters" and "the bad protesters" by making a distinction between the locals who are depicted as salt of the earth, simple folk; and the outsiders -depicted as crazy anarchists and provies (as some wag remarked the "Slab meets Swampy" scenario).

It was as if the gas in the Corrib/Slyne area actually belonged to the people of Erris, and not to the people of Ireland.

Or maybe the notion that the issue was somehow particluar to the area was the key to this strategy. We were being asked to believe that if Shell got their way in Mayo, then the company would not repeat the exercise in Donegal, Kerry, Scotland, Canada, America, The Middle East, etc etc and so one who was not actually personally involved by being born in Mayo should care.

Those of us who pointed out that Shell were attempting to set a precedent by getting an onshore refinery built for an offshore well inside the European Union, and if they got away with it here then they would set out to degrade environments and people around the world, were ignored. We were not fishermen, not farmers, not locals.

Of course no one ever mentioned the real outsiders- Shell's managers are from many places, but none are from Erris.

The police are being drafted in from all over the country, but no one asks why they feel the need to get involved...

Now we hear that being local is not enough. Good and bad protesters are being further sub-divided into good and bad locals. It seems some local people are not good enough to oppose this scheme- hence the remark above where someone talks about who or isn't a "real local".

The gas belongs to the people of Ireland.

The environment belongs to the world, and we are stewards of the place, not owners.

Everyone has a stake in this issue- those people whose operations are cancelled because the health service is being starved of funds are deeply involved inthe process whereby the country's resources are being given away to the shareholders of Shell, even though they mave have never heard of Erris or Bellanaboy.

by confused local Fri Mar 23, 2007 20:36

I have been keeping an eye on this thread, but didn't bother commenting, because it is obviously designed as an attempt at bullying and intimidation.
Of course the "brains" behind the original posting knew, that once the threat of a blockade was announced it would be impossible for shell to move the discharge location as it would appeared that shell gave in to threats of conflict.
Shell would have moved the discharge location without hesitation (but not reinjection), and the brains of S2S became aware of this, S2S realised that when Shell had moved the discharge sufficiently to be acceptable to the "vast majority" of the fishermen of the area, then the S2S campaign would have lost what they see as a very strong card in their game.
Of course the majority of the fishermen know this (they are not stupid), and cool J pretending that bogey-men are trying to split the united fishermen is laughable, Cool J knows (or should know) their is ONE family of fishermen who are supporting the S2S campaign.
The rest of them are waiting in the wings (like vultures) waiting for this rumpus to dissipate. for Cool J to describe fishermen that take up employment at the refinery as scabs and not real fishermen is a sign that he knows very little about fishing off the west coast of Ireland. (maybe in the USA the "real fishermen" fish twelve months a year), but here the climate doesn't allow that luxury, the largest boat stationed in erris is a 15 meter wooden vessel the rest are under twelve metre with the majority under ten metre (hardly what you could call "all weather vessels").
If you were awake with the last four months you would know these small vessels could not possibly continue fishing in the winter months.
The fishermen who are working on-site during that time, would normally have gone to Dublin to work during the winter to sustain their families, which meant leaving their wife and kids at midday on a Sunday and returning either Friday night or Saturday afternoon, for a few hours a week with their loved ones.
Now they are lucky enough to be with their family every night, and you call them "scabs".
As a favour to you, I will inform them of your opinion of them, and that even though they ,their fathers/grandfathers and generations before them, scraped a meger living from the sea, you as a intellectual knows that they aren't "real fishermen".
To borrow part of one of your enlightened comments "When you do meet them I wouldn't go spouting off about" what scabs they are"!

by dictionary Fri Mar 23, 2007 22:55

SCABS.......

The term "scab" is a highly derogatory and "fighting word" most frequently used to refer to people who continue to work when trade unionists go on strike action. This is also known as crossing the picket line and often results in their being shunned or assaulted. The classic example from United Kingdom industrial history is that of the miners from Nottinghamshire, who during the UK miners' strike (1984-1985) did not support strike action by fellow mineworkers in other parts of the country. Those who supported the strike claimed that this was because they enjoyed more favourable mining conditions and thus better wages. However, the Nottinghamshire miners argued that they did not participate because the law required a ballot for a national strike and their area vote had seen around 75% vote against a strike.

People hired to replace striking workers are often derogatively termed scabs by those in favour of the strike. The terms strike-breaker, blackleg, and scab labour are also used. Trade unionists also use the epithet "scab" to refer to workers who are willing to accept terms that union workers have rejected and interfere with the strike action. Some say that the word comes from the idea that the "scabs" are covering a wound. However, "scab" was an old-fashioned English insult. An older word is "blackleg" and this is found in the old folk song, Blackleg Miner, which has been sung by many groups.

During "economic" strikes in the U.S., scabs may be hired as permanent replacements.

"not applicable to workmen on-site"

by cool j Sat Mar 24, 2007 16:58

Many members of the EIFA are as of now out at Sea fishing - I know this because they mobile phoned us that morning to say they were unable to make yesterday's protest outside the Council Offices in Belmullet as they were busy offshore - Now unless they have mastered the art of bi-location I very much doubt they are scabbing for Shell in Bellanaboy at the same time!!. The truth may hurt Cl but i think its about time you packed up your soap-box and moved on since your doing Andy Pyle's cause no good at all!!!

by Cl Sat Mar 24, 2007 18:23

Excatly how many of the 170 fishermen phoned you to tell you they were at sea?
any of them employed by greenpeace?
were they all from the same family?
All from the same port?
go figure!

by PK Wed Mar 28, 2007 22:02

In this weeks Western people, Eddie Divers of the EIFA published A "clarifacition", he stated the fishermen "never" agreed to block the pipelaying ship.
His attempt at rowing back from involvment with ISS, because of uproar from several prominent senior fishermen, is been described as insufficent, he had promised to clear up the fact that the fishermen had no intention of joining with any group and also to clarify other details.
It is seen as inevitable that he will be ousted as chairman of the EIFA, as the vast majority of the fishermen try to distanced themselfs from his association with S2S and ISS.

by CL Thu Mar 29, 2007 09:04

Time will tell, was i wrong last time I posted?
Tnx to the actions of a few, the fishermen are deeply split, after six years of trying to get the pipe moved.
now It will never be moved, and shell has siad that "they cant move it now under threat" (ask the chairman).

by concerned person - none Thu Mar 29, 2007 16:03

I just search the Western People website looking for stuff on "EIFA" this is the only article about the training exersise

http://archives.tcm.ie/westernpeople/2007/03/21/story36...5.asp

I find it totally shocking how anyone who lives in Ireland cannot be concerned about the Aluminium poisoning caused by the discharge from site this situation is an outrage

by CL Thu Mar 29, 2007 16:51

the "clarification" is printed in this weeks western (Tuesday mar 27) on page3.

In relation to the aluminum levels in the lake I totally agree, they should be investigated.
However all the evidence (from samples taken by independent bodies) show the aluminum levels are naturally high in the lake because of the make up of the terrain surrounding the lake.
The levels of aluminum in the run-off from the site do indeed contain high levels but there are streams feeding the lake with much higher levels than the site run-off.(well away from the site)
The oral hearings will commence on the 16th of April, it will be interesting to see the data that proves that shells site-works are responsible for the levels in the lake.
The difference at the oral hearings is that there will be qualified experts there from all sides, so let them decide what the real facts are!

by concerned person Thu Mar 29, 2007 18:56

The levels im talking about are the measurments made by the council which clearly show increases in aluminium since the start of development. Some of the measurments show levels hundreds of times higher than permitted World Health Organisation levels.

When you take into account the polution caused to in the Niger Delta and the fact that the federal government of Nigeria has placed the Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Mr Basil Omiyi, and 20 others accused of dumping waste in the country, under security surveillance then its going to take a lot to convince me that Shell care about poluting the water supply of the people of Mayo.

Why arn't the Irish Government doing something about this? Why arn't the Garda doing there job and protecting the people, what are the Irish environmental health doing. If the Nigerian government are investigating Shell and the Irish government arn't then dont be surprised when some of the other things that happen in Nigeria start happning in Ireland, dont forget the 200 viligers killed last year when a pipline exploaded!

For the full story on Shell MD Under Surveillance Over Toxic Waste goto:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200703280352.html

by Cl Thu Mar 29, 2007 19:16

If what you say is true, then definetly there needs to be action, can you post a link to the data you speak of?
Why arent mayo coco advising people not to drink the water, 200 times the safe level sounds alarming.
did anybody test the tapwater anywhere in erris?

by concerned person Thu Mar 29, 2007 21:46

here is a link describing the situation and showing graphs of the amounts:
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/74344
this data is a little out of date but i'v hurd independant tests have been carried out recentley and are still showing high levels i'm trying to track down this info and will post the link when i find it

by CL Thu Mar 29, 2007 22:08

The data in that link is alarming.
And if the more recent data is equally as damning, I agree that site-works will have to stop.
I wonder if S2S has compiled all this information and have it ready to use at the oral hearings in belmullet from mid april!
When the EPA and the public see the proof of this claim, they will have to act!