Shell drilling work at Aughoose stopped again

mayo | environment | news report

Thursday May 26, 2011 11:58

by C - Rossport Solidarity Camp

rossportsolidaritycamp at gmail dot com

Aughoose

0851141170

On Tuesday afternoon (24th May), Shell work at the Aughoose compound was successfully stopped from 2pm for the rest of the day.

At 2pm a group from Rossport Solidarity Camp entered the Shell compound at Aughoose before the Shell workers who were carrying out boreholes on the land had returned from their lunch break.
Upon reaching the area where the borehole drilling was being carried out, the group were met with considerable violence from the IRMS security at the compound. When some of the group attempted to climb the fences, they were violently pulled down from the fences by security, with on at least 3 occasions protesters being grabbed around the neck and either choked or pulled down by the neck. On another occasion, one IRMS security guard, Paul Arkins (reportedly ex-RUC) punched one female protester straight in the face. However, despite the IRMS violence, 2 protesters managed to scale the fencing surrounding the drilling rig and climb the drilling rig. Two further protesters climbed onto the tractor which was just outside the compound.

Gardaí arrived down to the compound after about an hour but the protesters stayed on the tractor and drilling rig until after all the workers had gone home for the day. No attempt was made to remove the protesters from the equipment they occupied. After 6pm, the 4 protesters came down from there positions and were arrested and brought to Belmullet Garda station. The law that was used to arrest the protesters was anti-traveller laws that were brought in in 2002
(http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2002/en/act/pub/0009/sec....html). All 4 were released afterward without charge .

Meanwhile, the storm force winds that hit the camp on Monday morning (gusts of 144kph were recorded in nearby Belmullet), have cause a fair amount of damage on camp, with 2 marquees getting blown down. We will need help to prepare for the Party against the Pipe festival weekend which will be held on the June Bank holiday weekend. See http://partyagainstthepipe.wordpress.com/ for more details. If you have time to spare, then help would be really useful in advance of the festival weekend.

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