Mobilise For Rossport
The people of Erris, county Mayo have called on supporters from across the country to join them next Friday (September 14) in opposing the proposed Shell refinery in the midst of their community. Work has continued apace at the plant in Bellanaboy despite the daily peaceful demonstrations that have been taking place and the overwhelming opposition of local people to the project.
If successful, the Twenty Six County government backed scheme will place a high-pressure pipeline and gas refinery in close proximity to residents and their homes. Any profit accrued from the project will go straight into the bank accounts of Shell and their partners, with almost no financial benefit resulting for the people of Mayo or Ireland as a whole.
In environmental terms, the proposed refinery is only the tip of the iceberg for Erris. The Petroleum Affairs Division at the Department for Natural Resources has recently admitted that it is intended to use Bellanaboy as a conduit for all future gas finds in the Corrib Basin area. This means that all 450 acres of land that have been granted to the multinationals will eventually be used as the complex is expanded.
Éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson stressed the importance of large numbers of people attending the demonstration on September 14.
“A massive portion of Ireland’s natural resources have been given away to Shell, Statoil and others in a deal that means we pay the market rate to the multinationals for gas that rightfully belongs to us in the first place. The potential loss to the future prosperity of this country is incalculable.
“Given the stage of the year we are at, the timing of this protest is highly pertinent. This winter, like every other winter, hundreds of elderly people across Ireland will die as a direct result of being unable to properly heat their homes. Such shocking suffering could easily be alleviated if the Twenty Six County government had the moral courage to utilise our natural resources, like the gas in Erris, for the benefit of the public.”
Leeson continued,
“There are many reasons for concerned citizens to travel to Bellanaboy next Friday. There has been no community consent given to Shell’s project; An Garda Síochána have systematically abused the civil liberties and human rights of those who have peacefully opposed the building of the refinery; We, the inhabitants of this island, will receive no benefit from the exploitation of the gas and will have to deal with the environmental consequences of the socially irresponsible method being used to develop it.”
“If you are angered by even one of those travesties then make an effort to get to Mayo and show solidarity with a besieged community.”
Anybody wishing to travel to Bellanaboy on Friday, September 14 can contact dublins2s@gmail.com or their local Shell To Sea group.
Shell Chun Sáile!