Éirígí To Picket Shell, Tallaght And St. Luke's, Drumcondra
Éirígí is organising a picket of the Shell service station on the N81 Tallaght Bypass on Friday the 8th December at 5pm. The protest is one of hundreds that have been organised in support of the people of Erris and the demands of the Shell to Sea campaign across Ireland over the last two years. While Éirígí is the main group organising the protest other groups and individuals are encouraged to come along and show their support.
Speaking prior to the protest Éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson asked people to make the effort and turn out for the the protest -
"The people on the ground in Bellanboy are out protesting at 6.30am every weekday morning outside of Shell’s proposed refinery. It it hugely important that those people see that they have popular support in their fight to defend Irelands natural resources from the greed of Shell and Statoil. We all live busy lives, particularly in the run-up to Christmas but I would ask people to try and come along even if only for a short time to show their support".
The Shell service station can be found on the south-bound carriageway of the N81 Tallaght by-pass before the turn off for Old Bawn Road.
The Second One Is A Demo Outside Of St Luke's, Drumcondra
Éirígí are organising a picket of Bertie Ahern's constituency office in Drumcondra on Saturday 9th December at 2pm to highlight both the ongoing Garda siege of the community in Erris, Co Mayo and the giveaway of Ireland's natural resources. While Shell and Statoil, the joint partners involved in the Corrib gas controversy, have been the focus of much protest and media attention it is the government that is ultimately responsible for the daylight robbery of Ireland's natural resources.
Commenting on why Bertie Ahern's constituency office is being targeted for protest Éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson said -
"To a large extent Shell and Statoil are simply doing what corporations do in trying to make as much money as they possibly can, with little concern for the impact that that might have on the environment and human safety. The government, however, should have a very different agenda and I highlight the word "should". The government is tasked with ensuring the safety of both its citizens and the environment of the country. In addition the government should ensure that the natural resources of Ireland are used for the benefit of all the Irish people, who do after all own those same resources. This government have failed on all three counts, in fact they have bent over backwards to facilitate the robbery of the Corrib Gas while exposing the citizens and environment of Erris to unacceptable risk. Bertie Ahern is the head of that government and we believe that is important that the people of his constituency are made fully aware of the role that he has played in giving away at least €20billion worth of Irish gas".
He continued "Bertie Ahern would dearly love to confine the protests against the gas giveaway to an isolated region of west Mayo but we, along with many other groups and individuals, are not going to let that happen and we would encourage as many people as possible to turn up on Saturday".
Bertie Ahern's constituency office can be found in Drumcondra across from Fagan's public house.