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I rarely use this blog to comment on anything politically, however, this particular cause, is a very emotive and important one for the people of Ireland.

Taken from Wikipedia:
“Shell to Sea (in Irish, Shell chun Sáile) is a campaign based in County Mayo, Ireland which opposed the proposed construction of a high-pressure raw gas pipeline through Rossport, and continues to oppose the ongoing construction by Royal Dutch Shell of a refinery miles from the coastline at Bellanaboy intended to refine the untreated gas from the Corrib gas field. The stated aim of the campaign is that the gas be refined at sea (hence the name), thereby making it safer to transport, before it is brought ashore and past people’s houses.”

Maura Harrington, a local school teacher and principal, first came to the attention of the mainstream press, when she attempted to drive her car on a public road, that had been blocked off by the Gardai in order to assist the works above taking place. The resulting dispute about her right to drive on that road, ended up with multiple members of the Gardai demolishing the windscreen of Maura Harrington’s car using their batons, while she sat in the driver’s seat.

The images of this violence from the Gardai, were displayed on the front page of most national newspapers the following morning.

Since then, Shell to Sea, while still active, has not received a lot of mainstream media coverage, until Maura recently announced, that she was beginning a hunger strike, and this hunger strike would not end, until the ship Solitaire, which was to begin pipe-laying, left Irish waters. I was relieved to see that today, a press release has been issued that Maura Harrington has stopped her hunger strike after 11 days, and the full details from her statement and the Shell to Sea press release are below.

STATEMENT FROM MAURA HARRINGTON TO THE PRESS AND TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC

I thank Divine Grace and the support of decent people everywhere that the Solitaire has left Irish territorial waters.

The courage of ‘the Chief’, Pat O’Donnell and his son Jonathan, who fought to uphold their rights at sea, and the tenacity of local people, together with national and international support, in their quest for justice is a testament to what is best in all of us.

Local people have borne the brunt of Shell’s arrogance and Government neglect for the past eight years. Yet Corrib remains a national issue because the Government continues to put the profits of Shell before the needs of the Irish people. Any alternative location for the Corrib Gas infrastructure will not build new schools, new hospitals or contribute to the National Pension Fund. Until we the People benefit from what is rightfully ours, any attempt to extricate Shell and the Government from the mess that is Corrib remains doomed to failure.

It is fitting that the latest episode in the Corrib debacle should occur on the anniversary (by day and date) of the landslides which devastated Glengad and the wider Dooncarton area in 2003. If Shell is capable of any rationality, now is the time for them to accept that they will never put a pipeline through Glengad.

I believe that the Shell to Sea campaign gives hope to all who strive for an Ireland that cherishes all its people equally and upholds values that don’t carry a price tag.

STATEMENT FROM CORK SHELL TO SEA

We are relieved that this grave situation has come to an end and we congratulate Maura for her courage and strength and all those in Mayo, around the country and from further afield who have contributed.

However our work is far from over, we will now step the campaign up a gear. In this time of economic doom and gloom we should be talking about reclaiming our natural resources and nationalising the gas. We will also continue to stand in solidarity with the community in North Mayo in demanding that there be no refinery in Ballinaboy, no landfall in Glengad and no pipe line in Rossport. This gas must be processed offshore.

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