Shell to Sea
Encyclopedia
Shell to Sea is a campaign based in Cill Chomáin parish, Erris
Erris
Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Erris derives from the Irish 'Iar Ros' meaning 'western...

, County Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...

, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 which opposes the proposed construction of a natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

 pipeline through the parish and the ongoing construction by Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...

, Statoil
Statoil
Statoil ASA is a Norwegian petroleum company established in 1972. It merged with Norsk Hydro in 2007 and was known as StatoilHydro until 2009, when the name was changed back to Statoil ASA. The brand Statoil was retained as a chain of fuel stations owned by StatoilHydro...

 and Vermilion Energy Trust of a refinery
Refinery
A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value.-Types of refineries:Different types of refineries are as follows:...

 at Bellanaboy intended to refine the natural gas from the Corrib gas field
Corrib Gas Field
The Corrib gas project entails the extraction of a natural gas deposit off the northwest coast of Ireland. The project includes a development of the Corrib gas field, and constructions of the natural gas pipeline and a gas processing plant. The project has attracted considerable...

. The stated aims of the campaign is that the gas be refined at sea, rather than inland, as is done with Ireland's only other producing gas field off County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...

. They maintain that the proximity of a natural gas pipeline is a risk to local residents.

Background

Opposition to the gas consortium and government
Irish Government
The Government of Ireland is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.-Members of the Government:Membership of the Government is regulated fundamentally by the Constitution of Ireland. The Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach...

's plans among local residents grew from 2000 when local residents felt they were not adequately consulted. They opposed planning permission and appealed it to An Bord Pleanála
An Bord Pleanála
An Bord Pleanála is an independent statutory administrative tribunal that decides on appeals from planning decisions made by local authorities in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2007 The Planning Board directly decides major strategic infrastructural projects under the provisions of the Planning...

 twice. It was felt that government pressure was used to force the planning permission through. They also felt misled about the safety of the gas pipeline which did not require planning permission under the Gas Act 1976.
The first event organised by S2S was on the June Bank Holiday weekend 2005 in support of Rossport residents' protests.

Local landowners in Rossport were told that the raw gas pipeline would be coming through their lands no matter what, and that they would be subject to Compulsory Acquisition Orders
Compulsory purchase order
A compulsory purchase order is a legal function in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland that allows certain bodies which need to obtain land or property to do so without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for public betterment - for...

 if unwilling to reach a deal with Shell. Some agreed to allow Shell on their lands. Others refused, and Frank Fahey
Frank Fahey
Frank Fahey is a property developer and former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Galway West constituency.-Life before politics:...

, then Minister for the Marine & Natural Resources signed 34 Compulsory Acquisition Orders. Those who had refused were threatened with legal action. Legal action was taken which eventually culminated in four farmers and their former teacher, who had joined them in blocking Shell workers coming on their lands, being jailed for civil contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...

 (at the request of Shell) after refusing to not interfere with Shell's workers. They became known as the Rossport Five
Rossport Five
The Rossport Five are James Brendan Philbin, brothers Philip and Vincent McGrath, Willie Corduff and Micheál Ó Seighin. All five are from Kilcommon parish, Erris, County Mayo, Ireland and were jailed on 29 June 2005 by Justice Finnegan, President of the High Court of the Republic of Ireland, for...

.
24-hour pickets on the Shell sites at Rossport, Bellanaboy and Glengad
Glengad
Glengad is a small Gaeltacht village in the parish of Kilcommon in northwest County Mayo, Ireland. The townland is also known as Dooncarton , a name which comes from an Iron Age tribal chieftain called Ciortan, a character who appears in the Ulster Cycle legend of the Táin Bó Flidhais.The village...

 began after their jailing. Rallies in support of the mens' stance were held in major towns and cities, and Shell and Statoil filling stations were picketed. From these protests emerged the people who went on to form S2S.

Motivation

The campaign has a diverse support base, including people from many political backgrounds and those with no strong politics at all. Local campaigners include former Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

 supporters. Philip McGrath, one of the Rossport Five, was an election agent for Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny is an Irish Fine Gael politician, and has been the Taoiseach since 2011. He has led Fine Gael since 2002. He served as Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994 to 1997. He is also a two-term Vice President of the European People's Party.Kenny has been a Teachta Dála for Mayo since...

. Werner Blau, a physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

 professor at Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

, and part-time Rossport resident, told his neighbours that the pipeline intended for Rossport would not even comply with United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 standards which he described as "pretty lax". In its rankings of countries' facilitation of oil and gas companies, the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

 rates Ireland in its highest, "very favourable" category, along with Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. By comparison, Nigeria is rated average. Mike Cunningham, a former director of Statoil, said: "No country in the world gives as favourable terms to the oil companies as Ireland." This is a result of legislation created by Ray Burke, who served as Minister of Communications and Energy.

Many people from outside Erris
Erris
Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Erris derives from the Irish 'Iar Ros' meaning 'western...

 are concerned about aspects of the proposed project beyond the injustice of the Rossport Five case and the health and safety fears of residents. These include the use of compulsory orders to acquire property for private companies and what many regard as the over generous terms given to the oil companies by successive Fianna Fáil governments.

People from the Niger Delta
Niger Delta
The Niger Delta, the delta of the Niger River in Nigeria, is a densely populated region sometimes called the Oil Rivers because it was once a major producer of palm oil...

 now resident in Ireland have expressed support. A mural of Ken Saro-Wiwa
Ken Saro-Wiwa
Kenule "Ken" Beeson Saro Wiwa was a Nigerian author, television producer, environmental activist, and winner of the Right Livelihood Award and the Goldman Environmental Prize...

, who was executed after leading a campaign to reduce Shell's influence in Ogoniland, has been painted on a gable in Rossport and a memorial to the Ogoni Nine
Ogoni Nine
The Ogoni Nine were a group of nine activists from the Ogoni region of Nigeria, including outspoken author and playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine , who were executed by hanging in 1995 by the...

 erected.

In 2006, Shell were accused of trying to influence local business, when the owner of a local adventure centre alleged that Shell offered him €15,000 in return for his support for the construction of the pipeline in 2005. Shell said in response, that at no point was such an offer made as it was against their business principles but that Shell had given a donation of €150 to a windsurfing
Windsurfing
Windsurfing or sailboarding is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four metres long, powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a...

 festival following a request by the businessman.

Negotiations fail and protests continue

The Rossport Five were released in late 2005. Peter Cassells was appointed as a negotiator to arbitrate between the campaigners and Shell. As his remit did not include discussing the refinery, he was regarded as a distraction by Shell to Sea. The pickets at Bellanaboy continued for over a year, during which no work was done by Shell.

On Tuesday September 26, 2006, protesters prevented Shell's employees from entering the site of the intended refinery at Bellanaboy to begin work. Around 150 locals and protesters blocked the entrance to the refinery site and began to recite the rosary
Rosary
The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...

. The workers turned back after discussions with Gardaí.

One week later on 3 October, more Gardaí were brought in from around the country, which increased their numbers to around 170. This marked a departure in Garda tactics which they have held to. An Irish Times editorial stated: "The Garda baton charge
Baton charge
A baton charge is a coordinated tactic for dispersing crowds of people, usually used by police or military during public order situations. In certain countries, police are not authorised to use the tactic unless no other means can be practiced....

s that occurred on Friday morning in Bellanaboy were not the product of Sinn Féin or Provisional IRA machinations; they were the product of abject Government incompetence."
A decision to avoid arresting protesters in order to damp down the negative publicity that would ensue was discussed in the Garda magazine, Garda Review. A number of people were injured and one young woman was brought to hospital.

Protesters occupied Shell Ireland HQ in Dublin's Leeson Street and daily protests continued at Bellanaboy with some arrests made.
A second large scale protest march took place on November 10, the anniversary of the execution of Ken Saro Wiwa and eight other anti-Shell activists in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

 in 1995. When protesters worked their way around Gardaí lines, clashes occurred, resulting in several injuries. Small groups of demonstrators who had been unable to get to the refinery attempted to blockade the nearby Lennon's quarry which supplies material for the construction of the site.

There was political controversy in Ireland about the use of such force on a peaceful demonstration. The Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...

 Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

 Bertie Ahern
Bertie Ahern
Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....

 said in a statement that the Irish government
Irish Government
The Government of Ireland is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.-Members of the Government:Membership of the Government is regulated fundamentally by the Constitution of Ireland. The Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach...

's position was clear in relation to the Corrib gas situation - that the negotiating is over and "that is it". In relation to the policing of the protests, he and Opposition leader Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny is an Irish Fine Gael politician, and has been the Taoiseach since 2011. He has led Fine Gael since 2002. He served as Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994 to 1997. He is also a two-term Vice President of the European People's Party.Kenny has been a Teachta Dála for Mayo since...

 would only reiterate that "the law must be obeyed".

A further large scale protest at Bellanaboy scheduled for November 24 was cancelled by the protesters for fear of further serious injuries from Gardaí.

2007

On June 5, five protesters chained themselves together outside the Bord na Móna
Bord na Móna
Bord na Móna , abbreviated BNM, is a semi-state company in Ireland, created in 1946 by the Turf Development Act 1946. The company is responsible for the mechanised harvesting of peat, primarily in the Midlands of Ireland...

 facility near Bangor Erris
Bangor Erris
Bangor Erris is a town in Kiltane parish in Erris, County Mayo, Ireland with a population of 500. It is on the banks of the Owenmore River and is the gateway to the Erris Peninsula linking Belmullet with Ballina and Westport, nestled at the foot of the "Bangor Trail" a 22-mile mountain pass across...

 where Shell have being dumping the peat removed from Bellinaboy.

On September 12, a protester charged with public order offences had her case dismissed in Belmullet
Belmullet
Belmullet is a coastal Gaeltacht town with a population of around 2,000 on the Mullet Peninsula in the barony of Erris, County Mayo, Ireland. Its name means the "mouth of the mullet"...

 because of conflicting Garda evidence. The judge dismissed most of the charges and sentenced the five protesters from June to community service for threatening and abusive behaviour. The judge also disclosed that she had received "hate mail".

2008

In April 2008, a new group was set up by people formerly active in S2S. Pobal Chill Chomáin
Pobal Chill Chomáin
Pobal Chill Chomáin is a pressure group based in the parish of Kilcommon, Erris County Mayo, Ireland. It emerged from the larger Shell to Sea campaign in April 2008...

 proposed moving the refinery to Glinsk, which would have removed the necessity to transport the gas near people's homes and under road,, The proposal was rejected by both Shell and the government.

In 2008, a new security firm, Integrated Risk Management Services
Integrated Risk Management Services
Integrated Risk Management Services is the trading name of a private security company Business Mobile Security Services Ltd based in Naas, Ireland. I-RMS are licensed by the Private Security Authority, the statutory body responsible for licensing and regulation of the private security industry in...

, was brought in to defend Shell's preparations for the landfall of the raw gas pipeline. In August, S2S began training for marine protests in anticipation of the arrival of the Allseas
Allseas
Allseas Group SA is one of the largest offshore pipelay companies with 2000 employees. The company is privately owned by founder Edward Heerema....

 pipe-laying ship Solitaire
Solitaire (ship)
The Solitaire is the largest pipe-laying ship in the world at long and . When fully operational she has a crew of 420, a pipe carrying capacity of 22,000 metric tons and a pipe lay speed of more than 9 km a day....

, the biggest of its kind in the world with a collection of small boats.
In the meantime, a local Porturlin fisherman, Pat O'Donnell, laid 800 crab pots along the intended path of the Solitaire, and defended them from Shell survey boats which attempted to remove them. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food stated that as both parties had licenses for their activities, they would have to sort it out between themselves. Two Irish Navy ships arrived in Broadhaven Bay to assist the Garda Water Unit
Garda Water Unit
The Garda Water Unit is a unit of the Garda Síochána, the police service of Ireland. Formerly known as the Garda Sub-Aqua Unit, the name was changed to incorporate the services of the non-diving surfaced based marine section....

 in dealing with the protests. The Solitaire was boarded by S2S activists in Killybegs
Killybegs
Killybegs is the largest fishing port in County Donegal and in Ireland. It is located on the south coast of the county, north of Donegal Bay, near Donegal Town. The town is situated at the head of a scenic harbour and at the base of a vast mountainous tract extending northward...

. Not long after it arrived to Mayo's coast, the ship's company said it had suffered damage to its crane. It returned to Britain for repairs.
Maura Harrington
Maura Harrington
Maura Harrington was a spokesperson for the Shell to Sea campaign, from County Mayo, Ireland. A retired school principal of Inver National School, Harrington was previously involved in fundraising for the British Miners' Strike as well as campaigning against the Maastricht treaty.She has been...

 began a hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...

 to coincide with the arrival of the Solitaire, the Allseas
Allseas
Allseas Group SA is one of the largest offshore pipelay companies with 2000 employees. The company is privately owned by founder Edward Heerema....

 pipe-laying vessel, in Broadhaven Bay
Broadhaven Bay
Broadhaven Bay is a natural bay of the Atlantic Ocean situated on the northwestern coast of County Mayo, Ireland. The opening of the bay faces northward, stretching between Erris Head on the west side and Kid Island on the east side with approximately 8.6 km between the two sides.It borders...

. Harrington, who had recently retired as principal of the local Inver Primary School, continued her protest until the ship left Irish waters.

2009

In March 2009, Maura Harrington was sentenced to a month in Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison , founded as Mountjoy Gaol, nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsboro in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It has the largest prison population in Ireland.The current prison governor is Mr...

, for assaulting a Garda at McGrath's pier. In July 2009, Niall Harnett and Maura Harrington, two leading Corrib gas activists were jailed for four months over demonstrations.

In November 2009 the Garda Ombudsman Commission recommended that disciplinary action be taken against a senior member of An Garda Síochána over the handling of the June 2007 protest. In a separate development, An Bord Pleanála found that up to half of the final section of Shell’s proposed route for the onshore pipeline was ‘unacceptable’ on safety grounds.

2010

Shell failed to meet An Bord Pleanala's deadline in February and applied for an extension of time to put their proposals forward as to how the project might proceed. Pat O'Donnell, from Porturlin
Kilcommon
Kilcommon is a civil parish in Erris, north Mayo consisting of two large peninsulas; Dún Chaocháin and Dún Chiortáin. It consists of 37 townlands, some of which are so remote that they have no inhabitants...

 was sentenced to seven months imprisonment in February. In April, Niall Harnett of Kilcommon
Kilcommon
Kilcommon is a civil parish in Erris, north Mayo consisting of two large peninsulas; Dún Chaocháin and Dún Chiortáin. It consists of 37 townlands, some of which are so remote that they have no inhabitants...

, was jailed. Little work was be carried out by Shell in 2010. The film 'Pipe Down' was a winner in the Waterford Film Festival.

Brian Barrington BL in a report commissioned for Front Line (NGO)
Front Line (NGO)
Front Line or The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders is an Irish-based human rights organisation founded in Dublin, Ireland in 2001 to protect human rights defenders at risk, i.e...

 found serious problems in North Mayo.
On Monday 31 May 2010 Shell submitted a third revised EIS to An Bord Pleanala for a revised pipeline route.

Rossport Solidarity Camp

The Rossport Solidarity Camp was originally set up on ‘Rossport 5’ Philip McGrath’s land in early July 2005. The site of the camp was on the proposed pipeline route. Set up at the request of local people who sought outside support in their campaign against the gas project, it houses national and international activists. In the Spring of 2006 the camp was set up again close to the beach at Glengad near the ‘landfall’ for Shell’s proposed pipeline. Mayo County Council evicted the camp and it closed in December 2007. Since then the 'camp' has been organised from the Rossport Solidarity House in Pollathomas. On Saturday 16 August 2008 the camp was set up afresh with two large tents. In August 2008 the camp members picketed the Shell compound near the beach at Glengad. It organises informational weekends etc. In the same month they organised a beach party weekend to highlight the Glengad beach landfall site In June 2009 about 40 Gardaí were stationed below the Camp to prevent activists from accessing either the beach or the sea.

Criticism

There were unsubstantiated allegations that the IRA and Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

 were linked to the Shell to Sea campaign. In 2005, Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell is a Senior Counsel in the Bar Council of Ireland and a former politician. A grandson of Irish revolutionary Eoin MacNeill, McDowell was a founding member of the Progressive Democrats political party in the mid-1980s...

 using Dáil privilege
Parliamentary privilege
Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made related to one's duties as a legislator. It is common in countries whose constitutions are...

 claimed that Frank Connolly, an investigative journalist and a brother of one of the 'Colombia Three
Colombia Three
The Colombia Three are three individuals – Niall Connolly, James Monaghan and Martin McCauley – who are currently living in the Republic of Ireland, having fled from Colombia, where they were sentenced to prison terms of seventeen years for training FARC rebels.-Arrest:The three came to...

', had travelled to Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 under a false passport. McDowell subsequently leaked the alleged faked passport application to a friend, the journalist Sam Smyth of the Irish Independent
Irish Independent
The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...

, and prejudiced any potential Garda investigation. Although Connolly denied McDowell's accusations, the controversy led to Irish American
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...

 private donor Chuck Feeney
Chuck Feeney
Charles F. Feeney , is an Irish American businessman and philanthropist and founder of The Atlantic Philanthropies, one of the largest private foundations in the world. He made his fortune as a co-founder with Robert Warren Miller of the Duty Free Shoppers Group...

 withdrawing funding from the Centre for Public Inquiry
Centre for Public Inquiry
The Centre for Public Inquiry was established in February 2005 as a non-governmental body to "...investigate matters of public importance in Irish political, public and corporate life"...

, an investigative organisation which had published a report on the Corrib Gas Project, embarrassing the government, of which Frank Connolly was the director.

Members of the campaign were characterised as tree-hugging hippies ecowarriors and "sub-intellectual" peasants. Stories of infiltration by political activists from outside the area and intimidation of project supporters had also been rife, but these were refuted by the then independent TD
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...

 Jerry Cowley
Jerry Cowley
Jerry Cowley is an Irish barrister, medical doctor and politician.Originally from Ballina, he is now resident in Mulranny, County Mayo. He was an Independent Teachta Dála for the Mayo constituency after being elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2002 general election...

 and local Fine Gael TD
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...

 Michael Ring
Michael Ring
Michael Ring is an Irish Fine Gael politician. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Mayo constituency since June 1994, and is the current Minister of State for Tourism and Sport....

. Ring originally supported S2S then changed his position. Allegations of intimidation were also made by the Gardaí, no arrests were made or individuals questioned. The president of Belmullet
Belmullet
Belmullet is a coastal Gaeltacht town with a population of around 2,000 on the Mullet Peninsula in the barony of Erris, County Mayo, Ireland. Its name means the "mouth of the mullet"...

 chamber of commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

 told the media that what was described as "intimidation" is actually boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...

ing of pro-Shell businesses by S2S supporters. He told the Irish Times: "It has never been anything more serious than that, but that is serious enough."

See also

  • Corrib gas project
  • Corrib gas controversy
    Corrib gas controversy
    The Corrib gas controversy concerns plans by Shell E&P Ireland, Statoil Exploration Limited, Vermilion Energy Trust and the Irish government for processing the Corrib gas field through Broadhaven Bay and Sruth Fada Conn Bay in Kilcommon parish, Erris, County Mayo, and objections raised against...

  • Policing of the Corrib gas protests
  • Rossport Five
    Rossport Five
    The Rossport Five are James Brendan Philbin, brothers Philip and Vincent McGrath, Willie Corduff and Micheál Ó Seighin. All five are from Kilcommon parish, Erris, County Mayo, Ireland and were jailed on 29 June 2005 by Justice Finnegan, President of the High Court of the Republic of Ireland, for...


External links

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