The following is a press release from Feile Armagh, regarding an upcoming Shell to Sea event in the West Armagh Community Festival
In accordance with its objective to build links with other communities throughout Ireland and further afield, three local community activists from the West Armagh Community Festival recently went on a fact finding tour to County Mayo in the west of Ireland to learn more about the ‘Shell to Sea’ campaign.
The trip resulted in an invitation to host a Shell to Sea’ information night as part of the West Armagh Community Festival. Mícháel Ó Seighin, a member of the Rossport Five from Mayo, will join a discussion panel comprising Tommy McKearney, Northern Regional Organiser of the Independent Workers’ Union and Barry McElduff, All Ireland Affairs Spokesperson for Sinn Féin. The aim of the evening is to educate and inform about the tactics currently being employed by Shell and the Irish state to override the wishes of the local population.
‘Shell to Sea’ is an international non violent campaign, rooted in the Erris community, Co. Mayo. The campaign seeks to ensure that the proposed Corrib gas terminal and pipeline are constructed offshore. Five local people, internationally known as the Rossport Five, were jailed in Mountjoy Prison as a result of resisting Shell’s and Statoil’s plans to build their refinery and pipeline, despite the opposition of the people in this part of Mayo. Three fishermen were also arrested recently for their opposition to the multinationals’ plans while a ‘Solidarity Camp’ is continuously present on the beach near Pollathomais along the proposed route of the gas pipeline.
One of the Rossport Five campaigners has just received the acclaimed ‘Goldaman Environmental Award ’. A growing wave of national and international support has grown up around the Mayo people’s campaign of opposition. Despite this, and the daily series of pickets, direct action and confrontations between protestors and the gardaí at the Shell site near Glenamoy, there is little coverage in the southern Irish media in relation to the dramatic events currently ongoing in Mayo. The information night will take place in the Cathedral Road Recreation Centre in Armagh City at 8pm on Friday 3rd August and will include speeches from the Rossport Five, information films and discussion as well as traditional music and a buffet supper. Everyone is welcome.
For more information, visit our website on http://www.feilearmagh.com/ or e.mail us at westarmagh@aol.com . Alternatively, you can telephone us on 028/048 37522759 or 028/048 37518338.
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