FROM: Padhraig Campbell, Campaign for Protection of Resources, Freeport, Barna, Co Galway / Majella McCarron, Ogoni Solidarity Ireland

TO: His Excellency the Norwegian Ambassador, Mr Truls Hanevold, Norwegian Embassy, Dublin 2

Monday, 4th April, 2005

Your Excellency,

We are writing to you in support of the landowners and stake-holders affected by the operational activities of the Corrib North Consortium of Shell, Statoil and Marathon.

As the Norwegian government currently owns 70% of Statoil, we call on your government to instruct the board of Statoil to stop the coercive intrusion on the lands of families who are being hauled before the High Court in Dublin by Shell on behalf of the consortium of which Statoil is a member.

The genuine fears and concerns of the residents are being ridden roughshod over by the might of Shell, the Irish state, local authorities, semi-state bodies and the judicial process. Apart from the unprecedented use of an upstream pipeline so far inshore to a seriously unsafe proposed refinery, untreated raw gas at maximum pressure puts the lives and livelihoods of those families in serious danger.

Allied to this is the fact that this high-pressure line passes under the highly-unstable landslide zone of Dooncarton Mountain, where landslides occured on the night of 19th September, 2003.

This pipeline would not be allowed in Norway. We insist that the same standards that apply in Norway apply in Rossport, Co Mayo and in Ireland generally. Statoil and the Norwegian people will be the beneficiaries of the most generous tax deal in the world. However, serious questions are being asked as to how the oil companies have come to benefit from such an extent and as to the role that Ireland's former Energy Minister, the now disgraced Ray Burke, had in forming the oil tax deal that now pertains.

Respectfully,

Padhraig Campbell
Majella McCarron

BACKGROUND / RELATED LINKS
Shell Granted Restraining Order Against Mayo Residents By High Court
Comprehensive High Court Report
Mid-West Radio Audio Report On Residents Confronting Shell: March 1st 2005
Shell In Mayo: Summary Of Issues
Detailed Indymedia Feature: Shell: The New Aristocracy In Mayo

Mordechai Vanunu has recently been charged with 22 violations of the restriction orders placed on him when he left prison in Israel in April last year. Most relate to his contact with foreign individuals, primarily journalists, including Indymedia Ireland's interview with Vanunu from September 2004.

These charges are not only an attack on Mordechai's human rights but also on the rights of journalists, on freedom of speech, and on the Israeli public's right to know what their government is doing, especially in a country that calls itself a democracy. If Mordechai is found guilty of these offences he could be imprisoned for another three years.

In a recent press release sent out by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), in which they called for all charges against Vanunu to be withdrawn, Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary said, "Israel is creating a new crime - of talking to journalists. It is shocking betrayal of democratic principles in what is a vindictive campaign of bullying and intimidation against a man who has served his time."

The violations are listed in a court document, which you can access here. Indymedia Ireland is named in that document at section #20.

Mordechai remains defiant in his right to speak of the need to rid the world of nuclear weapons. As he said to the world's media when he left prison last April: "I am proud of what I did and I will continue to speak against all kinds of nuclear weapons."

Related Links
US Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
UK Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
Archive Of Indymedia Ireland's Coverage of Vanunu's Story

(An introduction to this discussion can be found at this Indymedia article: What Is The Dispute About Kilmichael And Dunmanway Really About? The accusation that the IRA had a sectarian policy during the War of Independence will be addressed in a talk from historian Brian Murphy in Cork on April 15 at 8pm in the Imperial Hotel)
UPDATE: Audio (mp3) now available from: Radio Indymedia

Jim O'Sullivan - Killed after British Surrender

Michael McCarthy - also Killed after British Surrender

This is unfortunate, not least since Hart insists on a strong relationship between Kilmichael and Dunmanway: “one is as important as the other to an understanding of the Cork IRA” (1998:292). The killings in Dunmanway were “the culmination of a long process of social definition that produced both the heroes of Kilmichael and the victims of the April massacre”. (ibid)

(These and other references to Kilmichael and to Tom Barry that pepper Hart's account undermine his curious assertion that Kilmichael occupies only 6% of his book and his claim that Tom Barry appears as a “minor character”.)

The omission of a reference to Dunmanway is also surprising given that the interviewer wrote in The Village (Nov 6 2004) that the Dunmanway question is “much more serious” than the “increasingly sterile debate about Kilmichael”. Why then is Dunmanway ignored in the interview (except where Hart interjects a reference, of which more below)? It goes to the heart of Hart's contention that the violence of the war of Independence “had an ethnic basis.”

"Myth Busters" is a film which aims to challenge the myths around the Travelling Community. It is a Cultural Awareness project, produced by the Blanchardstown Traveller Development Group, in conjunction with 'Know Racism', the National Anti-Racism Awareness Programme. It is intended as an educational tool, attempting to dispel some common myths and prejudices.

It is just over 28 minutes long. The film is encoded in the DivX format, and is a 98 MB download. Realistically you will need a broadband connection to download it. DivX is a video compression tool. If you wish to view this video, you will need a DivX player. This is free, you can get it here for Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, here for the Mac, or here for Linux.

To download the film, right click here and save the AVI file to your computer.

Fast Downloading Audio Only Version Here

McDowell has been forced to admit that he made a mistake in deporting Palmerstown student Olunkunle Eluhanle and is now bringing him back from Nigeria. He is giving him a six month visa to remain in Ireland to do his Leaving Cert. This is obviously due to the immense amount of effort put into this campaign by the Palmerstown Community School students and Residents against Racism, who together forced this issue.

They kept this issue alive in the media, which led to all of the oppostion parties, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Teachers Union of Ireland, Integrating Ireland and different schools around the country among others, all coming out against the deportation.

What needs to be done now is that all of those on that flight should be brought back. It is known that there were serious human rights abuses in the airport before the plane took off. It is known that some of those on the plane were unable to get in contact with their solicitors to get an injunction put in against their deportation. Also five children have been effectively orphaned in Ireland due to McDowell deporting their mothers. All of those on that plane should be brought back.

Also it must be ensured that Olunkunle Elunhanle is given permanent residency rights in Ireland - not just a six month visa.

Related Articles
Dail Protest Photo Essays / Video / Audio / Links to Related Stories
Original Indymedia Report on Deportations