"Don't say you weren't told!" Shell to Sea protesters tell Fianna Fáil

national | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Saturday March 24, 2007 14:45

by Shell to Sea, Dublin - Shell to Sea

dublinshelltosea at gmail dot com

c/o 134 Phibsborough Road Dublin 7

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Activist evade heavy security to protest at ard fheis

Protesters from Dublin Shell to Sea managed to evade the heavy security at the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis this morning. A number of activists held a protest at the main door of the Ard Fheis venue inside the City West complex.

A banner was unfurled and one protester spoke to conference delegates through a megaphone, pointing out that the people of Ireland were being forced by the government to watch as their natural resources were handed over to Shell and Statoil, with nothing coming back, while the people of Erris have to put up with the severe degradation of their environment and unacceptable risks to their lives.

The protesters, some of whom were wearing masks of Bertie Ahern and Noel Dempsey, were soon surrounded by Gardaí and security guards.

protest inside CityWest complex

The group's megaphone was confiscated as were their cardboard masks, and they were very roughly manhandled into a Special Branch car and removed from the scene.

One of the protesters was kicked by a Garda Sergeant, and when the Special Branch realised he had a bandaged arm from a previous injury they deliberately grabbed and twisted it.

Despite being told that the activists were prepared to be arrested, they were instead subject to physical abuse and thrown into a Garda Branch car to be taken away from the scene. This is a worrying develpment as the Gardaí are now using tactics imported from the protests in Mayo- beating instead of arresting protesters.

Some of their bad behavior might have been caused by their discomfort at finding that Shell to Sea could get into the heavily guarded hotel complex. The activists had been under Garda surveillance from early morning in the city centre.

One of the protesters said:

"Members of the Fianna Fáil party are compliciit in this huge giveaway of the country's resources to big business. Money that should be collected in royalties is going instead to Shell's shareholders, and no one in this country will benefit from the exploitation of our oil and gas. This morning's protest was an opportunity to make sure that the delegates at the ard fheis were aware of the situation. Fianna Fáil members can't say no one told them. Now they have can't plead ignorance and they have decide whether to speak up against this policy or go along with it."

Security by Fainna Fail