Heavy Handed policing as Maura Harrington arrives at Mountjoy Prison

national | consumer issues | news report

Thursday March 12, 2009 01:00

by Shell to Sea

Sentenced to one month in prison for protesting against Shell
Another Shell to Sea protester was imprisoned today when retired school teacher Maura Harrington was given a one month sentence for supposedly assaulting a garda on June 11th 2007. She received a round of applause from the people in the court as she was led off the the prison van, much to the judge's displeasure.

Harrington was also ordered to pay a one thousand euro fine and one thousand euro to the Garda benevolent fund (she refused to agree to the latter). She arrived in Dublin tonight to be held in Mountjoy Prison on the North Circular Road. There was the usual heavy police presence, and when supporters gathered around the van to let her know they were there, the gardaí responded in the only way they know how, with violence.
Since the protests against Shell started a large number of people have been injured by garda actions. Some have even been hospitalised, but not a single garda has been pros

ecuted. A huge number of complaints have been made to the Garda Ombudsman Commission, but not one of these has resulted in any action against the police.

Local fisherman Pat O’Donnell commented today that “It’s a sad indictment of the country when a brave lady like Maura is put in jail for defending her community and standing up to corruption and greed; while all the corporate executives and bankers seem to only get golden handshakes for their corruption and greed. Maura Harrington is a political prisoner sentenced at the behest of Shell”

The judge who sentenced Ms Harrington is married to a minister in the current government, which strongly backs the Shell scheme to install a high pressure pipeline across an unstable landscape in Mayo.

Shell to Sea spokesperson Terence Conway stated “On the 11th June 2007 at Pollathomais in the region of 20 local people received injuries in relation to Gardaí forcing their way illegally onto private property, yet no Garda has ever been brought to justice as a result of this incident. Instead now that Shell is about to begin their works in Glengad, it seems that the State operation against the community has kicked into gear”.

Protests agains the sentence, and against the Shell scheme, will continue.