We're looking for strong hi-res images from the Mayo struggle, to add to our 'Shell's Wild Lie' exhibition (http://www.artnotoil.org.uk/gallery/v/Shell/). Faces of those involved are good, but so are land/seascapes from the struggle etc.

Please write to info@artnotoil.org.uk if you might be able to help.

Thanks,

Mark

PS. We'd love any other images to consider, Shell-related or beyond, for the main Art Not Oil gallery, and here's some info we've sent to artists asking them to respond to the production of the Shell-sponsored 'Oedipus' in London: read full story / add a comment

Just in case you thought all the talk about the Great Gas Rip Off ® was lefty treehugger claptrap ®, it was confirmed today by no less a personage than the government's own energy watchdog, who turns out to be highly-paid civil servant called Dermot Nolan.

He works for a shower called the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) , and he told the Oireachtas Energy Committee today that as far as the Irish consumer is concerned, the gas from the Corrib field may as well be coming from Outer Mongolia (he didn't use those exact words).
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A number of groups from Erris and Co. Mayo went to meet with two government ministers, Éamon Ryan (Natural Resources) and Éamon Ó Cuív (Gaeltacht & Community Affairs) in Ballina today. These groups included Shell to Sea, Pobal Chill Chomáin, and Pobal le Chéile; a number of Erris fishermen accompanied by the parish priest of Kilcommon also met the ministers despite not having been invited. The ministers also met with the Pro- Gas Mayo Group and the Council for the West, organisations that could be candidly described as ‘astroturf’ (i.e. fake grassroots) and stalking horses for Shell. Following these encounters, the ministers met with the TDs for Mayo and county councillors from Erris, to round off what was a cynical PR exercise by an alarmed clueless government. read full story / add a comment

For immediate press release
8pm, Monday 29th Sept 2008

Today at noon a delegation of 6 Shell to Sea representatives met with Minister Eamon Ryan and Minister Eamon Ó Cuiv. read full story / add a comment

Shell to Sea Kayakers visit the Solitaire in Scotland read full story / add a comment

This afternoon, the Shell to Sea campaigner Maura Harrington ended her 10-day-old hunger strike after confirmation that the Solitaire had indeed left Irish waters. She read a statement to the press and the public outside the gates of Shell’s compound at Glengad in Erris, Co. Mayo, and then announced that her hunger strike had come to an end. read full story / add a comment

In the last hour Shell has announced that the Solitaire pipe laying ship is to depart from Irish territorial waters and go to a British port for repair and assessment. The company has always claimed that it was not responding to pressure from protests against its plan to install an offshore section of production pipeline without any planning permission for the onshore section.

Maura Harrington, who is on hunger strike at the Shell compund at Glengad beach, has yet to make a statement, but it is hoped that if the company claim is true, and the ship leaves, then she may end or suspend her protest. read full story / add a comment

Shell to Sea paid a visit to Shell’s offices in Belmullet this afternoon and draped a banner from the roof saying ‘Solitaire Out Now’, and protested outside the office until after the workers inside went home. Two people were arrested just after they came down from the roof.

Maura Harrington’s hunger strike continued into its ninth day today. Her strike will end when Shell’s pipe-laying ship the Solitaire leaves Irish territorial waters, or she will die.
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As Maura Harrington's hunger strike entered its second week today, a delegation of Shell to Sea kayakers travelled yet again to Killybegs, Co. Donegal, to establish contact with Shell's pipe-laying ship the Solitaire. The purpose of the mission was to make contact with the Solitaire's bridge, and to ascertain its intentions regarding its departure from Irish waters. However, the Shell to Sea delegation did not expect the Solitaire to run away from them, which is what it did, thereby refusing all contact with Shell to Sea.

Maura Harrington's hunger strike will end when the Solitaire leaves Irish territorial waters, or else she will die. read full story / add a comment

Maura Harrington's hunger strike against the continuing presence of the pipe-laying ship the Solitaire in Irish waters continued into its seventh day today. In honour of her retirement today on, a special celebration was held in the primary school in Inver, where she had worked as a schoolteacher for over 30 years and as a principal for nearly 10. The protective vigil around her continues tonight, as she continues her hunger strike outside the gates of Shell's Glengad compound. As news of solidarity actions around Ireland and Europe reaches Erris, the community have taken heart from this support and are ever-more resolved to defend their beleaguered community.

Also included in this posting are a selection of photos illustrating what may be about to be lost should Shell and the state get their corrupt violent way. I composed it in response to a statement made by Maura in her letter to the captain of the Solitaire. read full story / add a comment

Today Maura Harrington marked her birthday with a seventh day on hunger strike, while supporters from the UK & Ireland demonstrated across London to bring attention to her protest. Maura, a teacher in NW Mayo, is part of the Shell To Sea Campaign which has been actively opposing Shell's latest attempts to lay an 80 km sea based stretch of gas pipeline. read full story / add a comment

Let’s plant trees in Erris. Let’s plant a f**k load of trees in Erris. Let’s plant enough trees to balance out any past and future damage done by Shell or other invaders and indeed by ourselves, for we are all part of the same fossil fuel based economy with our cars, our boats, our flights abroad, our central heating and our food from far away, and given this maybe it’s not enough to fight against the system that left us with no choice but to be part of it, perhaps it falls to us to create something different, to demonstrate our commitment to another reality and to get our own bodies involved in the building of it. read full story / add a comment

Hunger striker Maura Harrington's daughter Astrid and son Iollan travelled to Killybegs Co. Donegal, today to make a personal plea to the Shell pipe-laying ship the Solitaire and its captain Mr. Simon van der Plicht to leave Irish waters immediately, and allow Maura to end her strike. Meanwhile, over 500 cars (with their drivers and passengers) drove around Erris this afternoon in a massive show of support for Ms. Harrington, who has now entered the sixth day of her hunger strike. read full story / add a comment

Today at 12 noon a group of determined local residents accompanied by Rossport Solidarity Campers asserted their right to walk the foreshore illegally enclosed by Shell into their compound in Glengad. An Garda Siochana once again showed who they really want to work for as they defended Shell’s ‘property’ with their customary zeal and thuggery. Four people were arrested during this action; the Gardaí were particularly rough with those arrested, and the four arrested were released at around 5pm. Maura Harrington’s hunger strike continues.. read full story / add a comment

Pobal Chill Chomain fully supports local employer and businessman Patrick O'Donnell and his fellow Erris fishermen in their efforts to protect their lawfully held property in Broadhaven Bay against the intimidatory tactics of Shell Statoil and Marathon Oil. read full story / add a comment

A large group of people showed their solidarity with Shell to Sea hunger striker Maura Harrington and all those who are being arrested, detained, assaulted and otherwise attacked by the state for standing up to Shell.

The protest in Dublin city centre this evening, was attended by activists from a wide range of backgrounds and party affiliations, and as well as showing support for the fight against Shell, was an opportunity to spread the word about the shameful giveaway of the country's natural resources. Over a thousand leaflets were given out as protesters mingled with the evening shoppers on Dublin's main street. read full story / add a comment

Latest from Rossport read full story / add a comment

RTE and other media outlets are reporting that the Shell pipe laying ship is to leave Broadhaven Bay within 48 hours.

Some journalists are speculating that the ship's captain has had a crisis of conscience and has left the area in response to the hunger strike, but Shell's statement claims the move is in response to damage to the ship's equipment.

In situations like this, it is usual that false claims are made, and even deals are agreed to, purely to diffuse the situation. read full story / add a comment

Solitaire arrives, local woman goes on hunger strike, local fisherman arrested read full story / add a comment

Shell’s contracted pipe-laying ship the Solitaire and its support vessels were informed today of S2S’ intent to resist its operations in Broadhaven Bay. The Solitaire was technically boarded for a short time by S2S activists, the Irish tricolour unfurled aboard it, and letters of request and intent were delivered to the captains of the Solitaire and its supply vessels, as well as to the harbourmaster at Killybegs docks. The letters’ contents requested the Solitaire and its associated vessels to cease preparations for the pipe-laying operation in Broadhaven Bay, and to cease participation in the unsafe, unwanted and illegal Corrib Gas project. The letter delivered to the harbourmaster requested that he stop providing services to Shell’s contracted vessels in his port. read full story / add a comment