Sligo 'Shell to Sea' events

JUSTICE FOR THE ROSSPORT 5 - North West

The 'Shell to Sea' group are organising a 'Justice for the Rossport 5' march, rally and benefit in Sligo on Saturday September 10th.

The group are highlighting the fact that five farmers from Rossport, a remote village in North Mayo, have been imprisoned at the request of Shell Oil for objecting to what they call 'an illegal and dangerous gas pipeline' being built on their land. The men have been in prison for over seventy days now and appeals to the have court injunction lifted have repeatedly failed.

Shell to Sea claim 'this is a national outrage. Shell, Statoil and the Government are supporting the jailing of five innocent men who did nothing except object to a very dangerous pipeline that was being built on their land without their consent and without the necessary planning documents. It's part of a bigger plan to built one of Europe's biggest gas refineries on fragile bogland in one of Ireland's most unique and beautiful regions.'

A spokesperson said 'the people of Ireland are becoming more and more aware of what is at stake here. It's putting Irish lives at risk so multinational companies can extract our resources at the cheapest possible price. There's an estimated 20Billion Euros worth of gas in the Corrib gas field and rogues like Ray Burke have ensured that we won't benefit from this enormous resource. In fact, we'll have to buy back the gas at market rates whilst the people of Norway, where Statoil is based, will benefit more than we do.'

Earlier in the summer Sligo Borough Council and Sligo County Council passed motions in support of the Shell to Sea campaign, which is calling for the gas processing to take place at sea, which is normal practice.

Saturday's march will assemble at the market yard at 3pm and march to City Hall where Gerry Cowley TD, the families of the Rossport 5 and local supporters will hold a public rally. Later that night a fundraising gig will be held in the Trades Club on Castle Street featuring bands, DJs and songs.