Dublin Launch of 'Our Story – the Rossport Five'

mayo | environment | feature

Friday January 05, 2007 19:06

by William Hederman

Norway Book Tour Planned

This is what Independent Media looks like.

William Hederman talks with the authors: 'The Rossport Five were back in the capital today for the Dublin launch of 'Our Story – the Rossport Five', their account of their time in prison in 2005 and the events that led to their imprisonment....

The five men – Willie Corduff, Vincent and Philip McGrath, Micheál Ó Seighin and Brendan Philbin – travelled to Dublin for the launch and press conference, along with Shell to Sea spokesperson Dr Mark Garavan and family members and supporters. Dr Garavan compiled and edited the book and wrote the introduction. The launch took place at Buswell's Hotel, opposite Leinster House. There was a strong turn-out of print and broadcast journalists and photographers.

'Our Story – the Rossport Five', which had already been launched in Co Mayo before Christmas, records accounts by the five men and their wives of the 94 days they spent in prison in 2005, as well as their roles in the campaign since 2000 against the proposed method of processing Corrib gas.

Philip McGrath and Mark Garavan are due to travel to Norway later this month to speak at a conference on how communities can benefit from natural resources.'

One of the men, Vincent McGrath, said the book was an "opportunity to talk directly to the Irish people, bypassing the mainstream media... There has been hysterical coverage in some of the mainstream media."

He said their story "could be about lots of communities in Ireland who feel betrayed by the political parties; who've had projects imposed on them."

When a journalist asked whether the book was intended as a message to Shell, Willie Corduff said: "Sure, you can't get a message to Shell. We've been trying for six years to get a message to them. They'll plough ahead regardless."

Micheál Ó Seighin said he hoped the dispute over Shell's proposed inland gas refinery and high-pressure pipeline would become an issue in this year's general election. "We've given people the opportunity to see how badly they've been served by the shenanigans that led to the give-away of our natural resources," he said.

"We're hoping voters will ask: is this the kind of state we want?" he said "If a cost-benefit analysis showed a benefit to the Irish people, we'd have to rethink. But that's not the case."

The five men – Willie Corduff, Vincent and Philip McGrath, Micheál Ó Seighin and Brendan Philbin – travelled to Dublin for the launch and press conference, along with Shell to Sea spokesperson Dr Mark Garavan and family members and supporters. Dr Garavan compiled and edited the book and wrote the introduction. The launch took place at Buswell's Hotel, opposite Leinster House. There was a strong turn-out of print and broadcast journalists and photographers.

'Our Story – the Rossport Five', which had already been launched in Co Mayo before Christmas, records accounts by the five men and their wives of the 94 days they spent in prison in 2005, as well as their roles in the campaign since 2000 against the proposed method of processing Corrib gas.

Philip McGrath and Mark Garavan are due to travel to Norway later this month to speak at a conference on how communities can benefit from natural resources.

Read an extract from the book here:
http://www.bluegreenearth.us/archive/article/2006/rossp....html

The book retails at €12.50 and is published by Small World Media.

Small World Media
Knocknaquirk
Magheramore
Co Wicklow
Trade enquiries to:
087 955 1504 (Ireland)
07816 146 567 (Britain)

For some information on where to buy the book, see this comment:
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/80365#comment180382

Micheál Ó Seighin signs a copy of 'Our Story - the Rossport Five'

Facing up to the media

Behind bars

A different viewpoint

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Comments (21 of 21)

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Book it from your library.

by maire

Fri Jan 05, 2007 14:56

If this book becomes difficult to get it could it be booked through membership of a library ?
We really need to be informed of what happened to 5 people, believing they lived in a democracy who voiced their fears for their own, their families, and their community's safety.

Yep....

by Harpo

Fri Jan 05, 2007 17:57

If Eason's think it'll sell they'll stock it.

When you ask for it, give your phone number so they can call you once it gets in.

I hope its a good read.

EASONS

by Admin - S2S

Fri Jan 05, 2007 17:58

Why should Easons dictate what we can buy or read? The free, free market is it?

Contact them and ask them to stock it!

For general Eason queries, contact:
Eason & Son Ltd
40 Lower O'Connell Street
Dublin 1, Ireland
Phone: +353 1 858.3800
Fax: +353 1 858.3806
email: info@eason.ie

For queries about an online order, contact:
Eason Internet Shop
80 Middle Abbey Street
Dublin 1, Ireland
Phone: +353 1 858.3881
Fax: +353 1 858.3806
email: sales@easons.com

I would like to think we still live in a FREE STATE

by MR. ED. - Family man in Pullothomas

Fri Jan 05, 2007 19:59

oooooooooooooo

oooooooooooo

I have read the book, the reality of hardships that the people of Rossport and Erris have had to put up with is deploreable in the 21 century. You'd think of a third world countries, that, they [s/hell] have done the same thing with corupt Goverments all over the world, and you wonder is IRELAND in the EC. a FREE STATE. Do the people have rights in a free state,is the Goverment looking after the safety and health of people of IRELAND or just themselfs and their friends. I have lived here for 15 years and I am [was] proud to call it home, being Irish and having Michael Collins blood run though my veins, I am wondering can the Present Irish Goverment; force the the Irish people of Erris to live in danger of s/hell, when we all know of the dangers that our familys will have to put with.What can we all do? We can continue to protest, but the law is about to change, so we can walk the road that is some times blocked and be beaten with clubs.OR will IRELAND slowly turn to industrial waste ground for the rich and the few. I would hope not for all the good people of IRELAND, But what can we do,we can't keep letting the IRISH GARDA working for a forien company to bash our heads in, like they have been doing the last 3 months. Can we rely on the Irish courts, the same ones that put the five men in jail and was told do as we say or we'll take your house , your land, your money and put you all on the road.I thought those days were over, at least thats what I read about in the 1916 up-rissing. Am I to believe it was all for nothing, because of some corupt Goverment offical who started this nightmare to line his on pockets with a few pieces of gold, does the IRISH PROCLATION mean anything. IT'S time we lived up to our ancessters, fight for freedom and live free from foriegn rule or do we have to repeat history and have civil unrest; maybe a civil war at the Ballanboybridge, will our present Goverment allow this or will they finnaly stand up for the people of IRELAND and take back what is rightfully the IRISH PEOPLES WEALTH AND THEIR FUTURE instead of a corupt gov. man who gave it all away

Blah blah blah

by reply

Fri Jan 05, 2007 23:20

"I have read the book, the reality of hardships that the people of Rossport and Erris have had to put up with is deploreable in the 21 century. You'd think of a third world countries, that, they [s/hell] have done the same thing with corupt Goverments all over the world, and you wonder is IRELAND in the EC. a FREE STATE. Do the people have rights in a free state,is the Goverment looking after the safety and health of people of IRELAND or just themselfs and their friends. I have lived here for 15 years and I am [was] proud to call it home, being Irish and having Michael Collins blood run though my veins, I am wondering can the Present Irish Goverment; force the the Irish people of Erris to live in danger of s/hell, when we all know of the dangers that our familys will have to put with.What can we all do? We can continue to protest, but the law is about to change, so we can walk the road that is some times blocked and be beaten with clubs.OR will IRELAND slowly turn to industrial waste ground for the rich and the few. I would hope not for all the good people of IRELAND, But what can we do,we can't keep letting the IRISH GARDA working for a forien company to bash our heads in, like they have been doing the last 3 months. Can we rely on the Irish courts, the same ones that put the five men in jail and was told do as we say or we'll take your house , your land, your money and put you all on the road.I thought those days were over, at least thats what I read about in the 1916 up-rissing. Am I to believe it was all for nothing, because of some corupt Goverment offical who started this nightmare to line his on pockets with a few pieces of gold, does the IRISH PROCLATION mean anything. IT'S time we lived up to our ancessters, fight for freedom and live free from foriegn rule or do we have to repeat history and have civil unrest; maybe a civil war at the Ballanboybridge, will our present Goverment allow this or will they finnaly stand up for the people of IRELAND and take back what is rightfully the IRISH PEOPLES WEALTH AND THEIR FUTURE instead of a corupt gov. man who gave it all away"

It's called the Rule of Law, not the rule of left wingers who think the country's rules can be forgotten about if it's 'for the cause'. Those five guys were given fair warning that what they were doing was illegal, they knew well and refused to stop. So they were prosecuted, as would any person be in violation of the law. The judiciary must be inflexible when handing out sentences; there cannot be any divergence from justice in the interest of politics, left or right wing.

Blah blah blah indeed

by Reply 2

Mon Jan 08, 2007 15:16

"It's called the Rule of Law"

Aye, and the "rule of law" in this case included a compulsory purchase order being used on behalf of a private, foreign company - something that's never happened before, ever. When the government is clearly determined to bend the "rule of law" to serve the interests of big business and willing to ride roughshod over its own citizens, you have to be very blinkered indeed to come out with trite sloganeering like that

Right Wing

by Etain - Sligo Shell To Sea

Mon Jan 08, 2007 16:03

So Reply, you don't believe in Democracy, THE LAW SHOULD BE HELD AT ALL COSTS even if the law is wrong. So corruption can reign supreme, the judiciary must be inflexible when handing out sentances, What is this country coming to?

You also seem to have a major hang up about left wing politics? Perhaps your solely

RIGHT WING!

Information leads to understanding.

by Maire

Mon Jan 08, 2007 17:14

Without reading the book, we have found out the land was under a compulsory purchase order for a private company - unprecedented till now.
We now know also without reading the book, that there was a grand give away sale of our natural resourses without any advertisements or information from any part of the media.
Looking forward no end to reading the book and informing myself -I'll try Easons and then Amazon.com

FAO Admin

by Jasper

Mon Jan 08, 2007 17:39

"Why should Easons dictate what we can buy or read? The free, free market is it?

Contact them and ask them to stock it!"

Eason's are a business. They stock what will sell. It's one of those tenets of business.

Hoggis Figgis / Chapters and High Court ??

by John Kelly

Mon Jan 08, 2007 17:53

Hoggis Figgis and Chapters as well ! Ouestion from a supporter : Is the picket at the High Court on Jan 16 going ahead ? A post was entered on this site circa Dec 18, but there is nothing in upcoming events etc. It was stated a large quay length banner would be in place and a request was made for support. What is the position please, has this planned event been cancelled or what ?

Solidarity J K

Rossport Farmers at the High Court on 16 Jan 2007

by shell to sea supporter

Mon Jan 08, 2007 20:34

Thanks for the query. Action last week was on the launch of the book in Dublin. This campaign is so busy and the protestors were back at the site this morning.
Willie Corduff, Brendan Philbin, Brid Mc Garry and Philip Mc Grath will be bach at the High Court next Tuesday and groups and individuals are really welcome to mount a Banner Stretch along the Quay at the High Court. Please extend this welcome to all groups without exception to support Roosport farmers who are compelling Shell to discover documents on the whole project.

you have to be joking

by Micheal collins

Mon Jan 08, 2007 21:02

Is this an extract from "the book"
" I have lived here for 15 years and I am [was] proud to call it home, being Irish and having Michael Collins blood run though my veins."
At the present time in erris anybody that admits to having (Michael Collins blood run though my veins.) is taking a great gamble.
To many members of shell to sea, Michael Collins is synonyms with treason (not my opinion).
It arises from the trip Michael Collins made to England to do a deal with the British .
You will find that in local slang in erris nowadays if you have any dealings with shell you are referred to as "Michael Collins" (not my words).So any of you out there that has an interest in Irish civil war politics be warned, that in at least some elements of shell to sea, been pro Michael Collins is NOT a good thing.

think

by just a thought

Mon Jan 08, 2007 21:31

To quote a previous poster
( we have found out the land was under a compulsory purchase order for a private company - unprecedented till now.)
That should never have happened.
If the advisors/politicians had any brains the government would have employed the compulsory purchase order, and leased the pipeline back to shell.
It is totally wrong that a private company can employ a compulsory purchase order for land or anything else, it sends a message to the ordinary person that with money you can buy anything.
I hope that some one in power see the error of this C.P.O and demand that the order is revoked.
Then either centre government or mayo county council should employ a C.P.O to acquire the use of land for their pipeline and lease it to shell for a substantial sum of money.

On a separate issiue S2S is claiming the majority of the people of erris and mayo supports them.
That may or may not be correct, but they say they are sure of that fact.
I suggest that to prove they are correct,they either run a candidate at this years election, or recommend a candidate to their supporters .
There is a local independent politician who is closely associated with S2S, it will be interesting to see how he polls in this years election.(If I was him I would hang on to the stethoscope just in case).

"Our Story" in Easons!

by Seán Ó Riain

Mon Jan 22, 2007 09:46

On Saturday 20th January there were about forty copies of "Our Story - The Rossport 5" on the shelves in Easons, O'Connell Street, Dublin 1. Hodges Figgis in Dawson Street, Dublin 2, say they are waiting for a delivery of the book. Ádh mór

Gas

by Kilcommon Resident

Mon Jan 22, 2007 21:08

Kilcommon-Erris has always had a civil war divide, either you a a "Dev" or a "Collins" supporter but this dispute with Shell has united the parish something that never happened before. 98% of protestors are either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael supporters but its hard to see them voting for these parties again after being neglected by them in this matter, most will probably vote independant, or won't vote at all. Its a sorry state of affairs when the polititans are not worth a sh**e when it comes to the "little" man or community being protected from any danger. If this refinery is built then its the end of Kilcommon, Kiltane, Kilmore, Belmullet, Ballycroy, Ballycastle, Moygownagh, Kilfian, Crossmoina, Keenagh, Lacken, Killala, Ardagh, Lahardane parishes. The story has been told a thousand times, the best way to learn about this is to visit the trailer at Bellanaboy at any time

98% of how many

by M collins

Mon Jan 22, 2007 22:03

Anybody care to guess how many protesters/critics there actually are against this project?
Is it the 100 approx that shell-to-sea can muster (on a good day) or is most of the county/country opposed to this project?
A previous poster suggested the protesters should run a candidate in this years general election.
I think that is a reasonable suggestion as after the election, s2s can point to their mandate from the people of mayo, as justification to have this refinery sited offshore.
On the other hand if shell-to-sea don't have the courage and faith to run a candidate in the election then their claim to have over 60% support in mayo will sound very dubious!

Just something for Dr garavin and others to consider .

In reply to M Collins:

by ETSO - Supp

Tue Jan 23, 2007 17:16

In reply to M Collins:

Anybody care to guess how many protesters/critics there actually are against this project?

98% of the population of Mayo is against this project that is approx 112,157 persons,
And over 100 % of the population of Eriss, many are refusing to admit due to harassment from the occupation forces of the state.

Is it the 100 approx that shell-to-sea can muster (on a good day) or is most of the county/country opposed to this project?

Each of the 100 shell to sea protestors represent 1121 people who can not attend the protests due to other commitments, and as I stated above harassment from the occupying forces.

A previous poster suggested the protesters should run a candidate in this year’s general election.
I think that is a reasonable suggestion as after the election, s2s can point to their mandate from the people of mayo, as justification to have this refinery sited offshore.

Yes that idea is getting discussed at the moment; possible candidates include some of the high profile members of the campaign group.

On the other hand if shell-to-sea doesn’t have the courage and faith to run a candidate in the election then their claim to have over 60% support in mayo will sound very dubious!

The campaign has the courage and faith to run a candidate in the forth coming elections, the policies will address of the natural recourses give away , the removal of shell from mayo, the setup of an Irish oil / gas exploration company which will be in control of the people. In addition to the above we will also address new tourism and job creation with in mayo and the set up of self governing state for mayo.

I ""DEFY"" you

Tue Jan 23, 2007 20:46

ETSO,
either I am in deluding myself, or you are deluding yourself and S2S.
I never really expected S2S to be daft enough to field a candidate in the election.
I only said that hoping that it would get a few of them thinking about how they are despised in erris!
But (-: if S2S IS daft enough to run someone far be it from me to stop them ( give someone enough rope and they will hang themselves).
What are the chances of them going away after the electorate shows them they have very little support?
Very little I expect, no doubt the election will have been rigged or there will have been a negative campaign against them.
here's hoping..

not only bookshops!

by chrissie

Wed Jan 24, 2007 22:57

Any library members in the English-speaking world, please note book details & try to order via yr library! Congratulations to Rossport 5 & all supporters & campaigners for environment & human rights

Availability of Our Story

by Robert Allen - Small World Media

Thu Jan 25, 2007 17:29

Would yous all stop getting carried away. The book was not published nationwide until January 4. Easons stores have the book and it is available in all bookshops nationwide. But this rumour that Easons did not take the book is harming sales nationwide. Our Story is available in all Easons stores and is not selling because people think Easons are not stocking it. They are. It just took a while to set up an accocunt with them and to agree terms. The question of an endemnity is between the publisher and Easons. Easons ordered 3000 copies of the book and we were only able to give them 800 because it sold so well in Mayo. So if anyone wants the book it can be bought in Easons stores throughout the country. If you can't get to Easons ask your local bookshop to order it through Easons.

Extreme measures to publicise fact that Eason are stocking the book

by Tadhg

Sat Jan 27, 2007 00:58

I don't think the "rumour" started in Dublin. I heard it from someone in Mayo.

Where can you get the Rossport Five Book?

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Dublin Launch of 'Our Story – the Rossport Five'

Comments (21 of 21)