Shell to Sea raise awareness at two teachers conferences in Galway

by Mark C - Contact.ie Wed Apr 07, 2010 13:25

Maura (and all the rest involved),

Well done on this. It is important to take whatever opportunities present themselves to make this very vital issue more and more public.

One gets the sense that there is, increasingly, an appetite to digest such news. Hopefully, the meal will also energise people.

Again, well done to all involved.

Mark C.

by Eamonn O'Coilea'in - Republic of Perjury Mon Apr 12, 2010 14:07

Maura ,You are a very dedicated member of our society who cares about other people and what has happened to Ireland in the last decades; to make this country as it should be with all it's Irish richness.
Not just the selected few, and outsiders who get the wealth of Ireland Natural RESOURCE ! IT WOULD BE GREAT IF THERE WERE MORE PEOPLE LIKE YOU and maybe then this country would be back on top of the world instead of borrowing from every other country. If the Irish Natural Gas which is suppose to be owned by the Irish people, went back to it's rightful owner> The Irish people, then there would most certainly be no cut backs in the Education or hospital closures and maybe roads that would be safe to drive on , Instead of the Gov. Ministers trying to beg off of other countries for jobs an what not. You are always in our thoughts and Prays Keep up the great work.

by Worried Tue Apr 13, 2010 09:50

In other words, the taxpayer gets saddled with the massive debts of the bankers, while our massive oil and gas assets are given away to private companies, despite the fact that Article 10 of our Constitution (Bunreacht na hEireann) clearly states that "all natural resources" within the Republic of Ireland jurisdiction "belong to the State".

Where did our "public servants" (so called) get the authority from to give away what was not theirs to give away?

Where are our constitutional lawyers?

Why is our Judiciary acting against our people?

When will such questions be raised in public?

When will they be answered?

by Technologist Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:13

Ireland did not have the technological resources or know-how to bring the oil ashore alone.

(How many Irish people knew how to drill an oil well when the drill bit had to start to bite into ground having already gone at least a mile deep under the Atlantic Ocean?)

So highly specialised and well experienced oil companies with "Know-How" had to be employed.

For sure the deal was too generous to them.

But don't blame Shell.

by Worried Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:55

For several years now, Shell have been consistently acting in a manner which suggests that they have absolutely nothing but total contempt for our written Constitution (Bunreacht na hEireann), and for the several million citizens of the Republic of Ireland who depend on this core legal document for their most basic PROTECTIONS and FREEDOMS under the rule of LAW.

A further major question arises from this viewpoint, which is this: why, in connection with our State-owned oil and gas reserves, which have been valued at 5.4 trillion Euros (please see at http://www.indymedia.ie/article/90909 ), is our Government -- EXECUTIVE, LEGISLATIVE, and JUDICIAL -- doing business with a company which is showing total contempt for our written Constitution?

Does our Government not understand that their doing so is very frightening for many people -- and not just for people in the Republic of Ireland, but for people all over the world, who are similarly dependant on their constitutions?

by techno Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:00

Shell hire specialists to do the work for them. Shell directors don't know much about drilling and rigging.

But even allowing that they know who to hire, the Irish government could have taken a stake like Marathon or Statoil. They are not operating the field, just sitting back and taking the profits.

When Marathon was involved, they had a tiny office in Cork to deal with their Corrib comnmitments. Now the new Canadian company Vermilion has taken over their their 18.5 per cent share of Corrib, and they are managing without even opening an office in this country.

There is no reason why the state could not have a similar arrangement.

by Technologist. Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:05

The Irish Government gave Shell the go ahead.

We may agree that the financial terms were daylight robbery.

That was caused by our own elected government.

Not Shell.
.

by Worried Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:41

To "Technologist" at Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:05:

Shell are accomplices regarding the "daylight robbery" you have referred to.

For those who might not know, and "accomplice" is a person (or a group of people, or a company) that "helps another in committing a crime"

Both our Government (all three of its main branches, Executive, Legislative, and Judicial), and Shell, are committing extremely serious crime (in partnership) by providing each other with mutual help and support to violate our written Constitution in an extremely major way: and, so far at least, both parties are doing so with complete impunity.

To violate Bunreacht na hEireann, is to violate the "basic law of the Republic of Ireland" -- as that is what Bunreacht na hEireann literally means.

Now for the very worst part:

NOBODY SEEMS TO KNOW HOW TO STOP THIS CRIME.

by Technologist. Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:54

"For several years now, Shell have been consistently acting in a manner which suggests that they have absolutely nothing but total contempt for our written Constitution.........."

We know.

Shell operates because it has to generate a profit.

Shell doesn't give a damn about Ireland.

(When Dell pulled out of Limerick they showed that they don't give a damn either.)

by Worried Tue Apr 13, 2010 12:34

For a company to generate a profit is no problem whatsoever, from the viewpoint of the vast majority of people (as far as I know), and it is what all, or almost all, reasonable and normal companies do, or strive to do at least.

However, when companies aggressively and arrogantly pursue profits in ways which blatantly and persistently violate written constitutions in the most major of ways, and when they keep up such behaviour year after year, that is wilful lawlessness of an EXTREMELY SERIOUS kind, which is awash with crime and extreme arrogance, and which makes a complete mockery of the "rule of law" -- a phrase we frequently hear from the hypocritical lips of many of those (from both sides of this particular criminal partnership) who are supporting this particular piece of "daylight robbery": which is happening just at a time when the Republic of Ireland (and its several million citizens) can least afford it.

by Chrissie Thu Apr 15, 2010 20:20

Shell's history in Nigeria gives us no grounds for trusting them to act ethically.