Workers Solidarity Movement

Dublin Shell to Sea is protesting today at Shell's HQ on Leeson street to mark the 100th day that fisherman Pat O'Donnell has spent in prison for resisting Shell's experimental gas pipeline. Pat was joined in Castlerea jail 31 days ago by another Shell to Sea campaigner Niall Harnett.

Dublin Shell to Sea spokesperson Caoimhe Kerins said: “Pat is a highly respected and valued member of the Erris community. His only ‘crime’ has been to oppose the imposition of Shell’s highly dangerous experimental gas pipeline and to uphold the right of his community to live in peace and safety. For this he has lost his liberty. We ask all of those concerned with justice and who value the rights of people above the profits of multinational corporations to come out in support of Pat.”

“It is important that a clear and unequivocal message is sent to both the government and Shell that people like Pat represent all that is positive in our society. While Fianna Fáil’s banker friends such as Seán Fitzpatrick can swan around the world on sunshine holidays, those, like Pat O’Donnell, who stand up against corporate greed and corruption languish in prison cells. It is a complete travesty of justice that corporate greed is rewarded, while defending one’s community in the face of corporate greed is considered a crime. Pat deserves justice and should be released from prison immediately.’

Commenting on the wider implications of this project, Caoimhe said, ‘The imposition of Shell’s project on the people of Erris have much wider implications, which stretch beyond Co. Mayo. The Shell to Sea campaign has consistently highlighted the fact that the people of Ireland will not benefit from the extraction of gas from the Corrib field or other potential oil and gas finds off the Irish coast, estimated to be worth over €420 billion”