Workers Solidarity Movement

There are problems which are related but not very often discussed together. These are 1) climate change and pollution, 2) peak oil, and 3) globalisation - very large and complex problems which though not insurmountable require serious consideration.

What the author writes here is simplifying reality as the main purpose is to provoke thought in the reader and encourage further research.

This is an analysis of events at Woodburn forest (Carrickfergus, County Antrim) during the exploratory drilling operation being carried out by the company Infrastrata in the spring and summer of 2016. It is intended as a reflection on the successes and failures of the campaign to resist a poisonous and violent extraction of resources from the land, and indeed the lease and seizure of some of that land in an aggressive manner. It draws on personal testimonies; both my own and other activists’ experiences of specific direct actions, set within a broader political analysis of the context within which this sort of struggle is taking place, locally and worldwide.

The second day of the week of action saw an unexpected success when Shell to Sea campaigners managed to breach Shells fortified compound and force security to retreat to the inner compound.  While this happened much of the equipment, in particular the spy cameras, in  the outer compound was damaged or destroyed

As temperatures drop and household energy bills soar again this autumn, the PR battle to privatise our energy infrastructure is just heating up. The IMF/EU claim that competition, the favourite euphemism for privatisation, will lower costs for consumers. The Government claims, as usual, that it has no choice but to do what its overlords instruct. So now seems like a good time to observe how that privatisation has been working out for our nearest neighbours in the UK.

Britain, France, Germany, the US, and a host of other countries the last 25 years have seen very large movements seeking to close down nuclear power stations. Ireland hasn't. We didn't need to. A big victory was won here when we stopped the then Fianna Fail government going ahead with their plans to build not one, but four, nuclear power stations at Carnsore Point in Co. Wexford in the late 1970s.

There no longer remains any doubt that climate change has been caused by the activities of humans. The resulting problems of flash flood, more severe droughts, hurricanes etc alongside increased resource and water wars will have drastic economic, social and political consequences right across the globe. For many people both in the richer developed north and the global south, the ensuing climate chaos will only further exasperate their already precarious lives and livelihoods.Whilst governments like our own make almost daily pronouncements about ‘tackling’ climate change, and the media have weekly reports of increasing chaotic and unpredictable weather conditions, both have carefully avoided talking about its main cause. The one thing that historically has caused and continues to perpetuate the effects of climate change is putting private profit before public welfare.

The debate has started. One of the ESB unions, Unite-Amicus, wants the government to build nuclear power stations. We are told that it’s a “clean technology” that will reduce climate change.

If the population of Ireland needs any more reason to doubt the word, or integrity, of Royal Dutch Shell, you can pretty much look anywhere on the planet and find plenty to shake your faith in profit driven ‘progess’. This is just a brief round-up of some of the swirling mess that Shell brings where ever it goes. However you are unlikely to see these stories covered in the Irish mainstream media in such a way as to portray the various realities of those that resist such ‘progress.’