- Rossport Five
The Rossport Five ( _ga. Cúigear Ros Dumhach) are James Brendan Philbin, brothers Philip and Vincent McGrath, Willie Corduff and Micheál Ó Seighin. All five are from
County Mayo ,Ireland were jailed on29 June 2005 by Justice Finnegan, President of theHigh Court of the Republic of Ireland , forcontempt of court after refusing to obey a temporary courtinjunction forbidding them to interfere with work being undertaken by Shell on their land. Shell intended to build a high pressure raw gas pipeline across land inRossport to pipe gas from the offshoreCorrib Gas Field . Three of the five men own land in Rossport: Vincent McGrath and Ó Seighin were brought to court along with them as they had assisted in blocking the Shell workers. About thirty others who had done the same were not charged. The government granted planning permission toEnterprise Oil (subsequently taken over by Shell) to build an onshore gas processing plant and to supply it using a high pressure pipeline which runs close to the houses of some of these men.There were protests all over Ireland during the period of the men's imprisonmentfact|date=September 2008, with Shell, and their junior partner
Statoil , filling stations being picketed and blockaded by both political activists and ordinary members of the publicfact|date=September 2008. Defending his company's stance, Shell Ireland's CEOAndy Pyle said: "The fact is that we've gone through a process, and we have five people who don't like the outcome." All Shell sites around Rossport and Bellinaboy were blockaded by the mens' neighboursfact|date=September 2008, preventing work. Local TDMichael Ring said that Ireland was now a "dictatorship within ademocracy "fact|date=September 2008. In an unusual move by the Irish judiciary, the men were told that a judge would be on hand at any time of day or night, if they wanted to purge their contempt, i.e. promise they would allow Shell to build on their lands. But the men did not avail of this.The men were released from
Cloverhill Prison on30 September 2005 , after 94 days, when Shell applied to the High Court to have the injunction lifted. This came after intense media and political scrutiny of the casefact|date=September 2008. The campaign to free the men consolidated intoShell to Sea after their releasefact|date=September 2008.The five men and their supporters have continued to campaign on the issue [http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=420&Itemid=38] . In
September 2006 , aTNS/MRBI poll commissioned byRTE showed that "Two thirds of those surveyed (throughout County Mayo) supported the stance taken by the five men from Rossport in their defiance of a court order in relation to the Corrib Gas pipeline.", with less than a quarter disagreeing with themfact|date=September 2008.In January
2007 , an account of events leading up their imprisonment was published by the Rossport Five.In April
2007 , Wille Corduff won theGoldman Environmental Prize on behalf ofEurope . No government representative was present, though representatives were present from other countries for their winnersfact|date=September 2008.References
*Ryan, Áine. [http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=420&Itemid=38l "Shell Enter Bellanaboy Site"] , "The Mayo News', October 3, 2006
ee also
*
Shell To Sea
*Rossport Solidarity Camp
*Controversies surrounding Royal Dutch Shell
*Royal Dutch Shell safety concerns External links
* [http://www.shelltosea.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.publicinquiry.ie/reports.php#ld196 Analysis from the Centre for Public Inquiry]
* [http://www.socialistdemocracy.org/RecentArticles/RecentReviewOurStoryTheRossportFive.html book review] from Socialist Democracy
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