Shell to Sea

The first event organised by Shell to Sea was on the June Bank Holiday weekend in 2005 in support of Rossport residents' protests.[7]

Local landowners in Rossport had previously been told that the raw gas pipeline would be coming through their lands no matter what, and that they would be subject to Compulsory Acquisition Orders if unwilling to reach a deal with Shell.[3] Some[3] agreed to allow Shell on their lands. Others refused, and Frank Fahey, then Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources signed 34 Compulsory Acquisition Orders. Those who had refused were threatened with legal action. Legal action was taken which eventually culminated in four farmers and their former teacher, who had joined them in blocking Shell workers coming on their lands, being jailed on 29 June for civil contempt of court (at the request of Shell) after refusing to give an undertaking not to interfere with Shell's workers. They became known as the Rossport Five.

24-hour pickets on the Shell sites at Rossport, Bellanaboy and Glengad began after their jailing.[3] Rallies in support of the men's stance were held in major towns and cities, and Shell and Statoil filling stations were picketed.[3][8] From these protests emerged the national Shell to Sea campaign.

The Rossport Five were released on 30 September, after their imprisonment had dominated proceedings in the parliament. Peter Cassells was appointed as a negotiator to arbitrate between the campaigners and Shell. As his remit did not include discussing the refinery, he was regarded as a distraction by Shell to Sea. The pickets at Bellanaboy continued for over a year, during which no work was done by Shell.

On Tuesday 26 September 2006, protesters prevented Shell's employees from entering the site of the intended refinery at Bellanaboy to begin work. Around 150 locals and protesters blocked the entrance to the refinery site and began to recite the rosary. The workers turned back after discussions with Gardaí.

One week later on 3 October, more Gardaí were brought in from around the country, which increased their numbers to around 170. This marked a departure in Garda tactics which they have held to. An editorial in The Irish Times stated: "The Garda baton charges that occurred on Friday morning in Bellanaboy were not the product of Sinn Féin or Provisional IRA machinations; they were the product of abject Government incompetence."[9] A decision to avoid arresting protesters in order to damp down the negative publicity that would ensue was discussed in the Garda magazine, Garda Review. A number of people were injured and one young woman was brought to hospital.[10]

Protesters occupied Shell Ireland HQ in Dublin's Leeson Street[11] and daily protests continued at Bellanaboy with some arrests made.[12][13]

A second large scale protest march took place on 10 November, the anniversary of the execution of Ken Saro Wiwa and eight other anti-Shell activists in Nigeria in 1995. When protesters worked their way around Gardaí lines, clashes occurred, resulting in several injuries. Small groups of demonstrators who had been unable to get to the refinery attempted to blockade the nearby Lennon's quarry which supplies material for the construction of the site.[14]

There was political controversy in Ireland about the use of such force on a peaceful demonstration. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, leader of Fianna Fáil, said in a statement that the Irish government's position was clear in relation to the Corrib gas situation - that the negotiating is over and "that is it". In relation to the policing of the protests, he and the Opposition's Enda Kenny, leader of Fine Gael, would only reiterate that "the law must be obeyed".

A further large scale protest at Bellanaboy scheduled for 24 November was cancelled by the protesters for fear of further serious injuries from Gardaí.[15]

On 5 June, five protesters chained themselves together outside the Bord na Móna facility near Bangor Erris where Shell have been dumping the peat removed from Bellinaboy.

On 12 September, a protester charged with public order offences had her case dismissed in Belmullet because of conflicting Garda evidence. The judge dismissed most of the charges and sentenced the five protesters from June to community service for threatening and abusive behaviour. The judge also disclosed that she had received "hate mail".[16]

In April 2008, a new group was set up by people formerly active in S2S. Pobal Chill Chomáin proposed moving the refinery to Glinsk, which would have removed the necessity to transport the gas near people's homes and under roads. The proposal was rejected by both Shell and the government.

In 2008, a new security firm, Integrated Risk Management Services, was brought in to defend Shell's preparations for the landfall of the raw gas pipeline. In August, S2S began training for marine protests in anticipation of the arrival of the Allseas pipe-laying ship Solitaire, the biggest of its kind in the world with a collection of small boats.

In the meantime, a local Porturlin fisherman, Pat O'Donnell, laid 800 crab pots along the intended path of Solitaire, and defended them from Shell survey boats which attempted to remove them. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food stated that as both parties had licenses for their activities, they would have to sort it out between themselves. Two Irish Navy ships arrived in Broadhaven Bay to assist the Garda Water Unit in dealing with the protests. Solitaire was boarded by S2S activists in Killybegs. Not long after it arrived to Mayo's coast, the ship's company said it had suffered damage to its crane. It returned to Britain for repairs. Maura Harrington began a hunger strike to coincide with the arrival of Solitaire, the Allseas pipe-laying vessel, in Broadhaven Bay. Harrington, who had recently retired as principal of the local Inver Primary School,[17] continued her protest until the ship left Irish waters.[18]

In March 2009, Maura Harrington was sentenced to a month in Mountjoy Prison, for assaulting a Garda at McGrath's pier. In July 2009, Niall Harnett and Maura Harrington, two leading Corrib gas activists were jailed for four months over demonstrations.[19][20]

In November 2009, the Garda Ombudsman Commission recommended that disciplinary action be taken against a senior member of An Garda Síochána over the handling of the June 2007 protest. In a separate development, An Bord Pleanála found that up to half of the final section of Shell's proposed route for the onshore pipeline was 'unacceptable' on safety grounds.

Shell failed to meet An Bord Pleanala's deadline in February and applied for an extension of time to put their proposals forward as to how the project might proceed.[21] Pat O'Donnell, from Porturlin, was sentenced to seven months imprisonment in February.[22] In April, Niall Harnett of Kilcommon, was jailed. Little work was carried out by Shell in 2010.[22] The film Pipe Down was a winner in the Waterford Film Festival.[23]

Brian Barrington BL in a report commissioned for Front Line Defenders found serious problems in North Mayo.[24] On Monday 31 May 2010, Shell submitted a third revised EIS to An Bord Pleanala for a revised pipeline route.[25]

In April 2011, it emerged that Gardaí who had just arrested two female protestors had made explicit jokes about raping them.[5] They had inadvertently recorded themselves making the comments on a video camera they had taken from one of the women, which they later returned with the recording on it. The comments were widely criticised. In December the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland upheld a complaint about RTÉ's television reporting of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission's interim report. The report confirmed that the tape had recorded Gardaí joking about raping the women. The interim report found no evidence of a criminal offence having been committed by Gardaí and no evidence of a breach of discipline. The complaint, which was upheld, stated that RTÉ's report was inaccurate, lacked fairness, objectivity and impartiality and caused the woman involved undue harm and offence.[26]

Direct actions continued to hamper construction activities throughout 2011 and 2012. In May, 30 to 35 sections of wooden bog road were removed from their positions in the Shell site at Aughoose in a mass direct action by protestors. In June, between 400 and 500 people attended the Party Against the Pipe near the Shell compound in Aughoose, a family friendly gathering with craft workshops, music and food to mark the tenth anniversary of resistance to Shell's activities in Erris.[27] Direct actions continued to hamper construction activities throughout 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Another gathering took place over the June bank holiday weekend. In July, Shell attempted to transport the tunnel boring machine from Dubin Port to Ballinaboy, but were met by many direct actions. Close to the compound, the oversize transport lorry drove off the road and remained stuck in the bog for several days. There were several arrests and assaults of protestors.[28]

In September, Shell to Sea launched a new report on the location of Ireland's oil and gas reserves, which depicted all the areas of oil and gas exploration, oil and gas discoveries and commercial fields for the first time on a single map, as well as publishing the license holding companies' estimates of how much each was worth. The report, entitled 'Liquid Assets: Ireland's oil and gas resources and how they could be managed for the people's benefit', was launched by Paul Murphy, Socialist Party MEP.[29]

In February 2013, with Shell having revealed 2012 profits of €19.6 billion, people blocked trucks on their way to the multinational corporation's tunnelling compound at Aughoose. Campaigner Terence Conway said: "These obscene profits announced by Shell this week come at the expense of communities and the environment where Shell operate". Campaigner Maura Harrington said: "The Government are still willing to force suffering on the people of Ireland through severe cutbacks, yet at the same time give our oil and gas away to multinational companies such as Shell, with no benefit to country. It is time for people to demand that this situation is changed."[30]

In 2018, Shell exited the project, selling its ownership stake to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and transferring operatorship to minority owner Vermilion Energy.[31]