Release Maura Harrington

Following the latest arrest and imprisonment of Shell to Sea Campaigner Maura Harrington, éirígí have called for her immediate release.

Harrington, a retired school teacher, was sent to Mountjoy Jail in Dublin yesterday [Thursday] after being sentenced to nine months imprisonment in a Mayo court.

The court case related to the cutting of a net beside Shell’s illegal Glengad compound, which cost around €160.

The sentence was initially suspended, but was activated when Harrington refused to sign a bond binding her to the peace, thereby restricting her right to protest against Shell.

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey said: "The arrest and imprisonment of Maura on Thursday is the latest episode in a concerted and shameful campaign by the state to intimidate and silence opposition to the giveaway of our natural resources to Shell and their proposed pipeline in County Mayo."

"Maura, and all those other campaigners, who have stood up to the bully boy tactics of Shell and the so-called forces of law and order in this state are to be commended for their continuing determined resistance. It is essential at this time that we all step up our activities in support of the campaign and to secure Maura's immediate release from Mountjoy."

Also calling for the immediate release of Shell to Sea campaigner and Mayo resident Maura Harrington éirígí Chairperson Brian Leeson said: “If there is one person alive today who symbolises the Twenty-Six County government’s attitude towards Irish citizens it is Maura Harrington."

“Maura has been imprisoned several times, dragged through the courts on a number of occasions, been forced to embark upon a hunger strike, assaulted by Gardaí and demonised all because of her determination to peacefully resist a Shell Oil project in her community."

“Meanwhile, the Dublin government bends over backwards to facilitate the greed of multinationals like Shell and the small minority of people in the Twenty-Six County state who own the majority of the wealth.”

Leeson continued: “Instead of jailing people like Maura Harrington, the Dublin government should be listening to her advice and taking back the natural resources that lie in the Corrib Basin. These resources belong, as of right, to the Irish people and they should be exploited for their benefit."

“Maura Harrington is guilty of no crime – she should be released immediately. It would make more sense to reserve her prison cell for one of the government ministers who are currently carrying out anti-social attacks on working class communities across the state.”