Shell to Sea activists target Solitaire supply ship in Killybegs

Tír Chonaill éirígí spokesperson Micheál Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig has commended the Shell to Sea activists involved in Monday’s protest at the Toisa Independent supply ship in Killybegs port. He has also called on the local community in Killybegs and throughout the rest of Donegal to give whatever support they can to the protestors and to the campaign against the give-away of our natural resources in Mayo.

MacGiolla Easbuig said: “The actions of the Shell to Sea activists who blockaded and boarded the Toisa Independent in Killybegs on Monday are to be commended. This vessel is a vital cog in supplying the pipe-laying ship the Solitaire, which is currently laying the pipeline for Shell in Broadhaven Bay in North Mayo. Any actions which help to thwart and prevent the Solitaire from laying its pipe-line are very welcome.”

He added: “Since the arrival of the Solitaire back off the Mayo coast in recent weeks, we have seen an intensification of the repression and intimidation of the local community and local fishermen by the forces of the state and by Shell security. Peaceful protestors have been arbitarily arrested and jailed. Local campaigners have been assaulted and hospitalised. Local fishermen, such as Pat O’Donnell and his family, have had their boats sank by armed and masked thugs. They have been prevented from earning their living by the Gardai who have arrested them while they legitimately went about their work and who have also impounded their boats at the insistence of Shell.”

“We are curently in the midst of a major economic recession. The Fianna Fáil led administration have imposed pay cuts and income levies. They have made major cuts in the provision of essential public services. Nurses are being laid off, hospital wards are being shut and cancer services are being moved. Now they are gearing up to attack even further those trying to survive on social welfare by slashing their income even further.”

“Yet according to the administration themselves, the state has over €500 billion worth of oil and gas off the west coast in Irish waters. However, the Irish people will not benefit from this vast wealth as in 1987, the then Minister for Energy Ray Burke ended all state involvement in oil and gas development, abolished all royalty payments and introduced a 100% tax write-off against capital expenditure for the energy companies.”

“It is now imperative that these reserves and all other natural resources are nationalised and utilised for the benefit of all the people. éirígí seek the renegotiation of all existing oil and gas exploration contracts and the creation of a new state-controlled oil and gas exploration company. The wealth generated should be utilised to provide investment in efficient and effective health and education systems for all, to end fuel poverty and to redress the neglect by the state in areas such as infrastructure, job creation and childcare.”

He concluded: “éirígí re-iterate our support for the campaign to have the gas from the Corrib field refined at sea and for all our natural resources to be nationalised. I would also like to urge the people of Killybegs and all of Donegal to give whatever support they can to the fishermen and local community affected by Shell’s activities in North Mayo and to the protestors engaged in actions like that carried out in Killybegs on Monday. We must all stand together against Shell and their corrupt allies in Leinster House.”

Twenty-Six County’s Week of Shame in Mayo

When the world’s largest pipe-laying ship, the Solitaire, arrived off the coast of county Mayo last week it did so under a massive protective shield provided by the Twenty-Six County state. The Gardaí, the Navy and the Air Corps have all been mobilised to assist Shell lay a seventy-kilometre pipeline from the Corrib Gas field to the Mayo coast. If Shell has its way it is through this pipeline that billions of euros worth of Irish gas will flow – straight into the bank accounts of Shell’s shareholders.

In addition to the three hundred Gardaí, the two Navy ships, the planes and the helicopters the Twenty-Six County government have also brought their ‘justice’ system out to bat for Shell.

In anticipation of the Solitaire’s arrival on Thursday, June 25, Gardaí arrested local fishermen Pat ‘the Chief’ O’Donnell and his son Jonathan while they were laying crab pots in Broadhaven Bay. Both Pat and Johnathan have steadfastly resisted Shell over the last number of years, becoming a constant thorn in the side of the giant energy company.

The Gardaí ludicrously claimed the pair had been ‘loitering’ in the area. While Pat was released later on in the evening, Jonathan was held in Castlerea Prison overnight before being charged with wilful obstruction and loitering. Following his release Pat was admitted to hospital as a result of injured sustained as the Gardaí boarded his boat.

Such pre-emptive arrests have no place in a genuine democracy and only serve to expose the true nature of the southern state. If last week’s arrests were shocking they were not surprising. Last year Pat was detained under similar circumstances as the Solitaire arrived into the area. And so the right to liberty was extinguished.

As the Shell to Sea campaign, the Rossport Solidarity Camp and the local community began to organise direct action opposition to The Solitaire the courts of ‘justice’ were quick to show that they too were on the side of Shell.

On Monday, June 29, at a hearing in Ballina District Court, seven Shell to Sea protestors were remanded into custody by Judge Mary Devins, wife of Fianna Fáil Minister Jimmy Devins. Of the seven the four women were sent to Mountjoy Women’s Prison in Dublin and the three men to Castlerea Prison in Roscommon. A further two protesters were released but ordered to surrender their passports and barred from entering County Mayo.

The seven imprisoned protestors had all been arrested on minor public order offences, and though none of them had any previous convictions, all were denied bail. The judge also denied and deferred requests for free legal aid, stating it “can no longer be dished out like Smarties”. And so was the right to defend oneself was removed.

Fittingly, as Shell and their allies were riding roughshod over the people of Erris Amnesty International published a report on June 30 entitled Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta, in which they refer to the situation in that region as a “human rights tragedy”.

Audrey Gaughran, Amnesty International’s Head of Business and Human Rights and author of the report, said:

“The people of the Niger Delta have seen their human rights undermined by oil companies that their government cannot – or will not – hold to account. They have been systematically denied access to information about how oil exploration and production will affect them, and they are repeatedly denied access to justice.”

The words above could easily apply to the people of Erris in particular and to the people of Ireland in general. By the Dublin government’s own admission there are hundreds of billions of euros worth of oil and gas reserves off the coast of Ireland. The Corrib reserve is the first of these reserves to be brought online. Shell and their friends in the Dublin government understand the importance of winning this first round if they are to successfully plunder the rest of those reserves.

But the people of Ireland are not stupid. With every passing day more and more of them are asking the question ‘What is going on in Mayo?’ And with the answer to that question comes the realisation that there is much more at stake in the Battle for Corrib than just gas. The actions of the Twenty-Six County state over the last week have been nothing short of those of a fascist corporate state.

Over the course of the next twelve to eighteen months Shell will attempt to bring its refinery in Mayo into full production. Before it can achieve that objective the pipeline will need to cross seven kilometres of farmland, bog and commonage. It is on that ground that the next round of the Battle for Corrib will be fought. And when that battle is joined every republican, every socialist, every democrat and every progressive in Ireland have a duty to be there and stand together against Shell and their corrupt allies in the Dublin government.

Irish Language Flourishes Despite Official Attitudes

When a survey on attitudes to and use of the Irish language in the Twenty-Six Counties was published in April, it was found that the vast majority of participants held a positive outlook on the native tongue. However, another report published in May shows how far behind the times the politicians of Leinster House are.

The survey, The Irish Language and the Irish People, found that over 93% of those who took part were positive about the language and wanted to see it preserved or revived. In terms of language use, almost half were rated as reasonably competent and one-quarter use the language regularly.

This level of growth was considered disappointing but the survey’s author Fr Micheál Mac Gréil added that, “Never since the time of the Famine was there so many people with a reasonable standard of Irish.”

The survey also found that this positive attitude towards the language was as prevalent among foreign-born participants as it was with those who were Irish-born.

Speaking at the launch of the survey, 26-County Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív said, “It has been my own experience that in general, migrants who settle here in Ireland are open and positive about the Irish language, and many make the effort to learn Irish, particularly if they have children in school here.”

However, a report published on May 11 by 26-County Coimisinéir Teanga [Language Commissioner] Seán Ó Cuirreáin found that Ó Cuív’s own department was one of several bodies failing the Irish language community and in breach of language legislation as well.

Ó Cuirreáin’s annual report for 2008 found that other departments at fault were the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Department of Social and Family Affairs, Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Department of Education and Science, and the Department of Transport.

It also found that statutory bodies such as the Heritage Council, the Equality Authority and the Health Service Executive (HSE) were defaulting on their duties.

Ó Cuirreáin’s office received almost 600 complaints last year from Irish speakers unable to avail of state services in their native language. One-third of complaints came from Gaeltacht regions.

It seemed in some cases that government departments were needlessly trying to aggravate Irish speakers. In one instance it was found that the Department of Social and Family Affairs was going out of its way to remove the síneadh fada [accent] from the name of every child that was registered in Irish.

The backward policies continue unabated. The Irish-medium schools body Gaelscoileanna condemned the 26-County Department of Education for refusing to recognise seven new Irish-medium schools due to open in September this year.

In September 2008 26-County Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe began a review process and announced that no new schools would be opened, except in ‘rapidly developing areas’. All seven schools fall within these areas, and yet the Department continues to refuse recognition.

Gaelscoileanna also criticised the Department for maintaining Circular 0044/2007, which was introduced in 2007 by then-minister Mary Hanafin and exists to undermine the total immersion education system that is employed in Irish-medium schools. And this despite recently-published figures that once again show the benefits of the immersion method.

The Irish News reported on May 5 that: “According to [British] government targets, children should reach level four by the end of primary 7. Figures from 2007/08 obtained by The Irish News show that 82 per cent of children in Irish-medium schools achieved level four or five in English compared to 78.8 per cent of children in English-medium schools.

“Separate figures provided by Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaíochta (InaG), the trust fund for the sector, compared performances over a three-year period. They showed that Irish-medium schools outperformed others in each of the three years in both English and Maths.”

In the Six Counties, Irish-medium education remains in a similar ordeal of struggle. Schools such as Gaelscoil Éanna and Coláiste Speirín continue to fight for recognition from the Stormont Department of Education. Meanwhile the entire sector continues to wait on the outcome of the Department’s Review of Irish-Medium Education, on which consultation ended in January.

The Department’s initial proposals caused concern among Irish language educationalists. It recommended that small Irish-medium schools be federated with larger English-medium schools and that units and streams be promoted over free-standing Irish-medium schools. These proposals would result in the undermining of total immersion education in the Six Counties.

With both partitionist states again showing their true colours against a revolutionary educational project that began in the early 1970s with Scoil an tSeachtar Laoch in Ballymun and Scoil Ghaeilge Bhéal Feirste in West Belfast, it once again falls to ordinary people to ensure that such reactionary agendas end in failure and that the Irish language and Irish language communities continue to flourish throughout the country.

Israeli kidnap of Ballina man an act of state terrorism and International piracy

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has described as an act of “international piracy” the kidnapping in International waters of Mayo man Derek Graham and the seizure of their boat by the Israeli navy. He has also called on the Fianna Fáil led administration to immediately expel the Israeli ambassador, cut all diplomatic links with Israel and initiate moves for the European Union (EU) to do likwise.

Mr Graham was one of twenty one Human Rights workers, including two Irish citizens, who was on board the Free Gaza boat 'Spirit of Humanity' when it was attacked and seized by the Israeli navy today (Tuesday 30/6/09). Among those kidnapped along with Mr Graham, the ship’s first mate, is a former US congressperson Cynthia McKinney and former Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Corrigan Maguire.. The boat was making its way to Gaza to deliver much needed aid to the long suffering civilian population of Gaza who continue to suffer under the illegal and inhumane Israeli siege. These supplies, which include medicine, toys, olive trees and cement, have been confiscated.

Casey said: “The kidnapping of Derek Graham and his colleagues and the seizure of their boat and essential supplies they had on board to be delivered to the people of Gaza, is an act of state terrorism and international piracy and must be treated by the Fianna Fáil led administration as such. They must act immediately to expel the Israeli ambassador, cut all diplomatic ties with Israel and initiate moves for the EU to do likewise. They must also insist on Mr Graham and his colleagues immediate release, the release of the boat and its supplies to allow it continue its journey and the lifting of the illegal siege of Gaza.”

He added: “This siege, the effects of which Derek and his colleagues were trying to alleviate with their shipment, continues as the civilian population increasingly struggle to get food and essential medicines to survive. The suffering these people are enduring is unimaginable, particularly for children and the elderly. The Israeli military continue bombing the area, obliterating the remnants of an already destroyed economy and infrastructure. During their recent invasion of Gaza, Israel committed countless war crimes, deliberately bombing civilian targets, killing more than a thousand Palestinian civilians, including hundreds of young children. That this situation is allowed to continue unimpeded by the so-called International Community is scandalous.”

He concluded: “The record of successive Leinster House administrations, and of the EU, in dealing with the state terrorism of Israel is woeful. Following the murderous assault of Gaza by Israel at the start of this year, they failed to take any action against Israel. However, following this latest act of state terrorism and International piracy, including the kidnapping of Irish citizens, they must now take a firm stand against the rogue state of Israel. Anything less would be shameful.”

Lisbon 2 – Democracy EU-Style

The vision of a unified Europe first articulated in the Schuman Declaration of May 9th 1950, to the effect that “the pooling of coal and steel production should immediately provide for the setting up of common foundations for economic development as a first step in the federation of Europe”, is the vision that has guided the European project since its inception. We must be under no illusion that it is the consolidation of political power in a centralized, ‘free market’ based, neo-liberal Europe that the Eurocrat establishment has as its primary objective. All European treaties throughout the last 60 years have been directed at progressing towards the achievement of this objective. Essentially this is what Lisbon 1 was about. It is what Nice 1 and 2 were about. The particulars of the ‘assurances’ or ‘guarantees’ agreed at the EU summit of June 19th notwithstanding, this is what the coming Lisbon 2 is about also.

We will be made to vote again and again if needs be until we vote ‘right’, both literally and figuratively – until we vote to accept that the economic and political future of the millions of people who inhabit the EU area is best determined by an unelected Commission and a burgeoning and ever-more powerful EU bureaucracy. Such is ‘democracy’ EU-style. It is the epitome of bourgeois democracy – replete with the illusion of substance, yet in practice inherently anti-democratic in any real sense, and directed fundamentally at securing the interests of capital and its political servants.

Most of the ‘assurances’ agreed by EU heads of State at the summit relate to issues (such as conscription, abortion and taxation etc.) that never formed part of the left opposition’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty. Nowhere in all of the campaigning against Lisbon that éirígí was involved in were these types of issues seriously articulated by the man and woman on the street. They do not reflect the grounds upon which working class people came out comprehensively against the Treaty. The CAEUC, of which éirígí is a member, based its opposition to Lisbon primarily upon the fact that the Treaty would undermine sovereignty, was fundamentally anti-worker, promoted greed over need and increased the militarization of Europe. Many of the 862,415 Irish citizens (over 53 per cent of the 26-county electorate) who voted against the Lisbon Treaty agreed with this analysis and opted to vote against the vision of Europe that was being proposed by those who deigned to tell them what was in their best interests, having already discarded the democratic determination of the peoples of both France and the Netherlands and denied all other European peoples the right to vote one way or the other. This is democracy EU-style.

As to what will be different this time? There is absolutely nothing about the assurances ‘secured’ by Cowen et al. on June 19th that will in any way, shape or form alter the substance of the Lisbon Treaty. Not one full stop, nor comma, of the Treaty will be altered. The fundamentals of Lisbon remain the same: it codifies neo-liberalism, further deepens the democratic deficit and progresses the Eurocrat plan for an EU super-state. The ‘assurances’ given with regard to the fear of creeping EU militarism are instructive in this regard. That the assurances can state that the 26-County government may “determine the nature and volume of its defence and security expenditure and the nature of its defence capabilities” at the same time as the text of the Lisbon Treaty obliges all signatories to commit to “progressively' improving (military) capabilities” highlights the contradiction between what is being said and what must be done. The EU bureaucracy is speaking out of both sides of its mouth. What the ‘assurances’ amount to is subterfuge and scaremongering. Subterfuge in that the ‘assurances’ are intended to give the impression of a changed Treaty while doing nothing of the sort in reality. When Brian Cowen states that: “We came here (to Brussels) with two aims. Ireland (sic) wanted firm legal guarantees. We got them. We wanted a commitment to a protocol. We got that. I am confident we now have a solid basis to go to the (sic) Irish people and to ask them again for their approval for Ireland (sic) to ratify the Treaty so that Europe can move on”, he is engaging in a display of shocking cynicism. He implies that the ‘assurances’ are something other than mere legal re-statements of aspects of the existing Treaty, which they are not.

The scaremongering is to be found in the subtext to all of this, which is as follows: “if we don’t vote yes, what is an already economically disastrous situation, will be compounded and exponentially made worse”. The implication is that accepting Lisbon will help rescue Ireland from the depths of the economic recession it finds itself in. Given the fact that neo-liberal ‘free’ market economics is what caused the global meltdown in the first place and the fact that the same neo-liberal agenda is codified in Lisbon, the proponents of a Yes vote are like quack doctors whose proposed cure for a disease is more disease.

We must resist the renewed attempt to have the Lisbon Treaty forced upon us as we did when we first defeated Lisbon against all odds in June 2008. On that occasion, the people of the Twenty-Six Counties defended the democratic rights of all of the peoples of Europe. Once again we must organise to reject the anti-democratic, anti-worker, anti-citizen paradigm that the Lisbon Treaty represents. We must organise to reject the notion that a neo-liberal EU super-state can deliver the people of Europe anything than a continuation of denial of democracy, capitalist crisis and periodic economic meltdown. Our position with regard to Lisbon 1 was quite simply that saying NO to Lisbon was to say yes to the possibility of a democratic Europe, to the possible realisation of an “internationalism based upon the ideal of a free federation of free peoples”. It remains our position, no matter what ‘assurances’ emanate from Brussels or any other EU bourgeois institution.

SAY NO TO A UNITED STATES OF EUROPE – SAY NO TO LISBON 2

Right to Protest Suppressed by Riot Squad in Belfast

As dozens of masked paramilitary police decamped from armoured jeeps onto a Belfast street it could have been a scene from 1969, 1979 or 1989. But it wasn’t. Instead it was June 27th 2009 – the day of Britain’s inaugural ‘Armed Forces Day’.

If proof was ever needed of the unchanged nature of both British policing in Ireland and the wider occupation, it was provided in Belfast today. As one arm of Britain’s occupation forces were ‘celebrated’ with the flying of the ‘Armed Forces Day’ flag above City Hall, another arm of those same occupation forces were busy suppressing the right to peaceful protest.

While republicans are all too used to the PSNI blocking the routes of ‘illegal’ marches, today the PSNI went a step further and prevented éirígí activists and supporters from even reaching the assembly point for a static picket. Those walking on the footpath found their path blocked by baton-yielding paramilitaries clad from head to foot in body armour. Such pre-emptive policing would sit comfortably in the police state of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.

The picket which was called in opposition to the flying of the ‘Armed Forces Day’ flag over Belfast City Hall was unable to take place as upwards of 120 people were prevented from entering the centre of Ireland’s second city.

As it became apparent that the PSNI were intent on using violence to prevent access to the city centre an impromptu protest was held on Castle Street.

As part of this protest the names of those killed as a result of British state violence was read to the listening crowd. The task of reading this lengthy list of names was shared between Marie Drumm, whose mother Máire was murdered by unionist death squads, and éirígí’s Seán Mac Brádaigh. This dignified memorial to the victims of British state violence stood in contrast to the menacing backdrop of the masked militia.

Speaking after the protest éirígí General Secretary Breandán Mac Cionnaith said, “All the talk of change in recent years has today been exposed as just that – talk and nothing more than empty, hollow talk. Belfast city centre remains a no-go zone for republicans – unless, of course, those republicans are wiling to ask the British state for permission to enter their own city.

“In light of the potential threat to the safety of those attending the picket we decided that it would be best for people from the west of the city to walk together to City Hall. And this is what we did only to find the footpath blocked by the PSNI riot squad. When we moved to the footpath on the other side of the road the PSNI moved ahead of us to block it also. Despite the spin of the PSNI there was no attempt made by éirígí to march to City Hall. What we witnessed today was the actions of a police state where protest and dissent are met with brute force.”

In closing Breandán committed éirígí to opposing ‘Armed Forces Day’ in the future.

“Today was the first so-called armed forces day. By our protest here today éirígí has ensured that it did not pass unopposed. In the years to come we will build on today’s protest and ensure that June 27th becomes a date of protest – not a date of celebration.”

Click here for more photos.>>

éirígí attack plans for Lisbon 2 referendum

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has condemned the decision by Brian Cowen’s administration to hold a re-run of the Lisbon Treaty referendum, which was democratically rejected last year.

Casey said the decision exposes the fundamentally undemocratic nature of the European Union and the contempt with which the political establishments in both Dublin and Brussels view the Irish people.

He said: “By ignoring the democratic decision of the Irish people last June to reject the Lisbon Treaty and by their decision to re-run the exact same referendum in October, the EU and the Brian Cowen’s administration have shown yet again the utter contempt with which they view the Irish people and the notion of democracy. From the time this Treaty was voted down, nothing whatsoever has been changed in it. Not a single paragraph, not a single word. The referendum the Irish people are being forced to vote for later this year will be exactly the same as that which they rejected last year.”

He added: “The so-called declarations and guarantees being given on certain issues are a red herring. They are meaningless and will have no legal force whatsoever as they will not be part of the Treaty itself. As such, they will not override the actual content of the Treaty. To put it simply, they will be meaningless political promises from untrustworthy politicians at both European and national level."

“Once again, this administration are attempting to bulldoze through, using a combination of coercion and deceit, a treaty that will further increase the fundamentally undemocratic nature of the EU. A vote for the Lisbon Treaty will further erode this state’s sovereignty, speeding up moves towards the creation of an EU super-state. The Treaty will see a further abandonment of the state’s neutrality as the militarisation of the EU will substantially increase, with moves towards an EU army intensifying and the establishment in the Treaty of the so-called mutual defence pact."

“The Treaty also continues to promote the right-wing ideology of greed over need, of privatisation and is fundamentally anti-worker, with negative consequences for the rights of workers, rights which need to be strengthened, not diminished. These are the very policies and values that have created the economic recession that we are currently in, that has led to massive unemployment, wage reductions, income levies and cuts in essential public services, such as health and education. For Irish workers to vote for Lisbon would be akin to turkeys voting for Christmas.”

Casey concluded: “Cowen and his colleagues have completely ignored the concerns of the Irish people over the Treaty. They have failed to secure any changes to it because they never once sought any changes to it. But Cowen and his cronies in Leinster House and in Brussels need to understand quite clearly that when we said No, we meant No. What part of No do these people not understand?”

Shell Spin Conference Disrupted

Attempts by Shell Oil to put a friendly face on its operations in County Mayo were scuppered by éirígí activists on Wednesday [June 17] when a Dublin press conference was disrupted.

The journalists and politicians who attended the conference were met by activists demanding the nationalisation of the Corrib gas field and an end to Shell’s brutal assaults on the Erris community.

Shell’s hastily convened spin operation was called in the wake of the hijacking and sinking of a Mayo fisherman’s boat by a number of unidentified masked men. The hurried nature of the event suggested that their PR machine was attempting to upstage a press conference to be held the following day by the fisherman in question, Pat O’Donnell, during which he was due to give further details of the attack.

O’Donnell has been prominent in the last number of years in opposing Shell’s project in Erris and has rejected any overtures at coming to an accommodation with the company. The sinking of his boat follows the recent assault on fellow local and anti-Shell activist Willie Corduff, also by a group of masked men.

Speaking at the event, éirígí spokesperson Daithí Mac An Mhaistír said: “Shell’s press conference was merely an attempt to spin its way out of culpability in the recent attacks against the people of north-west Mayo and justify the attempted exploitation of the natural resources in Corrib.

“These attacks, including the hijacking and sinking of Pat O’Donnell’s boat, constitute an attack on the rights of Irish citizens.

“The attacks are, of course, typical of Shell’s internationally renowned modus operandi of bullying, intimidation and human rights abuses. A casual glance at Shell’s recent history provides plenty of evidence. Only last week, Shell was forced to pay $15 million compensation to the Ogoni people of Nigeria for their collusion with the military regime in human rights abuses.

“The Ogoni community’s success in demonstrating Shell’s complicity in torture and murder carried out by a military junta should provide a wake up call to those in Ireland who have chosen to ignore the company’s destructive and increasingly sinister activities in Mayo.

“At the heart of Shell’s behaviour lies their greed. The Corrib gas field contains billions of euro worth of natural gas. In Shell’s estimation, intimidation, assault and hijackings are a legitimate means of accessing these resources.

“The Dublin government has an obligation to protect the economic interests of the Irish people by nationalising the Corrib gas field, ensuring the retention of billions of euro in the public coffers. They also have a duty to protect Irish citizens against attack by hired thugs.

“After all, the resources that lie buried in Corrib belong to the people of Ireland, not a private company.”

And in a another development yet another discovery of hydrocarbon natural resources has been made off the west coast of Ireland.

On Tuesday, June 9, Serica Energy, a British-owned company, announced the discovery of oil off the Mayo coastline.

The find, located approximately 40km south of the Corrib gas field, is the latest in a series of such discoveries off the west coast. In recent years, both foreign and indigenous corporations have been granted drilling licences to explore Ireland’s coastlines for natural resources, with many of them proving successful. There is estimated to be hundreds of billions of euro worth of oil and gas in Irish territorial waters.

However, due to the slavish actions of the Twenty-Six County government, the people of Ireland will fail to benefit from these natural resources in any substantial way. Under the current deal, the Irish people receive no royalties and no percentage share from any oil and gas harvested. So poor is the current deal that even a reduction in the retail price of any oil and gas discovered or guarantees on employment opportunities do not exist.

The most recent discovery will prove no different. The profits from whatever oil is extracted from the find will merely swell the coffers of Serica Energy, while the Irish people will be forced to buy back the oil at full cost price.

In a statement typical of the fawning attitude that the Dublin government has adopted towards the multinational energy companies, minister of state Conor Lenihan managed to mention that he hoped the find would “lead to further commercial activity within the licensed area involved”.

éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson said: “The discovery of yet another potential source of energy off the Irish coastline should come as good news. The financial potential that this find, and others like it hold, is massive, with potential profits in the tens of billions. Sadly, however, these profits will not benefit the Irish people. Instead, they will simply add to the bank balances of the multinationals.

“The response of the Twenty-Six County government to this discovery has been pathetic. The best response that Conor Lenihan can summon is a statement which amounts to cheerleading for the further private exploitation of Irish natural resources.

“Ireland’s natural resources don’t belong to Serica, Shell, Providence Resources or any other private company, foreign or indigenous – they belong to the people of Ireland. This fact has been conveniently forgotten by the politicians whose goal in life seems to be to curry favour with the business class.

“éirígí repeats its call for the establishment of a state-owned national exploration company, whose task it would be to discover and harvest the natural resources of Ireland for the benefit of the people of Ireland.”

Know Your Enemy!

At 10.30am on June 27th Britain's 'Armed Forces Day' flag will be raised over Belfast city hall. éirígí is organising a public protest in opposition to this blatant attempt to normalise Britain's occupation of the Six Counties. The protest will begin at 10am. Bígí Linn. Click here for more.

Oppose Britain’s ‘Armed Forces Day’

Concerned at falling recruitment rates to its army, air force and navy and spooked by growing disgust at its contemporary wars of conquest, Downing Street has decided on a propaganda stunt of ‘shock and awe’ proportions in the form of an official ‘Armed Forces Day’.

Rarely has the scene been better set for a display of jingoism than that which will occur on June 27 – the day chosen for the ‘honouring’ of one of the world’s most murderous militaries.

Last year, the United Nations estimated that the US-British led coalition in Afghanistan directly killed at least 2,000 civilians. This year that figure is expected to rise considerably.

In Iraq it is estimated that a minimum of one million Iraqis have lost their lives as a direct consequence of the US-British led invasion and occupation.

In graveyards across Ireland the names of those who have lost their lives at the hands of Britain’s military adorn countless headstones.

To be trampling on the graves of the global victims of British imperialist violence in London, Birmingham and Manchester is bad enough. To be doing so in Belfast and Carrickfergus only adds insult to injury for the hundreds of Irish families who have lost loved ones as a result of the actions of the British military.

For those who claim that the British military no longer have an active role in Britain’s occupation of Ireland the facts speak for themselves.

More than 5,000 British combat troops remain permanently stationed in military bases across occupied Ireland.

In 2007, the British army garrison in the Six Counties had its ‘emergency’ repressive powers of stop and search, arrest and property seizure legislated into permanency.

In 2009, it was announced that British army ‘special forces’ were once again operating in occupied Ireland – that is, if they had ever gone away.

In an Irish context, this is what British Armed Forces Day is all about – attempting to make the unacceptable acceptable.

Like the establishment of the puppet parliament at Stormont, the regular visits of Elizabeth Windsor and the parading of the RIR through Belfast in November 2008, Britain’s ‘Armed Forces Day’ will be used in a vain attempt to normalise the occupation of the Six Counties.

This is why éirígí will be actively opposing British Armed Forces Day. In the words of James Connolly: “Britain has no right in Ireland, never had any right in Ireland and never can have any right in Ireland.”

The Six Counties are not and never will be part of the ‘United Kingdom’. They remain what they have always been – an integral part of Ireland’s national territory.

Those who would hope to use Britain’s ‘Armed Forces Day’ to demonstrate the ‘normality’ of the British occupation must be opposed. Days such as June 27 should become rallying points for supporters of Irish freedom and democracy.

Let the images of protest, resistance and dissent replace those of ‘normality’ and subjugation.

Bígí Linn!