How you view the Corduff and ODonnell incidents depends on which side of the dispute you are on. Shells opponents believe the multinational is resorting to ever more extreme measures against its opponents in Mayo.
Gardai and Shell allege, privately, that both cases were concocted by the movement in a desperate attempt to garner support for the cause.
The Shell to Sea movement sprang out of the 2005 imprisonment for 94 days of the Rossport Five who disobeyed a court injunction not to interfere with Shells onshore work. Following the subsequent outcry, the government commissioned consultants who, in 2006, recommended that Shell reduce the pressure in the onshore pipeline by half, to 144 bar.
Shell agreed to this and has sought planning permission for a new route which doubles the minimum distance between the pipeline and occupied homes to 140 metres. Pointedly, this route does not pass through land owned by any of the Rossport Five. An Bord Pleanala finished hearings on this proposed new route last month, and Shell will find out this autumn if it has the go-ahead.
Lynch insists that any non-corrupt planning system would refuse permission and speaks of the danger of a pipe explosion at Glengad. But then, the protesters disagree with the Corrib project at every level. They argue that the project is fundamentally unsafe and illegal under EU law.
Because of the states refusal to intervene, everything to do with the project is a legitimate target, says Lynch. We are Shell to Sea, meaning we want Shell to process the gas at sea, but given their attitude of casual violence towards us most people are Shell to Hell now.
Last Sunday, seven protesters, most of whom are from Leeds, were arrested for blocking a road. Coupled with the arrest at sea of Pat ODonnells son Jonathan, the protesters believe gardai are selectively using their powers to aid Shell.
Two groups, Pobal Chill Chomain and Pobal le Cheile, have been established to represent the views of locals opposed to the project and who do not want to be linked to the direct action of Shell to Sea. Ciarán Ó Murchú, spokesman for Pobal le Cheile, believes Shell should move its gas terminal to Glinsk on the north Mayo coast to avoid going though Rossport.
The Irish people are being misled, said Ó Murchú, who believes the gasfield could be worth up to 40 billion. I shudder to think of the consequences if Shell and the gardai force and bully that pipeline through Rossport.
The protesters presence has ensured that this remote part of Mayo is the most heavily policed area in Ireland. The bill for the state, which provided 300 extra gardai and two naval vessels last week, is expected to exceed 15m for garda overtime between 2006 and the end of this year.
We have to deploy huge numbers of gardai, said Michael Larkin, a superintendent in Belmullet, Mayo. They are needed to deal with protesters whose stated aim is to cause criminal damage and wreck private property. Some protesters dont accept the rule of law. There are elements that display all the signs of anarchists.
Larkin said gardai had not retaliated despite provocation from anti-Shell demonstrators. A lot of dirt has been thrown, he said. [They say] We know where your wife works or We know where your children go to school. That level of intimidation is difficult to take, but we have.
The protesters take exception to gardai preventing them from using their kayaks and dinghies to cause criminal damage and disrupt the pipe-laying process. Well if they call that heavy handed then I disagree.
Terry Nolan, the managing director of Shell Ireland, says that his company had never before experienced opposition like this. Nonetheless, the idea of abandoning the project had never arisen.
We believe what we are doing is right, Nolan said. We have all the consents and permits. We believe that the project is right for Shell, Ireland and our partners.
Shell regrets the jailing of the Rossport Five, and in the battle for hearts and minds, operates a large communications office in Belmullet which includes community liaison officers and makes donations to community projects.
In response to criticism that Kilcommon (the parish of Bellanaboy and Rossport) was not benefiting financially from the project, Shell changed its employment policy. Now Kilcommon comes first. There are 1,500 people employed on the project, according to Nolan, with 130 full-time jobs promised when the project is completed.
Both sides claim they have the majority of local support. The Shell to Sea campaign says it has a symbiotic relationship with the Kilcommon community which provides food and money. Nolan says only a vociferous minority oppose the project.
Gardai believe the relationship between local opposition and the solidarity camp is more sinister. Well-known people are in and out of that solidarity camp stirring things up and inciting these people, which they are naive enough to allow, said Larkin. If we didnt have the outside agitators coming in there wouldnt be a problem with the handful of locals that oppose this.
Larkin said a better measure of local support for the project and the gardai are the many offers of accommodation he received from people keen to house the 300 extra gardai drafted in to protect the project.
Shells opponents surely applauded when Eamon Ryan of the Green party was appointed energy minister in 2007. Ryan had supported the Rossport Five and once held a placard reading: Get the Shell out of Rossport. Last week, on RTE, the minister said his concerns about the project were addressed when Shell agreed to halve the pressure in the pipeline.
That pipeline will soon be buried under tonnes of rock and sand at Glengad beach. Shell, however, has another 9km stretch of land to cross before the line is connected to the gas-processing terminal in Bellanaboy.
Technically it is the easiest part of the project, said a Shell spokesman. In a best-case scenario, gas will begin flowing into the Bord Gais network in 2011. From a public relations point of view this is the most difficult stage though.
This view is shared by Shell to Sea which is already hatching plans to stop the pipelines progress. I wouldnt say things are finished here at Glengad, said Lynch. But we have a huge land battle planned for when the pipeline crosses from Glengad to Rossport, which is very hostile territory for Shell. Theyre going to try to put the pipe though land belonging to people who havent consented and they dont have any permission for it.
Shell to Seas hopes are pinned on a land battle to force the state to send in the army. This, according to Lynch, would turn public opinion against Shell.
However, Larkin says that the gardai would be able to handle that operation. It will be a simple matter of moving and containment of the work zone.
The protesters best chance of stopping the project may just have sailed off over the horizon.
Times Article