Workers Solidarity Movement

Erris: The Rossport Solidarity Camp have called the annual Shell to Sea Summer Gathering for the May Bank Holiday weekend this year so that it happens while key construction is still underway.  Shell to Sea campaigners from around Ireland will be travelling to the camp for a weekend of protest and meetings, come and join us.  Local Shell to Sea groups will be helping people to travel, already Dublin are running a bus down on the Friday.

Dublin Shell to Sea have called a mobilisation for this Mayday bank holiday to bring large numbers of people down to the Rossport Solidarity Camp weekend of protests and meetings beside the Shell compound under construction in Erris.  A bus will leave Dublin on Friday night or if your driving or looking for a life earlier or later contact Dublin Shell to Sea to arrange car sharing.

Boardgames at the Bookshop every Sunday from 7-10pm in Solidarity Books, 43 Douglas Street (across from Fionn Barra's), Cork. New faces always welcome! Event date and time: Sun, 2011-04-10 19:00 -22:00

—Documentary filmmaker Robert Kenner uses reports by FAST FOOD NATION author Eric Schlosser and THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA author Michael Pollan as a springboard to exploring where the food we purchase really comes from, and what it means for the health of future generations. By exposing the comfortable relationships between business and government, Kenner gradually shines light on the dark underbelly of the American food industry.

A couple of hundred people turned out in the sunshine this afternoon to show solidarity with the women who are spoken about in the Garda rape comment audio which was released earlier this week. The message of todays event, which was organised by an ad hoc group of organisations and individuals concerned with justice, equality, and women's and human rights under the heading 'Say no to the trivialisation of rape', was that rape is not a joke. Organiser Susan Ms McKay from the National Women's Council said: "Jokes about rape are never funny. Rape is recognised in law as being second only to murder in terms of gravity. An Garda Síochána are responsible for upholding the law and for protecting the public. Their behaviour must be exemplary, and they must respect the people they serve. That includes women. We are half the population, and we are the majority of the population at risk when it comes to crimes of sexual violence."

An editorial in Thursday's Irish Times titled "Loose talk or malice?" accepted the interpretation that the Gardai recorded on the Corrib video were simply making a private joke about rape. The editorial found that unacceptable but less serious then previous "corrupt and illegal actions by a small number of its members." The attitude of the Irish Times that all that is at issue is some off colour joking has been reflected by other commentators. Some like Kevin Myers can be dismissed as pro-Shell loons but others who have taken this line seem genuine and therefore must not have given much thought to the context these remarks were made in. The context being both the circumstances these particular women found themselves in (in the power of the Garda concerned) and the general pattern of Garda repression of protest around the Corrib project.

Shell to Sea held a well attended press conference today at which it was highlighted that the video recording of Garda discussing using rape threats as part of an interrogation was symptomatic of the policing of the entire Shell Corrib project. Local resident John Monaghan revealed that another Garda sergeant made abusive sexual remarks to him at a previous protest. ULA TD Joe Higgins added his support to the Shell to Sea demand for an independent international inquiry into both the behavior of Garda and of the controversial private security company IRMS at the Corrib protests over the last decade.

A protest will be held on Saturday, April 9th 2011 outside Belmullet Garda station, Co. Mayo at 2pm. Shell to Sea are inviting people to join this demonstration in support of all the women and men who have been harassed, threatened and intimidated by Gardaí, especially in light of the recently documented comments about the deportation and rape of two female Shell to Sea campaigners. This is not the first example of Garda intimidation and threats against campaigners in Erris. The recording is a glimpse of the reality of intimidation and violence that has dominated community life since Shell's arrival in Co. Mayo.

Garda in Mayo took revenge for the publication of the Corrib cops rape threat video yesterday by attacking Shell to Sea campaigners during another protest near the site where the women were arrested.  Alongside this there are clear indications of a dirty tricks campaign being waged by the Garda Press Office. The fact that Garda from the same division felt confident attacking the friends of the women only hours after the so called investigation had been announced by the Garda Press office demonstrates exactly how serious they expected such an investigation to be.  These actions confirm that the  rape threat as an interrogation method discussion captured on the video is not simply an issue of the Garda directly involved on the video but indicative of the brutal nature of policing in the area where individual Garda continue to expect to have a free hand in attacking campaigners.