Weekly Tuesday morning protest turns into a sucessful blockade
Outside the gates of Shell's Bellanaboy refinery in Mayo on Tuesday 18th October, someone got on top of a tractor, blocking all Shell deliveries for the morning.
At 8am on Tuesday, about 15 people gathered at the gates of Bellanaboy refinery for the weekly local protest that has been happening the last couple months.
The first tractor that Shell tried to bring out was stopped by the protesters, and one person got onto the cab. This blocked all Shell traffic but local traffic was still able to squeeze by, as guards and protesters directed them around the stopped tractor. All the trucks of stone which Shell have begun bringing to the Aughoose compound were also stopped and turned back in the direction they came.
Eventually the person on the tractor got down and was not arrested. People stayed in the road blocking the tractor for the rest of the morning protest, until 10:30am.
There haven't been as many actions coming from the Rossport Solidarity Camp lately, as there has been so much work to do moving the camp from the field it has been in for the summer and setting up the winter camp down the road. However Shell has said it expects to begin peat removal from the tunnelling compound at the end of October, which will mean up to 475 truck movements a day (so stay tuned).
Come up and see the cozy new winter camp, visitors are always welcome! We are still located in Aughoose but further down the road towards Pullathomas, near Aughoose church. There is still plenty of work building the new camp to be done along with actions.
On the Halloween weekend, there will be a weekend of direct action themed workshops at the new Rossport Solidarity Camp. If you are interested in coming down or even running a workshop, let us know by email on rossportsolidaritycamp@gmail.com
Also there will be a Day of Solidarity on Friday, the 11th of November to mark 5 years since the baton charge and the major campaign of Garda violence began here in Mayo. Please come and show your support.