Garda Operation
After the Rossport Five were jailed for contempt of court in the summer of 2005 for refusing to allow Shell workers access to their lands, supporters illegally blockaded all project works around Kilcommon in protest. The recently formed Shell to Sea (S2S) took part in the campaign with the aim of having the gas refined offshore as is done in Kinsale Head gas field though Shell state there are numerous technical and economic reasons why it should be processed onshore. These blockades were maintained until October 2006, when hundreds of Gardaí used force to remove protesters blockading the sites.
Previous to this, the Gardaí had not interfered with the blockades, which stayed in place for fifteen months. The requirement to use physical force to break the blockades made national TV news in Ireland. Some Gardaí and protesters were hospitalised, and many protesters claimed the police used excessive force. Gardaí were also accused of operating a "no-arrest policy" in order to circumvent the judicial process (this was based on comments made by Superintendent Joe Gannon in an interview in Garda Review, in which he stated: "There were no arrests. That was part of our strategy; we did not want to facilitate anyone down there with a route to martyrdom.")
The Garda operation succeeded in its goal of breaking the blockades preventing work on the refinery site at Bellanaboy. Work there has continued with brief pauses occasioned by site occupations and lock-ons) since. At times, hundreds of Gardaí have been deployed to facilitate the project. There have been accusations of intimidation of local people by Shell to Sea supporters
Read more about this topic: Corrib Gas Controversy
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