Local direct-action groups to converge on Rossport

The Erris region of North Mayo, where blockades of Shell's controversial Rossport gas pipeline are ongoing, is to welcome local community campaigns from around Ireland and abroad when it hosts a Grassroots Gathering in late August.

Community groups campaigning against incinerators, pylons, pipelines, landfills and nuclear facilities will travel from around Ireland and abroad to the tiny village of Rossport for a Grassroots Gathering on 27 and 28 August. Rossport has become a major focus for grassroots action groups since five local men were jailed on 29 June for refusing to undertake not to obstruct Shell from accessing their land to lay a high-pressure pipeline.

Blockades by local people have prevented work from continuing since the men were jailed. Terry Clancy, one of the organisers of the Gathering, told Village the "success of Erris people in halting the work of a multi-billion dollar corporation which has the forces of the State on its side shows the potential of non-violent direct action. It demonstrates the power of local people to organise themselves against the State and big business."

Among the groups going to Rossport will be Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment, who are campaigning against an incinerator at Ringaskiddy; an anti-incinerator group from Galway; anti-pylons groups and veterans of the long-running campaign against Castor nuclear shipments at Gorleben in Germany.

The weekend gathering will take place at the Solidarity Camp in Rossport, where supporters have been camping since June. The Gathering will be the culmination of a Solidarity Week at the camp, which begins on Monday 22 August. This will include tours of the area by families of the Rossport Five; training in "non-violent direct action"; film screenings (powered by a wind-turbine); traditional music sessions, talks on local history and further blockades of Shell operations.

• The Shell to Sea campaign will hold a public meeting at the ATGWU Hall in Abbey St, Dublin on Wednesday, 24 August, at 7.30pm. Speakers will include columnist Fintan O'Toole, Bríd Ní Sheighin (daughter of one of the Rossport Five) and a representative of Shell.

• Shell to Sea has called for a Dublin-wide blockade of Statoil garages on Friday 26 August.

william hederman

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