Shell security attack Willie Corduff after illegal Glengad compound dismantled
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Thursday April 23, 2009 16:14
by J
Entrance to Glengad compound Thursday morning
Shell's illegal Glengad compound was dismantled last night and Goldman winner, Willie Corduff was assaulted by masked Shell security during truck protest.
Yesterday Shell’s attempts to restart their works on the Corrib Gas project were ground to a halt after only eight hours. At 6-30 a workforce of about 20, backed up by around 50 private security guards erected fences to re-establish a compound. This compound is the would-be on-shore pipe installation base. Works were seriously hampered when local people and solidarity camp activists occupied machinery.
By 4 o clock Rossport Five member Willie Corduff was still refusing to leave the from under the truck, which he had occupied in the compound and all work had ground to a halt. Shell were unable to continue as Willie was preventing necessary equipment being used.
As the evening drew to a close Willie was resolute that he would stay and the community rallied around in support. Throughout the evening supporters gathered at the compound to show support for the campaign and Willie Corduff’s stand bringing blankets and hot water bottles.
Related Links:
Shell to Sea website l Shell return to Glengad in force
As the crowd gathered tensions rose as Erris people saw first hand Shell’s attempt to devastate their community for a tenth year in a row. The fence beside the truck where Willie was positioned was removed and the activists made their way to Willie to ensure he was ok. Soon the entire southern exterior perimeter was dismantled. Shell’s initial works were almost undone.
At this point people returned to see Willie who was cold and still but all things considered was in good spirits. Erris activists had checked Shell’s attempts to restart work. People sat around talking and were in high spirits.
Protesters Attacked
Around 3am the vigil of supporters were gathered on the road and Willie was accompanied at the truck only by his brother- in-law. Willie had briefly gotten out from under the truck to stretch his legs. The two men were standing beside the truck when up to ten Shell security personnel in black and wearing balaclavas “appeared out of nowhere”. The men pushed Willie to the ground and started kicking him and hitting him with a heavy object that appeared to be a baton or torch. They knelt on his head and twisted his arms behind his back as they beat him. His brother-in-law attempted to aid Willie but was pushed back repeatedly and forcibly removed by the masked Shell security into an adjacent field where he was then knocked to the ground, kicked and beaten.
A Shell medic stayed with Willie for a period. Local people, who arrived on the scene shortly after the two men were assaulted, were so frightened of the Shell security personnel that they called the Gardaí who were patrolling the area. Willie was removed by an ambulance to Castlebar General Hospital, where he is being treated for nausea and severe bruising to the head and body. A Garda statement confirmed the identity of Willie and his brother-in-law’s attackers stating that “A protester [Willie] who was present on the site since yesterday was this morning removed from the compound by security staff.”
Works as we write appears to be suspended. Willie Corduff is in hospital, the area is on a knife-edge as a mixture of fear and anger brews.
People are urged to travel to Erris now to stand with Erris people to make a stand against Shell.
Pallisade fences at compound overturned
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Comments (24 of 24)
Jump To Comment: 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Though very sceptical of all conspiracy theories, the unrelenting kind of what appears to me as some kind of insane government bullying described here in Mayo (regarding our oil and gas reserves), and in other situations (like the M3 / Tara heritage one for example), leaves me feeling that there probably has to be some kind of a very nasty, powerful, and invisible form of bullying-force operating from behind the scenes on our most senior "public servants"?
Otherwise, how can such government madness as this -- repeated again and again in recent years, and with no sign whatsoever of any end to it -- be realistically explained?
Some useful clues perhaps (?) can be found in places like "Tragedy and Hope" (by Dr Carroll Quigley):
"By these acts all States are in torture; they exhort to tranquillity, are ready to sacrifice everything for peace: but we will not give them peace until they openly acknowledge our international Super-Government, and with submissiveness." (Copied from http://www.sweetliberty.org/issues/shadow/tragedyandhop...e.htm )
Dr Carroll Quigley ("Tragedy and Hope"):
http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&q=Dr+Carroll+Quigley+...meta=
Connolly once described the media as "the prostitute pressmen - the hired liars of the enemy". It is certainly a description that fits RTÉ today.
Can someone set up an online petition calling on RTE to end its biased reporting? It would probably not make them change but if we can get thousands upon thousands of names to it, and threaten a tv licence boycott they might think twice. Or perhaps not....
This kind of thing must be recognised as "corporate terrorism" - i.e. literally a corporation terrorising grassroots community activists.
I have heard that this is widespread in Columbia, where large corporations are said to employ their own paramilitary organisations to intimidate trade union members and the like.
Shell is making a big PR mistake if it permits this to go unpunished. Shell should sack the "security" contractors and go back to thinking long and hard about whether it wants any future in Ireland. Because this kind of cowardly, violent approach is a sure way to destroy a corporate PR image.
Sack them now, Shell! Report them to the Garda. And wash your hands of them.
Says what many are thinking - this looks like the work of agents provocateurs:
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/world/fury...ating
Presumaby the garda technical examination will include taking impressions of footprints on the site, especially from where the attack on Willie happened.
So, having carried out one act of thuggery, and the police being alerted, the thugs returned later to carry out another?
AFAIK there is very limited access to the site. Were any checkpoints set up in the intervening period?
Or is a group of paramilitaries so common that the police will ignore it?
How can a group of up to 15 armed and masked men come and go at will... unless...
There must be some very red faces today.
Re Independent's coverage of the incidents in Mayo Wed/Thur
24 April 2009
For publication - and any reply you may send
Dear Frank
I hope you are well.
The Independent's coverage today of events in relation to the Corrib Gas dispute is quite frankly, outrageous. There can be no excuse for your reporters not having got the facts straight by the time of going to press last night - unless they consciously decided to make no effort to ascertain for themselves what had gone on on Wednesday night/Early Thursday morning. Had either of them spoken to the family of the brutally assaulted Willie Corduff or representatives of the peaceful Shell to Sea campaign they would have known that the version of events they have presented is largely a piece of fiction.
Willie Corduff was assaulted by approximately 10 masked and armed men at 3am on Thursday morning. He was beaten with chains and long batons until one of his attackers said 'Stop now lads, he's nearly finished'. His brother in law was also attacked at the same time but beaten less seriously. There were no armed, masked men at the Shell site at 11.30pm on Wednesday evening. No Shell staff were attacked by protestors. These are just a few of the facts that Tom Brady and Tom Shiel would have found out if they had done their research properly.
Will the Independent take steps to undo the damage it has done to the public record and to the true victims of all the thuggery in Mayo? Why does it routinely depict a peaceful community in protest at the very real dangers they face as being the opposite of what it really is?
Your reporters might find the following article and comments beneath it helpful:
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/92036
With best wishes
Miriam Cotton
MediaBite
On yesterdays (Thursday) last word on Today FM, John Monaghan of Pobal Chill Chomáin misled the Nation, when he claimed that both incidents at Glengad happened within a half hour of each other, and that Willie was alone when he was “attacked” by masked men.
He would have known that there was at least 3 hours between both, and that pete Lavelle was with Willie at the time.
He was well aware at the time that it was security that removed Willie from the compound, and he should also have known that the securities always video record such actions.
No doubt the Gardai will already have viewed that video footage, and the true story will soon be known.
Mr Monaghan can be heard if you follow the link below, at 25 min into clip. The Garda’s version is just before that.
http://www.radioireland.ie/lastword/2342009-16.wmv
Perhaps if we could see photos of the injuries it would help in get word out.
Today's report by Lorna Siggins, Teresa O' Malley and Michael Parsons is some improvement on the Garda press release that was masquerading as journalism yesterday. However, once again it is carefully contextualised so as to ensure that it is the protestors who are portrayed as the instigators and not Shell or their bullies. 'Corrib protestors urged to stand back' runs the headline, as if it were they who were responsible for the thuggery.
Obvious inconsistencies with the report are that the Gardai, though they were not there at the time by their own admission, state that armed, masked men invaded the compound at 11.30 pm on Wednesday night and caused damage. They are unable to comment on 'specifics', however, when it comes to the same gang of armed, masked men mysteriously reappearing at 3am Thursday morning and bizarrely attacking Willie Corduff and his brother-in-law. Why did the gang injure a security guard during the earlier 'intrusion'?
Don't these thugs know which side they are on?
Shell was not available to comment on these stragne happenings in the night. Somebody invited the thugs in - and if it wasn't the Gardai and it wasn't the protestors, who would be a likely suspect?
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0424/1....html
What is Eamon Ryan doing urging protestors to stand back? Is that not the same Eamon Ryan who, before his party sold out to Fianna Fail, was anxious to avail of any photo opportunity he could beside Shell to Sea protestors? Where is his condemnation of the vicious assault on Corduff?
The real villains of the piece are meanwhile well out of the spotlight: Shell Oil. They have made complete fools of us all. This whole situation is their doing, from start to finish. They must be entertained by the spectacle of us Irish people: the distress of Mayo residents; other Irish people who are willing to dress up in balaclavas and attack a defencless man in the middle of the night, the Irish police routinely assaulting and roughandling their fellow citizens, the Irish media's obscenely craven capitulation to Shell's interests; the Irish government's delinquent foolishness in giving away desperately needed resrouces and its willingness to use and abuse its own electors. They have offered to put an entire community of peaceful, hard-working people in danger and to needlessly destroy and pollute a pristine environment. And all for what? For no return whatsoever worth speaking of. A few transient jobs in exchange for billions of euro worth of oil and gas and a pittance in taxes - which may never even become due because of the ridiculous concessions gifted to the exploration companies. When you think of all that could be done for the country with an appropriate share of the revenue, this situation is appalling.
When will basic common sense begin to prevail here? When will our government set about restoring our dignity in this ludicrous situation? Renegotiate this ridiculous contract with Shell and its partners and have them locate their facility out at sea which is what they would be required to do elsewhere. They will still make vast profits even if it costs them more to do it the safe way and the right way. Denis Halliday is right: it doesn't seem as if our government has any ability to navigate this situation decently.
These thugs rent and live in apartments and houses in our small town and villages.
They should not be served in our pubs and shops .
Ostracise these mercenaries,they are killers in our midst.
Surely no one is that desperate for a few pieces of silver!!!
SHELL kills all over the WORLD.
We have great admiration for Willie's bravery and for all those who tried to prevent the illegal fencing at Glengad. Looks like the attack on Willie was planned for maximum hurt to him with minimium witnesses . With few people around and his brother in law also attacked, in the dark, no garda observiing (deliberately) and no video footage.
The incredible story been spun of masked men in balacalvas causing great damage is clearly a set up by the Garda in collaboration with Shell with the manual work carried out by the infamous IRMS mercenaries.
Sadly it is like Hitler's Gestapo in action and answerable to nobody.
Incomplete reports are misleading and therefore inaccurate.
Maybe RTE Director General should be asked to put it on the record if he stands over this as policy at RTE.
Perhaps D Norris could put such a question to him. The chances are he will give the rest of us SOP; Standard Operating Procedure of ignoring such questions.
What about the notion of picketing RTE or/and Newstalk for their biased and partial reporting. ?
Newstalk and 102 FM are in the same building in Digges Street , it is just around the corner from the Break for the Border club off Stephens Green, Dunnes Stores end.
It might also be an opportunity to hand out literature with (my perennial drum) the website addresses, especially mayogasinfo.com (for the uninformed and misinformed majority).
This news is shocking but it is, in my opinion, going to get worse until the Mount Everest of lies are countered through the medium of advertising peoples media.
Solidarity.
Mainsteam journalism reaches new levels of disgrace this week
The BBC are reporting that it was a Shell security guard that was attacked and injured in the incident, attacked by 15 masked men apparently. Poor Willie probably doesn't even know he works for Shell.
The whole thing is a disgrace. Once again the media has shamed itself...but then again I've come to expect nothing less from the BBC these days. These lies need to be stopped before they get out of hand. I'm waiting for a response from Auntie Beeb as to where they are getting their facts on this one.
I wish Willie a speedy recovery and everyone at Rossport all the best in the coming weeks. Don't let them away with this
"I am doing press spokespersn for Dublin Shell to Sea on this issue, and I have already been in contact with the Press Ombudsman office today and they say that the media are not technically doing anything wrong. "
As a former chief reporter who learned his job on the job in the UK; the media may not be doing anything technically wrong except contravening every journalistic ethic going.
The NUJ and Press ombudsman's office have both agreed with the NUJ's published Code of Conduct so make up your own minds where any honesty and loyalty might lie.
I have very, very few kind words left anymore regarding the mainstream media. In the main they simply sicken and disgust me.
Keith Harris
editor
newsmedianews.com
It is a terrible atrosity for this kind of assault to happen anywhere in Ireland,but when it happens to a member of the public who is standing up to BIG WIG companys like shell it just goes to show you that there is no justice in the Free State.
Secondly it was coincidental that there was no Gardaí presence when this happened. Where did they go? We have seen in the past the large presence of the Gardaí in Mayo when there was protests being held against Shell,but when a man is attacked by there private security personnell the Gardaí are no where to be seen.
There needs to be a full inquiry into this matter,it is terrible for some people to suggest that this was a ploy by Shell to sea to gain media attention.
I send my best wishes to those who have been effected by the Brutish and Violent acts of the security staff in Mayo.
According to the Garda press statement, Corduff was "removed" from the compound by members of the IRMS, so that's practically from the horse's mouth. Some IRMS men have attacked people around Glengad in the past. Some are trained killers. Answer your question?
Willie CORDUFF, of course, and not Kilduff, as I incorrectly stated above.
I have e-mailed and can't get a straight answer from anyone. The RTE news have been full of a story, backed by a superintendent, of masked men in balaclavas raiding the Shell facility and doing incredible damage with a bulldozer. Is this story true? There has been no mention in the straight media about Willie Kilduff. Not a word. So what is going on? Did the masked avengers belong to Shell - in which case the RTE story is a lie - or is there some other explanation? Answers, anyone?
It's rare to come across someone whose name matches their comment so well. I applaud your honesty.
"Serious concerns as to the background of security personnel in Erris have been raised in the wake of the death of a former Shell security contract worker who worked in Glengad, Michael Dwyer, as part of an alleged plot to assassinate the Bolivian President, Evo Morales"
Jesus christ! we can do better than that cant we ? this type of comment Clutching at straws surely - the purpose of this article is that we cannot believe all we hear and yet the author seems to take the Bolivian government's veiw of this as Gospel.
hypocrisy or naivety
god help the poor people of rossport who would be just as well off without the mobs of political tourists lining up to take on shell .
This whole thing may be orchestrated to justify a violent backlash against shell which will inevetably happen.
"I thought they were trying to kill me. They beat me until I stopped moving. I heard one of them say, 'Stop now lads, he's nearly finished.' " – Willie Corduff
Shell to Sea is appalled at the vicious and brutal attack that was made on Rossport 5 member Willie Corduff by Shell security force wearing balaclavas last night. Willie had been under that truck on the Glengad site for 16 hours, when at approximately 3:00am IRMS security wearing balaclavas moved in to forcibly remove him. Subsequently an ambulance was called and brought him to Castlebar Hospital, where he still remains. Today is the second anniversary of the day that Willie Corduff won the Goldman Environmental prize.
A local resident who was present that the time stated that he saw the masked security men push Willie to the ground and start kicking him and hitting him with large batons. They knelt on his head and twisted his arms behind his back as they beat him. His brother-in-law attempted to aid Willie but was pushed back repeatedly and forcibly removed by the masked Shell security into an adjacent field where he was then knocked to the ground, kicked and beaten.
Shell to Sea Spokesperson Terence Conway stated: “This was a vicious and cowardly attack by this group of balaclava-wearing Shell mercenaries in the middle of the night, on a brave member of our community, Willie Corduff, who was peacefully protesting the illegality of this project. The only violence that happened in Glengad last night was carried out by Shell security”
Serious concerns as to the background of security personnel in Erris have been raised in the wake of the death of a former Shell security contract worker who worked in Glengad, Michael Dwyer, as part of an alleged plot to assassinate the Bolivian President, Evo Morales.
Earlier last night at approximately 11:30pm, the fencing that Shell contractors had unlawfully put up that day was removed. During the day, the local community actively opposed the fencing work, as there is no planning permission for the work in Glengad.
Allegations that protestors entered Glengad site carrying iron bars and chains, or that any security personnel was harmed, are absolutely untrue.
Mr Conway continued, “It has become common practice to falsely accuse us of violence, in order to cover up the brutality that is inflicted upon us. This work in Glengad is totally illegal but all of our attempts to raise the illegality of these works have fallen on deaf Government ears. Repeated request to see the permissions for these works have been ignored.”
For verification and further comment contact:
Terence Conway - ****************
Maura Harrington - ****************
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Goldman Environmental Prize and Willie Corduff: http://www.goldmanprize.org/node/605
Related Link: http://www.shelltosea.com
Willie Corduff meets Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US Congress, at a luncheon on Capitol Hill, Washington DC on Thursday, April 26th, 2007. Four days earlier Corduff was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in San Francisco. (Pic: Stephen Mills, Sierra)
Michelle I promise you we are trying, but it is very difficult. The news reports are coming from the Garda Press Office and the media are not doing anything illegal themselves by reporting what an official Garda press statment says.
I am doing press spokespersn for Dublin Shell to Sea on this issue, and I have already been in contact with the Press Ombudsman office today and they say that the media are not technically doing anything wrong.
We have refuted these lies in both press releases and through ringing the press. However we cant force them to do anything.,
Please write letters to the press yourself to make your feelings and support known. the more backup we get the better!
Are you going to let the bastards away with saying that it was masked protestors who did the assaulting. thats what I heard onthe radio today and when I heard it I was shocked to think that the nobility of the protest to date had been compromised by terror tactics. Most people in the country at this time believe it was the protestors who carried out the thuggery. You must act to fix the record immediately. Go on the Radio and blow the whistle on those hired thugs and Shell the terrorist.