County Mayo, Ireland: Staunch Shell To Sea campaigner Maura Harrington has been jailed for 28 days and ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation by an Irish Judge.
On 9 March Shell announced the submission of its planning application for the revised pipeline route, that will now see the pipeline situated 140 metres from populated areas, as opposed to the original 70 metres from peoples doorsteps.
Harrington, a retired school head teacher and well known for her staunch resistance to Shell in County Mayo, became one of the most dangerous anti-Shell campaigners in County Mayo when in September 2008 she instigated a hunger strike in her car outside the Corrib Gas pipeline landfall site. Her orders were, remove the pipe laying ship Solitaire from Irish waters or have the death of a local resident on your hands. The historical connotations of this action were too much. The Solitaire ship had an “accident” and left the West Ireland coast for repairs in Scotland.
Harrington was convicted of assaulting a Garda officer in 2007, after she slapped the police officer round the face. In scenes reminiscent of the 2005 imprisonment of the Rossport Five, as Harrington was taken to Mountjoy prison in Dublin, Garda officers clashed with anti-Shell protestors and supporters.
Related film and reports
Channel 4 – Shell Water Pollution Report
Independent Film – Policing The Pollution: Don’t Mention The Water
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