SHELL - HUNGER STRIKE ENDS AS SOLITAIRE LEAVES IRISH WATERS

In what may yet come to be seen as a pivotal moment in the long-running campaign by local people against Shell in north Mayo, Maura Harrington ended her 10-day-old hunger strike yesterday following confirmation that the Shell pipe-laying ship, the Solitaire, had left Irish territorial waters. The Solitaire had been lying off shore near Killybegs, Co. Donegal after reportedly suffering damage and has now moved to a port in Scotland ostensibly for repairs.

However, there is now a question-mark over when it might recommence its work and it seems likely that with the onset of autumn/winter weather a resumption of planned pipe-laying work may have to be cancelled. If this is the case, it will provide the campaigners in north Mayo with a window of opportunity to push their message that the Mayo project is detrimental to Ireland's interest.

A possible indication of the development of a more nationally-orientated campaign came when Maura Harrington, in a statement read as she ended the hunger strike, focused less on the success of her hunger strike and more on the detriment to the people of Ireland that the rip-off of their resources by Shell will bring.

The text of her statement is set out below:

˜I thank Divine Grace and the support of decent people everywhere that the Solitaire has left Irish territorial waters.

˜The courage of ˜the Chief, Pat O Donnell and his son Jonathan, who fought to uphold their rights at sea, and the tenacity of local people, together with national and international support, in their quest for justice is a testament to what is best in all of us.

˜Local people have borne the brunt of Shells arrogance and Government neglect for the past eight years. Yet Corrib remains a national issue because the Government continues to put the profits of Shell before the needs of the Irish people. Any alternative location for the Corrib Gas infrastructure will not build new schools, new hospitals or contribute to the National Pension Fund. Until we the People benefit from what is rightfully ours, any attempt to extricate Shell and the Government from the mess that is Corrib remains doomed to failure.

˜It is fitting that the latest episode in the Corrib debacle should occur on the anniversary (by day and date) of the landslides which devastated Glengad and the wider Dooncarton area in 2003. If Shell is capable of any rationality, now is the time for them to accept that they will never put a pipeline through Glengad.

˜I believe that the Shell to Sea campaign gives hope to all who strive for an Ireland that cherishes all its people equally and upholds values that don t carry a price tag."

See related Celtic News articles on this subject at:

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J B Moffatt

Director of Information

Celtic League

20/09/08