Rossport Today

Watching the police brutally protect the interests of Shell against the people of Erris today was sickening - but more sickening was watching Ireland's most famous 'socialist' equate protecting the interests of your community with criminality and nakedly promising that the state would always protect the interests of business against anyone who dares to put safety and the quality of the environment first. Sickening because he fully expects the country to support him ........ and he's probably right

They were asked numerous times to get out of the way they didn't.The Guards removed them-proper order.it's not their fault they're doing their job."Police brutality" is a very loose statement.Unfair IMO.

So if a cop asks you to get out of the way and you don't, plod has a right to thump you?

irish news today showed provisional sinn feins 2 faced approach, supporting the protest but senior local members are currently working for shell on site!

party for the working class my arse!

The current rent a mob got what they deserved. That teacher drove her car at the guards. As for the others they were warned numerous times. I'm only sorry the same tactics aren't used in Dublin , when the taxi men block up the roads. While everyone has a right to peaceful protest, others have rights too.

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Originally Posted by sonofstan

So if a cop asks you to get out of the way and you don't, plod has a right to thump you?

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Yes.if you're preventing someone from doing their job and acting as an obstacle on the road the Cop has every right to use physical force.

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Originally Posted by sonofstan

So if a cop asks you to get out of the way and you don't, plod has a right to thump you?

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He probably has the right to use all reasonable force if you don't obey a lawful instruction and if that means using his baton then so be it. The workers have the right to go to work. All DEMOCRATIC processes in relation to the Shell/Rossport situation have been done and dusted. The demonstators, if they are democrats, should accept that. Of course a couple of the original 5 are reported to be Sinn Fein members for whom democracy is a bullet in the back of the head or kneecap. Even Enda Kenny the local TD has come out against them which suggests the protesters have little or no suport in the community. The schol principal would be beter of in the classroom than making a fool of herself on the news.

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Originally Posted by onceahoop

He probably has the right to use all reasonable force if you don't obey a lawful instruction and if that means using his baton then so be it. The workers have the right to go to work. All DEMOCRATIC processes in relation to the Shell/Rossport situation have been done and dusted. The demonstators, if they are democrats, should accept that. Of course a couple of the original 5 are reported to be Sinn Fein members for whom democracy is a bullet in the back of the head or kneecap. Even Enda Kenny the local TD has come out against them which suggests the protesters have little or no suport in the community. The schol principal would be beter of in the classroom than making a fool of herself on the news.

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i note the teacher in question has needed a substitute for 150 days last year.:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Ringo

i note the teacher in question has needed a subsitiute for 150 days last year.:rolleyes:

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She was up for been Drunk and Disorderly as well earlier in the year. Failed to turn up for her court appearance. Lovely person to have helping to shape your children.:eek:

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Originally Posted by onceahoop

She was up for been Drunk and Disorderly as well earlier in the year. Failed to turn up for her court appearance. Lovely person to have helping to shape your children.:eek:

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So if you're a very nice person who has never broken the law you are entitled not to have a copper baton you, but otherwise you're fair game? Can someone please come back with a real argument, not all this ad hominem stuff?

sonofstan is right, it doesn't matter whether you're a saint or a sinner, the same rules apply; and I'm sure a "reasonable force" measure is supposed to apply in these situations. Was reasonable force used, or did a Garda lose his rag, that's the question you should be asking yourselves.

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Originally Posted by dahamsta

sonofstan is right, it doesn't matter whether you're a saint or a sinner, the same rules apply. And I'm sure a "reasonable force" measure applies. Was reasonable force used, or did a Garda lose his rag, that's the question you should be asking yourselves.

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True, but when does the Saint become the sinner? When he/she breaks the rules and the Rossport protesters broke the rules when they refused to let the workers go to work an then refused to unblock the road. I caught a piece of a discussion on Marian Finnucane today where a number of commentators who saw what happened said that the Gardai were extremely restrained and that it wasn't a baton charge or anything like it. No doubt it will all be viewed on the video tapes to see who broke the law. BTW have any of our great Socialist politicians been back to Rossport since their political stroke a few weeks ago. I'd suggest that if it was Paris or any where else in Europe there'd be more than a few minor injuries when the Police let loose.

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Originally Posted by onceahoop

True, but when does the Saint become the sinner?

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I'd suggest trying to grasp the point of a post before you quote and reply to it. First sentence, second and third clauses.

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Originally Posted by dahamsta

I'd suggest trying to grasp the point of a post before you quote and reply to it. First sentence, second and third clauses.

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The Gardai are there to enforce the rule of law. If in any given circumstance a person (who otherwise might be of exemplary character) is breaking the law and refusing to allow the gardai to enforce it then he/she has to accept the consequences of their actions. I think I did grasp the point of what was written.

You didn't. At all. Let's leave it at that, because it's obvious you're not going to.

as far as i could see the guards were restrained, they only broke the windows of the van & hit the protesters on the legs

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Originally Posted by onceahoop

She was up for been Drunk and Disorderly as well earlier in the year. Failed to turn up for her court appearance. Lovely person to have helping to shape your children.:eek:

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ah come off it, thats a common enuff thing in ireland!

Blocking a road by sit down protest is a peaceful protest. The total heavy handed action of the cops is disgusting, but not surprising. Afterall, we've all seen it before both in Rossport and in Dublin when there's soft pinko's to beat up. Over recent weeks on the news, we've seen protestors already off the road thrown into ditches, people rushed at by lines of cops, and now battens drawn against people legitimately protesting. If this was shell in Nigeria the Government would be falling over themselves to condemn it if it was highlighted in the press.

Aherns support of the states police backing the multinational is hardly a surprise. Niether is the fact that the media never questioned him on his assertion that all the other options have been looked at. Every review has only had terms of reference to look at the safety of this option, not at the option of processing off shore instead. This is the current demand of the Shell to Sea protestors - for a review to exam off shore v on shore. Ahern should be ashamed of himself. I remain convinced there are major skeletons in the FF cupboard over this whole decision, and they are running scared of reopening this file.

As for the rule of law, it's a pity Ahern and McDowell wouldn't show the same committment for upholding it in Moyross or certain Dublin estates. Imagine those areas getting flooded with cops everyday, and how many deaths, injuries, harrassements, intimidations etc could be stopped.

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Originally Posted by Ringo

as far as i could see the guards were restrained, they only broke the windows of the van & hit the protesters on the legs

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And picking a protestor up and throwing him into a ditch giving him head injuries, sickening to say the least, bunch of useless Sean Og's.

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Originally Posted by Macy

As for the rule of law, it's a pity Ahern and McDowell wouldn't show the same committment for upholding it in Moyross or certain Dublin estates. Imagine those areas getting flooded with cops everyday, and how many deaths, injuries, harrassements, intimidations etc could be stopped.

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Exactly. The Guards are only interested in giving out tickets for speeding - while scumbags drive at 120 KPH injuring innocent people only to get cosy sentences. It's no wonder the drug barons are laughing at them. If the state gave a damn about it's citizens it could have stopped them long ago, but no they just attack people making a stand against corrupt oil companies with bad safety records.

You have to laugh at it.

From the tv pictures it seems like the gardai did use reasonable force.

Could see that the teacher protestor in her van was warned serveral time yet she choose to drive towards the gardai. If I did the same thing on any street i would expect no less.

With regards the baton charge the gardai did look very nervous but could also see that the protestors were warned numerous times to stop blocking the road. They are lucky the gardai did not use water cannons that they used on EU Presidency protestors.

I believe there were some outsiders bused in but numbers seem to be quiet low. The protestors had labelled this a "day of action" & I would think they were happy with gardai action as they got the extra publicity they required.

I agree a sitdown protest can be peaceful but the gardai also have the duty to remove you from the road. AFAIK the only way to do this is to pick you up & lift/drag if resist.

IMO that fella Corduff on the news should be dumped back into jail as he is still in contempt of court. He was lucky Shell asked he be released last time.