Lively Vigil For Maura Harrington
31/03/09
Over 100 people braved the rain and cold weather on Friday night (March 27) to extend solidarity with imprisoned Shell to Sea campaigner Maura Harrington.
Mayo woman Maura has now been in Mountjoy jail for nearly three weeks as the Twenty-Six County authorities attempt to break her resistance to Shell’s activities in the Rossport community.
Banners were unfurled, leaflets handed out and fiddles and flutes produced as the prison vigil with a difference got underway and soon developed into a seisiún ceoil it is hoped Maura could hear loud and clear.
Garda harassment of the Shell to Sea campaign in west Mayo has increased in recent weeks, with many locals facing court summons, fines and the very real threat of imprisonment.
éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson, who has traveled to Mayo on a number of occasions to take part in Shell to Sea demonstrations, has called for Maura’s immediate release.
“Maura Harrington is guilty of no crime. The offence she is guilty of is standing up for her community in the face of abuse from a private corporation and the state, she should be released without delay,” Brian said.
“The Twenty-Six County establishment has perpetrated a massive travesty in relation to the Corrib gas field and the west Mayo community.
“First, they effectively gave away the massive supplies of gas off the Mayo coast to a private corporation, totally neglecting their duty to exploit the natural resources of Ireland for the benefit of the people of Ireland.
“To make matters worse, they have ruthlessly facilitated the operation of Shell and its partners in the Rossport area, against the wishes of local people. They have jailed people and sent the Gardaí in to attack demonstrators and trample on the right to peaceful protest.”
Brian continued: “With the prospect of more political prosecutions very real in the time ahead, it is important that people mobilise around the Shell to Sea campaign. An effective demonstration of opposition to this persecution has the potential to refocus attention on the injustice ongoing in west Mayo.”