The Old Badcop/Badcop Routine

On Friday morning 10/11/06, in County Mayo, in the West of Ireland, at a peaceful protest by locals & supporters of the 'Shell to sea' campaign there were scenes of violence which were initiated by the States police force, An Garda Síochána. Such violence is becoming increasingly more common in Ireland & is a worrying sign of the erosion or our democracy & liberties.
I have provided a link to the website of our State television news service below.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/1110/mayo.html
To fill you in, the 'Shell to sea' campaign was formed, about two years ago, by locals in Mayo who oppose the construction of a gas refinery on the mainland, rather than out at sea where our gas is to be extracted.
What is wrong with a refinery on the mainland? I hear you ask. There are a number of problems with the site chosen by Shell Ireland & they all regard health & safety. The massive pressures in the pipes & their proximity to housing, is probably the main one. If there was an accident & a pipe exploded, a significant number of people would be within the kill-zone, i.e. they would die. A fairly reasonable concern, I’m sure you would agree.
From what I gather, as I am not involved with either side, the ‘Shell to sea’ people want the refinery out at sea where it would be safer for the locals. But Shell want it on the mainland as it is cheaper by about 1.5Bn Euro, which is roughly the profit Shell make every 40 days.
The Government has botched the whole deal from the start & to an onlooker, like myself, it appears that Shell have paid them off, just like they did with the Nigerian officials & in many other places around the Globe. Shell do not have to pay any royalties to the State & will only have to fork out a tiny amount of tax, years after they have sold the gas back to the State.
In addition to this the Government, headed by Taoiseach Bertie Ahearn & Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Noel Dempsey & the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Michael McDowell, have supplied about 250 Gardaí to Shell Ireland to police the peaceful protesters. The cost of which, 100 Euro per Garda, is being borne out by the State.
Since the Gardaí arrived, about a month ago, they have actively tried to provoke the protesters, to no avail, & are, in fact, the only ones involved in any form of violence.
The Taoiseach (PM) Bertie Ahearn, today tried to blame ‘Shell to sea’ for starting it, when he knows full well that it was the Gardaí. Three protesters were hospitalised, one with an heart-attack, as a result of Garda baton-charges & a secondary school teaches’ car was also smashed up.
Ever since Ireland, allegedly, became a rich country, our Gardaí have increasingly acted 'Ultra Vires', which basically means acted outside their powers, i.e. acted above the law.
Shell Ireland have always refused to sit down to open talks on this matter .
Money talks & the Irish Government walks – all over their own people.
They are not doing their May 2007 election campaign any good & will certainly be getting a bollixing from me when they ring my doorbell in the coming months.