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Socialist
Party Leaflet
1st October 2005 |
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Nationalise the Gas - People before profit Fighting for their communities The Rossport Five should not have spent even one day in prison. Nor should they be hauled before the courts again on October 25. Their only “crime” was to fight to protect their families and their communities. Never before has a company planned to bring unrefined natural gas ashore at such dangerously high pressures. Despite this, the US Office of Pipeline Safety records that between 1986-2005 there have been 4,280 accidents with natural gas pipelines causing 382 deaths and 3061 injuries and creating $780 million worth of damage to property. Shell - Profit Before People Shell could refine the gas at sea for less than €400 million. Instead they prefer to increase profits by putting an entire community at risk. Shell’s after-tax profits last year were $17.5 billion. The best way to get the gas refined at sea is to eliminate the profit motive and nationalise the gas (see over for details). Three Lessons The jailing of the Rossport Five shows that we have one law for the rich and one law for the rest in this country. It also shows that the Government and the official “Opposition” are agents for big business - FF, FG, and the PDs did everything to help Shell and nothing to help the people of Rossport. Last but not least, the release of the five shows the value of protest and “people power”. This must be built on now by taking the campaign against Shell’s plans into the Trade Union movement. Unions must Act The Socialist Party welcomes the fact that trade union leaders are speaking at today’s demonstration. However, the lack of action or even forthright condemnation from most union leaders during the 94 days the men were in jail was unacceptable. The unions must now come on board the campaign against Shell’s plans. This issue should be taken up by every trade union activist in every union. Given the level of opposition in North Mayo to Shell’s plans the company will need to go much further than having 5 men arrested when they may decide to go for broke and lay the on shore pipeline. In reality, the only way they could try to implement this plan would be to turn North Mayo into a mini-police state involving the Garda and possibly the Army to repress opposition. The unions must play an active role in defence of this community next time around and the “breathing space” that opens up now must be used to win the unions to this position Nationalise the Gas Gas worth up €20 billion was given away by Fianna Fail and the PDs to Shell, Statoil and Marathon. In return the companies have to sell gas back to the Irish market at world prices and pay corporation tax at 25% - less than the tax rates paid by most PAYE workers. If the Corrib Gas Field were taken out of Shell’s hands through nationalisation and a state-run exploration/refining company set up the gas could be refined at sea. Furthermore, the gas could be provided at cheap rates to ordinary consumers and the proceeds from gas sales used to benefit working class people through investment in the health service, education etc. For a Socialist Alternative Fianna
Fail, Fine Gael and the PDs have showed their true pro-big business colours
in this controversy. Labour has failed to say anything that would upset
Fine Gael. This shows the need for a new force in Irish politics which
is willing to tackle the big business parties. Capitalism has also showed
its true face, putting profits before peoples lives and using the state
to imprison people fighting for justice. This shows the need for an alternative
to capitalism - a democratic socialist society where big business is publicly
owned and democratically controlled in the interests of ordinary people.
That is what the Socialist Party is fighting for. If you
We demand: - Mass
action to halt all pipe laying when Shell try to resume |