Back in Dublin

This past weekend the SIT students travelled to County Mayo in the north-west of Ireland. We went there to learn about the Shell to Sea campaign and explore the natural beauty of the area. We stayed at the Kilkommen Hostel, owned and operated by the lovely Fritz and Betty.

Willie and his grandson Jamie on the farm

From Sunday through Thursday we met with local protesters and townspeople, went hiking, and saw a rural Irish farm. It is such an amazing area of the country. We went on a long walk along the massive cliffs facing the Atlantic Ocean, thankfully no one fell off, and of course saw some wild sheep. We heard stories from our guide about surfing in these waters, wearing full body wetsuits, in the dead of winter. And how locals who own one of the cliff-islands throw their sheep into the water to climb up the cliff face and graze on the island. Then, the sheep dogs do the same to herd them right off the island and into the water, from where the farmers scoop up the sheep. I'll add pictures of the island when I get a chance.

Me, Carly, and Allie on the farm

What was most important about the trip was learning about Shell Oil and the Shell to Sea campaign. If you do anything after reading this entry, please go to shelltosea.com to learn morea and help out these people. I know many of you have probably never even heard of County Mayo, let alone Rossport, the town we were in. Essentially, some years back Shell Oil acquired the rights from the Irish government to explore land off the NW coast of Ireland. Shell found deposits of natural gas and, being the corporation that they are, then made motions to harness the resource. However, to do so will mean potentially dire consequences not only for the environment but the people of Rossport and the surrounding area. What Shell is attempting to do has NEVER been done before: they want to run an extremely high pressure pipeline from the gas pocket to a refinery that they've just started building onshore. The proposed route for the pipeline will run through many local's land, in some cases only 70 meters from their homes. The danger in this is that this gas is extremely explosive and toxic. Since the pipeline is being built on bog land, which is itself unstable, the chance for the pipes to explode or lead is high. Should the pipes explode, the chance of destruction is unfathomable. The people I met, their children, grandchildren, animals, and land would all be gone in the name of profit. To keep things short, Shell illegally claimed the land of these locals, offering money in recompense (but little compared to the millions Shell will earn), but not all the farmers were willing to give up. Five went to jail. They're named the Rossport Five. One man ,Willie, whom I met and whose farm and family I visited, was one of them. He was recently awarded the Gold Man award, the equivilant of the Nobel Peace Prize for environmental advocacy. Along with the injustice of Shell, numerous human rights violations have been occuring as the state and the Garda (Irish police force) baton, intimidate, and beat up the peaceful protesters. They wrongfully arrest them, and then lie to convict them in court. I cannot do justice to explaining the many facets of this conflict so again, please visit shelltosea.com

The sheep!

I will update more later. Tonight I am seeing another Dublin International Film Festival showing with my friend Carly, Lars and the Real Girl, with Ryan Gosling (total hottie). Tomorrow is another 6 Nations Rugby Match - woohoo! It's Scotland v. Ireland and the Scots have already taken over the town. I've seen many a men in kilts, etc. and at 2:30 in the afternoon today a few were already schwasted outside the local pub having a cig, and the game isn't even until tomorrow!

Lots of love, miss you all.

One of the protest signs

The Shell to Sea protest headquarters

A protest sign

On our hike along the cliffs

Me on the cliffs

The island they shepherd sheep onto

Where we stayed in Mayo

My ancestor's pub!