Shell 'Security' in Rossport

The CYM strongly condemn last weeks events in which Willie Corduff, local Mayo farmer and one of the 5 men from Rossport who were imprisoned for the stand against injustice, was the victim of a savage beating by hooded men protecting the Shell compound in Erris.
The attacks were carried out in the early hours of the morning while he picketed at an entrance. His assailants wore balaclavas and dressed all in black.

Willie and 2 other men had positioned themselves under a Shell truck that was going to work on the site the previous afternoon. His 2 fellow protesters were quickly removed by Gardai policing the site, but they were unable to force Willie out. He managed to avoid being removed staging his protest throughout the rest of the day and night. A vigil was held in solidarity with his protest by locals and fellow campaigners.

At approximately 4 o' clock in the morning when others had gone for food and the numbers at the vigil were at it's lowest, 7-8 men dressed all in black and wearing balaclavas dragged Corduff out from underneath the vehicle and proceeded to beat him until he stopped moving, they had intended on killing him to send a message to Irish people that we cannot stand in the way of Shell’s corporate plans.

Once he had stopped moving he heard a security guard remark "that's it lads he's finished".

Corduffs brother who was there keeping watch tried to stop the attack as it was happening and was also beaten, having one of the security taking a bite out of his ear.

Gardai who were present at Willie's protest had previously thrown stones at him while under the truck and did nothing when he was attacked!

These security guards have been terrorizing locals by following them wearing balaclava’s and monitoring their movements. The security wear no ID and appear to be answerable to nobody. But this latest attack marks a step up in the violent campaign to build an environmentally and health-wise dangerous pipeline through the area. This cannot go on and people must not turn a blind eye to it.

Is this what centuries of struggle have brought us to? Corporate security assaulting local farmers.

Shame.