Gardaí injured at Corrib protest

Three protesters were arrested and two gardaí injured at protests blocking Shell’s Corrib gas terminal site in Co Mayo.

One of the two officers was taken to hospital for treatment.

“One person was arrested for the assault of a garda and two others were arrested for public-order offences,” a Garda spokesman said today.

Members of the Shell To Sea campaign group, which wants the gas refined offshore rather than inland, have been staging a series of early-morning protests at the Bellanaboy site since October 3.

Up to 110 gardaí are on duty every day, but the number jumped to 170 on one occasion last week.

The officers escort a convoy of vehicles carrying workers on to the terminal site near Belmullet.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the cost of the Garda operation has reached €675,639. This figure only covers overtime and subsidies and excludes salaries.

Minster for Justice Michael McDowell said in a reply to a Dáil question that some 45 gardaí came from Dublin divisions, 24 from Munster counties and 23 from Leinster divisions.

Local Mayo independent TD Jerry Cowley, said: “The gardaí are trying to quash a peaceful protest against pushing through a project that is going nowhere.

“The local people are under attack by their local government and the terrible irony is that we have to pay for it.”

A group of Shell To Sea protesters yesterday occupied the headquarters of Shell Ireland in Dublin.

Some staged a sit-down demo in the lobby of the building, while others climbed on to the one-storey roof of the reception area.

Gardaí made no arrests.