Human Rights in Ireland

The exploitation of Ireland’s natural resources has given rise to some of our livelier posts of the past year. 2012 may see an ‘anti-fracking’ campaign in Clare join the Shell to Sea campaign on the battlefield over the state’s efforts to exploit natural resources in the West of Ireland. ‘Fracking’ is shorthand for a process known as ‘hydraulic fracturing’ that, in short, involves pumping high pressure fluids into the ground to fracture the underlying rock and make it easier to extract fossil fuels such as gas. Opposition groups include ‘What the Frack‘ in Ireland and ‘Frack Off‘ in the UK. Last Tuesday’s Irish Examiner carried a letter of opposition from the Centre for Environmental Living & Training, based in Scariff, County Clare and a report in today’s Irish Times suggests that the campaign against fracking in the Clare Basin will be stepped up in the new year. Read Full Post »

On June 29, 2005  Finnegan J. made an order committing the  Rossport Five to prison for failure to comply with an injunction restraining them from interfering with preparatory work for the development of the Corrib Gas Field. They remained in prison for 94 days.  In Shell E & P Ireland v. Others [2006] IEHC 108 Finnegan J. explains why he exercised his power to imprison the Rossport Five for contempt in the context of non-criminal litigation; for punitive purposes where it was clear that imprisonment could have no coercive effect because the Five were determined not to comply with orders made against them. The opening quote is especially poignant, given what we know of what has happened at Rossport (see HRinI posts here and here)

In the words of Judge Curtis-Raleigh –

“The law should not be seen to sit by limply, while those who defy it go free, and those who seek its protection lose hope.”

… In the present case the contemnors have made it quite clear that they are determined to act in defiance of a statute passed by the Oireachtas which enjoys the presumption of constitutionality and the decisions of the Executive and finally an order of the Court. Read Full Post »

Give me your name and address and I’ll rape you. [All laugh]

Unidentified Garda Sergeant

We are still talking about what the Irish Times has dubbed the ‘garda rape comments controversy‘, first discussed on this blog by Vicky here.   It might be useful, in examining this incident, to think about Judith Butler’s Excitable Speech, published in 1997.  Butler writes about the force and agency of language: speaking is a kind of act and it has consequences. This is true because we are constituted by others’ speech; “a kind of surviving takes place in language”.  The very terms of my social existence are set out by what I am called or not called. I am “put in my place” when others address me. Moreover, I am dependent on others for that place. I am never quite in control of myself. Jerrie Ann Sullivan – the ‘blondy one’ of the transcript –  has described the experience of listening to the gardai joke on tape about raping her companion as disturbing , horrifying, distressing: part of the violence of the garda’s unexpected address is that it puts the women who are re-named in an unwanted place.

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It’s effectively gone viral on the internet that last Thursday, members of an Garda Síochána, while discussing the arrest of a protestor joked about getting immigration on her and raping her. It beggars belief. Excerpts from the transcript have been posted on the Irish Times and audio clips are available here. “Hold it, give me your name and address there or I’ll rape you.”

These guards have joked about immigration, rape and the protestors involved in the dispute. Sure, police organisations are pretty macho places, and lots of research has been done on what’s called cop canteen culture – how police officers speak to each other in the canteen. It’s all about banter, bluster and bravado Read Full Post »

I’ve written previously about the Corrib Gas controversy (here, here and here) and more generally about policing in Ireland (here). To my mind, the two are inextricably linked. The actions of civil disobedients in North Mayo should not be judged one way or the other without consideration of the nature of their interactions with an Garda Síochána. A number of incidents illustrate this point and footage of each has been seen by the author.

On one occasion a digger was operating just off the coast, preparing for the laying of the pipe at the point of landfall by digging the necessary lines. Two activists entered the water in wetsuits to disrupt this work. A number of gardaí watched from a close distance in a small boat. Read Full Post »

I’ve blogged previously about the policing of the Shell to Sea Campaign but a number of developments of late are worth noting. Last week 9 activitists were in court on charges of public order but had the charges struck out as the court held that they had been unlawfully held for 27 hours in Garda custody before being brought before a judge.

Indymedia explain that one of the nine cases was used as a test case, that of Eoin Lawless. Mr Lawless was arrested at 2.20pm on 28th June last year, on a public road. He was detained at the Shell site for two hours, before being brought to a police station. He was charged at 9.15pm. He was not brought before a court until 5.30pm the next day. The Supt at court offered the explanation that there insufficient officers at hand to deal with prisoners, but this of course is not a satisfactory reason to deny a person their right to liberty. Read Full Post »