http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=416477278397791&set=a.251654994880021.60172.126266120752243&type=1&theater

170ton trucks? Please explain. This truck is not 170 ton? How many trucks are in this convoy & what are they carrying & where did 170 tons come from

Mjhint there are for trucks in the convoy the Irish times reports says Mayo co council have confirmed the truck that is stuck has a combined weight with its gigantic cargo of 170 tonnes. Google it of you want. You should change your trolling title to doubting Thomas.

Ok thank you. I thought it was just the cargo weight & this truck looks too small for that.

In fairness, Mjhint had a point. You could have made yourself a tad clearer before calling him/her a troll.

Conor in my book anyone who does not use their real name to comment is a troll.

Then I’m afraid you “book” is incorrect.

“a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.” Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_%28Internet%29

Just because you want something to be, doesn’t make it so Niall, you troll. In my book a troll is anyone who does not use their real photo when making a comment…

And how much have you made from selling the rights to the photos? You serve to gain from fuelling the controversy.

Folks click on my my avatar and you’ll see plenty of profile pictures of me on Facebook. Not all of them flattering. Karswell I was asked to cover the assignment by my editor take it up with him. I’ll be at be getting soaked photographing the Galway races for the rest of the week if you want to discuss it with me.

It’s bad form to double-job as a documenter of an event and also as a participant of an event. Objectivity goes out the window and you lose credibility as both a photo-journalist and a protestor. You can report the news and be the news simultaneously.

I do some journalism too, but I tend to keep away from the discussion that follows, as well as trying to keep an independent and unbiased perspective on things. Doing otherwise generally attracts more trouble than it’s worth.

They are very good photos, though.

Lads get off your high horses, seriously. I have a view and I’m not hiding it. Everybody who knows me knows I’m a lefty. There are plenty of Jobs that I hate covering and I do them when asked. Ive been vetted to be the pool photographer for two US presidents, the queen and two British prime ministers all of whom I’ve been critical of. It doesn’t mean I can’t record want happens in front of my face. Btw my office has censored some of my pictures from the clashes to protect the modesty of the young woman whos clothes where torn off her by guards. I can tell you they did not act in a professional manner last night. I normally defend the guards to the hilt but they are very aggressive when they are away for the RTE cameras

@ Niall – all slagging aside, and your opinions of troll notwithstanding, I’d suggest that you don’t say anything here about your editor’s decisions or your personal opinions about the jobs you’ve been sent on. This site isn’t exactly private or trusted, and it might come back to bite you in the ar*e. Sorry to say, I’m afraid I agree with the comments above. You mightn’t have much respect for aliases, but they can be practical, and it might be a wise move to post comments under an alias if you’re supplying content for the article itself. Separate the professional and the personal.

That truck didn’t jackknife, a jackknife is when a trailer passes out the tractor unit due to not being able to stop the trailer. In this case it looks like the rear axles of the tractor sank

These are modular trailers with remote control steering they can go anywhere even where normal trucks cant go. It would suggest to me they had a brake down or something like that. Its possible the road was too small but they would have surveyed the road before the movement so its very unlikely but a brakedown could affect the steering on this trailer but I dont know. Its very unusual & a big pr nightmare for the project.

For trucks sake green monkey the jokes are getting worse

Craggy Ireland?

Someone should throw Masonary Nails and cover the entire road with them. It will slow Shell’s Truck down much further.

Tim: cut down on the Fight Club viewings. That film was a satire. Your calls for aggressive action come across as a Walter Mittyism.

Yeah – Enda & Co

You – if you are a taxpayer!

I would prefer if some respect for the law of the land were taught.

I’d prefer if law equated more with justice, and also that our president would act as our protector and refuse to sign in laws that hand our country to con men due as she/he is supposed to. At least the Icelandic president didn’t take any crap from the bankers.

peepingass, sometimes laws may need to be tested, or even broken. Sometimes.

Oliver, the government isn’t paying for the hardware, Shell is.

I’d prefer if the gardai were stationed where they are needed instead of having to deal with those wasters. While they were busy cutting chains and carrying people off the road a man in Galway city was being robbed at gunpoint. Do the protestors even have a reason for being there anymore?

Many thanks Oliver, I’ve been trying to retrieve the title of that book from my squishy soft drive, for about two months. I was very close to believing that it didn’t exist, and was one step closer, to believing that my squishy soft drive had decided to flee the scene and take up with a more hardened drive. It appears now, that my fears were more, imagined than real.

Hey Seanbeag – Shell are indeed paying for the hardware, I did not suggest the state is. In fact Shell are performing their function as an oil company – getting natural resources out at the cheapest price possible. They have been given a deal where they only pay 20% of profits to the Irish state (compared with 90% in Norway). There was a huge misinformation campaign to suggest that it was too risky and uneconomic for the Irish state to explore itself, when (now) clearly they new of huge reserves. So really it is that foolish “body politic” betrayed its citizens (intentionally and unintentionally through ignorance). Regarding the protestors their minor assaults against the Gardai are pointless – they would be much better off educating the people regarding the looting of our natural resources.

If this is the professional logistics side of shell planning god help the west of ireland when the gas is turned on

Its 10t per axle on these type of trucks & up to 30t on pendulum axles.

How bad that’s some weight I’d say it’s some tractor to pull that

WTF? Are you ok

Tim I dont think its necessary. The damage is done. If this story is correct then this company did not do its job & Shell are responsible. There are companies like this company in Ireland but I think who ever decided to bring in these pieces did so under the radar. It was a major fail. It shows that these protests are working even if they are legally wrong. Its just negative publicity non stop for this project. Even if it continues to completion the negative impact in the media will affect all other projects attached to Shell.