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Laura Hutton/RollingNews.ie
Maura Harrington pictured during a protest at the Shell oil refinery at Glengad beach in Co Mayo in 2009.
Jailed
Shell to Sea activist Maura Harrington arrested in Mayo
She has been taken to the Dóchas Centre women’s prison where she is expected to spend ten days.
SHELL TO SEA campaigner Maura Harrington has been arrested in Mayo and taken to Mountjoy Prison to serve time for an unpaid fine.
It is understood she was arrested this afternoon as she left a bank in Belmullet. She was taken to Belmullet garda station and then transported to the Dóchas Centre women’s prison at Mountjoy, where she is expected to spend ten days.
The activist was convicted last year in relation to the obstruction of a tunnel-boring machine at the Shell plant in Ballinaboy. A monetary penalty of €300 was imposed as part of her sentence, but she has refused to pay it.
Harrington, a retired school principal, has played a significant role in protests against Shell gas projects in Ireland in the last ten years.
A close relative of Harrington told TheJournal.ie: “Maura is fine, there is no way Maura will comply with anything the State imposed because of Shell.”
They pointed out that she has already been imprisoned a number of times over her years involved in the campaign.
Commenting on the news of her arrest, a spokesperson for Shell to Sea said:
While Maura is serving ten days in jail for an upaid fine, the state has ignored repeated calls for enquiries on corruption in the heart of Corrib.
Read: First gas flows from Shell terminal as protest group calls action ‘disgraceful’>
Read: Shell asked for £25,000 worth of alcohol to be delivered to gardaí in Mayo, court told>
