Airing Erris: The Media and Shell Corrib

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From Left to Right: Betty Purcell (former Editor of Features and Current Affairs RTE), Harry Browne (Journalist and lecturer in Media Studies DIT), Joe Murray (Afri Co-ordinator), Lelia Doolan (documentary-maker and former CEO of the Irish Film Board), and Liamy McNally (Mayo-based freelance journalist) at Airing Erris in Co. Mayo on Saturday 18th January.
From Left to Right: Betty Purcell (former Editor of Features and Current Affairs RTE), Harry Browne (Journalist and lecturer in Media Studies DIT), Joe Murray (Afri Co-ordinator), Lelia Doolan (documentary-maker and former CEO of the Irish Film Board), and Liamy McNally (Mayo-based freelance journalist) at Airing Erris in Co. Mayo on Saturday 18th January.  Photo: Dave Donnellan

By Harry Browne

By honoured tradition, we journalists still half-jokingly call public-relations (PR) professionals “the enemy”. But we know they have a job to do, we know they often help us do their job – and we know that if we’re really at war with them, we’re losing.

The basic reason is pretty simple: they’ve got more and more resources (money, time, people) to push the corporate or government line, and we’ve got fewer and fewer with which to filter out the truth from the propaganda.

And when PR people are good and do their job really well, they get the ears of our bosses and make our jobs even harder. Continue reading “Airing Erris: The Media and Shell Corrib” →

Donal O’Kelly’s “Fionnuala” wins Fringe First Award

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Donal O'Kelly Fringe 1st (Willie Corduff)
Donal O’Kelly dedicates the Fringe First Award he received for “Fionnuala” to Willie and Mary Corduff

Afri are delighted to announce that Donal O’Kelly’s play about the Corrib Gas Project, “Fionnuala” has won a Fringe First award during the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Joyce McMillan described “Fionnuala” in the Scotsman as “Gripping, funny and full of a rich sense of Ireland’s great tradition of myth and legend… ruthlessly precise in its analysis of the deep malaise of 21st century Ireland in its subservient relationship with global corporate power and the threats faced by all of us in an age of ever more desperate energy extraction.”

“Fionnuala” is about the Corrib Gas fiasco foisted on a small rural community in County Mayo. Ambrose Keogh works for Shell. When the Tunnel Boring Machine he named Fionnuala sinks into the bog in Erris Co. Mayo, he is magically confronted by Fionnuala of the Children of Lir. Fionnuala puts a geas on him – he’s bound to tell the truth – about Shell. That brings to light some stark truths that Shell management would prefer wasn’t in the public arena. And it brings Ambrose back to his old primary school desk-mate, now an anti-Shell campaigner.

At the awards ceremony in Edinburgh, Donal dedicated the Fringe First to Willie and Mary Corduff and also thanked the people of Kilcommon for their support. Donal stated, “[I] hope that Fionnuala playing the Edinburgh Fringe Festival can be used to highlight the severe abuse of their basic civil rights for over a decade.”  Donal also thanked Afri and the 84 people who crowd funded the visit to Edinburgh for their support.

Article about Donal winning the Fringe First in Hotpress: here

Also, Donal speaking on RTE’s Arena show on Friday about the win (starting at 16 minutes in), click here.

Famine Walk 2009 – Brief report and pictures

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The 21st Annual Famine Walk took place from Doolough to Louisburgh County Mayo on Saturday, May 30th 2009. As has been the case on all but one of the previous walks, the weather was good for hundreds of people who took part in the walk, the theme of which was: Power Concedes Nothing Without Demand.

Local shuttle buses ferried walkers from Louisburgh to Doolough in the now familiar pre-walk routine. At the lakeside Afri Chairperson, Andy Storey, introduced the walk leaders: Philip Ikurusi from Niger Delta; Choctaw Gary Whitedeer as well as Mary and Willie Corduff from Rossport. Extracts from the writings of Frederick Douglass were performed by Donal O’Kelly and Sorcha Fox before walkers began the ten-mile trek back into Louisburgh.

 

Famine Walk 2009

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Saturday 30th May – Louisburgh, Co Mayo – beginning at 2pm

  Power Concedes Nothing without Demand

Walk Leaders:

Willie and Mary Corduff (Erris)

Philip Ikurusi (Niger Delta)

Gary Whitedeer (Choctaw)

with Donal O’Kelly and Sorcha fox performing a short extract from the writings from Frederick Douglass

 

To download the brochure click here