Belcoo stands strong against Fracking

Belcoo at the centre of the campaign against Fracking

At 4.40am on the morning of July 21st a convoy of vehicles snaked its way from Enniskillen to a small quarry located on an unclassified road located just two miles from the border village of Belcoo. A handful of local farmers who met the vehicles enroute described seeing that the extended convoy of vehicles included police vehicles at the front, in the middle and at the back.

Throughout the early hours of the morning, security guards erected eight foot high gates and garnished them with razor wire, when finished they stood behind them accompanied with guard dogs in a very visible manifestation of what this industry means to the local community.

Only after they had erected the security structures did Tamboran notify locals of their intentions and a team of three canvassers visited doors. As the morning wore on and the word got out on what had happened more and more households demanded that the uninvited visitors leave immediately. In the end up, they only leafleted many houses.

At 9am, Tamboran lodged a request with the Department for Environment to proceed with exploratory drilling at the site under ‘permitted development rights’ under a pre-existing quarrying license. There would be three weeks until the Minister would sanction their request and drilling could proceed then.

While the nature and the suddenness of the move caught locals off-guard, campaigners were prepared and were keeping a watchful eye over the site (there had been false alarms in relation to the same quarry repeatedly over the previous two weeks). As such, when at about 9.30am we confirmed their presence at the site, we were ready to immediately call a protest that evening at the gates. This gave an opportunity to explain to the hundreds who turned up and didn’t understand what was happening: that this was only exploratory drilling but needed to be opposed on the basis that this threatened to open the door to full-scale fracking.

We explained that the results of this drilling would enable further shale gas exploration through the controversial hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’ technique and reinforced the fact that no-one locally had ever been consulted on this development. We also highlighted that due to a decision taken by the Department of Natural Resources in Dublin, the core rock sample obtained from the test borehole would also provide a justification for fracking to proceed in Leitrim and, as such, the drill had huge significance to anti-fracking campaigns on both sides of the border. We called for mass attendance at a meeting which had already been arranged by local activists in Belcoo for the next day.

At the meeting, attendance was strong from around the region but particularly from the local community, which saw the formal establishment of a local action group, Belcoo Frack Free, who were to take the lead in managing the protests at the gate while working with pre-existing campaigns such as Ban Fracking Fermanagh, Love Leitrim and No Fracking Ireland. The meeting confirmed the decision to establish a permanent protest camp at the gates, organise a daily vigil protest at 7pm every day and to form a local team of marshals to manage the camp around the clock.

The scale of participation at this public meeting reflected the jump in consciousness of the threat posed by fracking which had been brought about by the actions of the previous morning. Just two weeks previously, a meeting we had called gathered only 17 locals. The Tuesday meeting attracted approximately 300 people and established a locally-based organising committee of 14 with working groups to oversee marshalling, erection of signage, publicity and lobbying activities; over 50 gave their names as stewards to stand guard over the camp.

Numbers at the daily protests grew substantially over the next few weeks with all minds being focussed on the forthcoming decision by Minister Mark H Durkan which would determine if drilling would proceed or whether the company would have to seek full planning permission for the development.

Belcoo residents demand action from local politicians

A meeting held on Friday 25th to grill the politicians over their inaction on the issue attracted even larger numbers and there was a strong sense of outrage at their failure to stop fracking much earlier. However, representatives of both DUP and UUP failed to turn up to the meeting which was held in Belcoo community centre – they cited sectarian fears as justification for their non-attendance.





Another meeting to provide more information on the dangers posed by Fracking was organised in the Church of Ireland hall in the predominantly unionist community in Letterbreen the next week and attracted strong cross-community attendance. It was clear that the campaign was successfully attracting support from both sides of the local community despite the efforts of those from both sides who were trying to split the campaign along community lines. The local cross-community Letterbreen and Mullaghdun Partnership (LAMP) group established its own anti-fracking campaign NoGasLamp which further expanded the campaign’s activist base and opened the door to more significant cross-community organising efforts.

On Sunday August 3rd, farmers from both communities and both sides of the border organised a convoy of approximately 200 tractors and farm vehicles which made the journey from Belcoo to Enniskillen and back again. This was a powerful action demonstrating a willingness to block roads. Many hundreds more farmers had indicated that they would be keen to participate but couldn’t due to the need to take advantage of the weather for cutting hay. The ability to mobilise significant numbers in opposition to the industry was exhibited to a wider audience.

In the early hours of the very next morning, a petrol bomb was thrown at a house owned by the owner of the security company contracted by Tamboran. Instead of the positive coverage of the farmers’ protest, the media spotlight fell on the campaign’s response to this incident. Despite the fact that local campaigners came out immediately to condemn this attack, Minister Arlene Foster and other unionist politicians sought to use this and allegations of sectarian chanting at the camp to paint the protest as being a republican front.

In response to this, campaign activists redoubled our efforts to build cross-community opposition to the industry, sought to enforce a ‘no tolerance’ policy for any sectarian abuse at the gates and highlighted the fact that ill-health would affect everyone in the community regardless of religion or political affiliation.

Trade unions were proactive in supporting the campaign with the Unite branch based in the former Quinn group offering to provide stewards for the camp. The Unison branch based in the local hospital strongly supported the campaign in the local media and the President of NIPSA and Socialist Party member, Padraig Mulholland, visited the campsite.

In response to the huge level of concern raised by Tamboran’s move, both Fermanagh District Council and the newly established ‘shadow-council’ Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, voted for motions calling for a halt to all exploratory shale gas development even committing to pursuing Health Impact Assessments. This move reflected the extent of the local political earthquake that had affected both sides of the community; indeed, a DUP councillor split ranks to vote in favour of a motion which stood in direct opposition to the policy of his party colleague and local MLA, Arlene Foster.

As the three-week period for the Ministerial decision to be made drew close, protesters and the wider local community were preparing themselves for large-scale civil disobedience. Local activists initiated plans to organise non-violent direct action against any move to bring drilling equipment onsite.

The day the announcement was due, the local community had organised an ecumenical prayer service onsite including musicians from the local Letterbreen Silver Band playing at the gates. As it turned out the event was a celebration as news of the Minister’s decision came through; he ruled that the company required a full planning permission and an environmental impact assessment before proceeding – a decision that could delay the planned drilling by anything up to a year.

The decision was not expected by anyone; certainly not the PSNI who were already preparing to bring a drill onsite and certainly not by Tamboran who had only agreed a four-month lease for the quarry from local quarry owners, Acheson & Glover.

Following on from the relief and celebration that marked this decision, campaigning has continued. A Fishermen Are Resisting Tamboran protest drew a dozens of boat owners who drove vehicles with boats hitched in a cavalcade from Belcoo to Enniskillen and back again. A number of activists and locals remain onsite determined to maintain a permanent presence so long as security at the site is maintained.

Upon hearing the Minister’s announcement, Belcoo Frack Free decided to call a halt to their round-the-clock presence at the gates to Cleggan quarry reducing it down to a weekly vigil onsite. Last Thursday the group held another large public meeting in the village at which it launched a range of new activities which it feels provides optimal opportunities to build opposition to fracking.
Central to these is a ‘Lock the Gate’ campaign modelled on the successful approach taken by Australian campaign groups in Queensland in which local land-owners are comprehensively canvassed to secure their agreement to locking out the Frackers townland by townland and road by road. Such an approach provides a focus for further grassroots building, developing connections with other communities throughout the License zone and building the scale of opposition that will manifest if and when the frackers return.

Belcoo Frack Free also plan to link the local campaign with those being built in both Carrickfergus and Ballinlea (Antrim) where exploratory gas drilling is also set to be taken forwards over the next few months.

The level of commitment exhibited by the local community in Belcoo and neighbouring areas has been nothing short of inspirational for the activists who have been active on the issue for three years.
For three weeks local people, alongside activists from across the region, maintained a disciplined presence twenty-four hours a day ensuring that usually at least three people were present at the gates at any time.

The ‘Gates of Hell’, as they became known, became a focus for community solidarity: local children sang songs of determined opposition in front of the razor wire, old ladies walked hand-in-hand to protests as the back roads were impassable with parked cars at peak periods, music was played and songs written while activists from across Ireland discussed and argued late into the night in front of camp fires. In general, the atmosphere was positive and friendly with children, the elderly and those from both communities feeling free to participate fully.

Anti-fracking activists opened up a second-camp along the main A4 road which significantly increased the profile of the campaign and plans were made for widening out the campaign with camps to be located on strategic roads if the decision went the wrong way.

The Minister’s decision has not removed the threat of fracking. It was the very least we could have hoped for but it was conceded as a direct result of the strength, organisation and obduracy of opposition to this poisonous industry. While there is some hope that Tamboran may follow the lead of other gas companies who have pulled out of exploration licenses, campaigners remain focussed on defeating the threat both locally and elsewhere in Northern Ireland.

We continue to build a grassroots campaign to demand for politicians to stand up to corporate interests and deliver the popular demand for a full and immediate ban on fracking!