Gardaí in Mayo say they intend to stand down some extra personnel in the Erris area if protests at the Corrib Shell terminal at Bellanaboy continue to be peaceful.
Chief Supt Tony McNamara, head of the Garda's Mayo division, was commenting on the eve of a national day of action which the Shell to Sea campaign's Dublin branch has planned at Bellanaboy today.
"If the protests continue in the present vein, we will be reducing numbers," Chief Supt McNamara said.
However, some 97 gardaí still stationed in north Mayo will be on duty this morning, with a number deployed to escort Shell staff and contractors into the terminal site.
Some 100 supporters of the Dublin campaign are expected to join objectors from the Kilcommon parish community before dawn this morning, having travelled from Parnell Square last night. The group was being accommodated in several houses and at the Rossport Solidarity Camp at Glengad.
A group from Connemara, led by Independent Galway county councillor Seosamh Ó Cuaig, travelled to Bellanaboy early yesterday to express "the solidarity of one Gaeltacht community for another".
The Dublin Shell to Sea campaign has said that its protest will be "entirely peaceful" and in support of the community. "There is likely to be provocation from the police and Shell contractors, however no displays of aggression from our side will be tolerated by Shell to Sea," the campaign has said in a statement.
The campaign says the demonstration "will show that this campaign is both a local and national issue".
"While local campaigners are protesting this project to protect their families and local environment, those from around the country will also be protesting against the sell-out of our national resources to multinational companies Shell, Statoil and Marathon," it says.
"The Shell-led consortium will pay no royalties and no taxes for 25 years. Only 27 per cent of the refined gas is to be sold to Bord Gáis at full market price. This leaves the rest to be sold to private customers in competition with Bord Gáis but using the Bord Gáis pipeline," the campaign statement added.
Almost half of Mayo voters are opposed to Shell's plans to build a €200 million onshore gas terminal in Bellanaboy, according to a Mayo Advertiser poll which sampled 400 voters across the county's seven electoral areas.
