Seven members of the 'Shell to Sea Campaign' staged a brief rooftop protest at the Shell E&P Ireland headquarters in Dublin's city centre this afternoon.
They said they were protesting in "solidarity" with the "besieged community of Erris (Mayo) who have been picketing the proposed refinery since July 2005".
They managed to gain access to the roof of the company's Leeson St office shortly before one o'clock this afternoon and remained on the roof for an hour before climbing down voluntarily.
Another nine members are staging a "peaceful" sit-down protest inside the foyer of the building. Gardaí were at the scene and argued that the protesters on the roof were a health and safety issue.
Earlier today gardaí at the Bellanaboy Shell terminal in north Mayo were this morning forced to remove 83 protesters from the access road to the site.
The protesters, who had gathered from early morning, sat down on the access road and recited The Rosary when trucks and workers arrived at the site. There were no arrests.
The number of protesters was significantly down from that of yesterday when there were approximately 120 objectors present.
The 'Shell to Sea Campaign' are protesting the commencement of operations at the site, near Erris, because a new route for the proposed pipeline from the terminal to the offshore facility in the Corrib gas field has yet to be agreed.
The terminal has full planning permission.
