The protest, against Shell's construction of a refinery for the Corrib gas project off Co Mayo, took place outside the Norwegian embassy and Shell's Irish headquarters.

It heralds a new direction for the campaign, according to organisers. They now intend to direct most of their energies at Norwegian interests with the aim of getting Shell's partner, Norwegian firm Statoil, to rethink the project.

"We are anxious that the protest isn't confined to north Mayo, because there are national implications for this, " spokesman Mark Garavan said.

"We want to draw it to the attention of the Norwegian people. Statoil has a certain ethos, and to see the company involved in this was a shock to the Norwegian people."

The protest was organised by Dublin Shell To Sea following the cancellation of a national day of action at the refinery site in Ballinaboy last Friday week.

That protest was cancelled because of fears of violence, after similar scenes marred a day of action three weeks earlier. Local people have been protesting daily outside the refinery site since work recommenced there two months ago.

Over 100 protestors travelled from north Mayo to Dublin yesterday, including two busloads. They carried a number of placards written in Norwegian which they brandished outside the embassy.

At the Shell headquarters, a number of speakers decried the role of the government in the project, and there were also references to the gardai's handling of protests at Ballinaboy. Six gardai were on duty at each venue and there was no sign of trouble. Mayo Independent TD Jerry Cowley was the only national politician in attendance at the protest.

"This is a about health and safety, " Cowley said. "It's about Norway now, we want to bring it to their attention."

Both the embassy and the Shell HQ are closed for business on Saturdays.

Meanwhile, a small group of protesters gathered outside the Independent Newspapers headquarters on Talbot Street at 1pm in order to protest against what they claimed was unfair coverage of the Shell To Sea campaign in the media. Less than a dozen protesters handed out Labour Youth leaflets, which claimed that Independent Newspapers was siding with Shell in its coverage of the protests at Rossport.