Rossport is a tiny village of farmers and fisherman in Ireland that has been resisting Shell Oil's attempts to build an onshore refinery. “The Pipe” follows members of this community including Willie Corduff, one of the Rossport Five who attempts to defend the farm his father reclaimed from the bog; Monica Muller who controversially refused to join protests but whose court action has delivered a major blow to Shell; and Pat The Chief O'Donnell, a local fisherman who is repeatedly arrested for sailing his small fishing boat into the path of the gigantic pip-layer ship.