Trinity students joined a crowd of around 200 schoolchildren on the streets of Dublin for an environmental strike that saw protestors calling for a “vote for climate” and demanding Ireland’s next government step up the country’s efforts to mitigate the effects of the crisis.
With an election less than 24 hours away, protestors – marshalled by Fridays for Future – gathered at Kildare Place behind the Dáil, demanding “system change, not climate change” and declaring: “There is no Planet B.”
Speakers at the protest warned that “we aren’t able to vote tomorrow” but by the time the next election comes around, “we will”.
In Trinity, around 10 students assembled at the Campanile before marching to meet the mass of protestors, for a march that was “not sanctioned” by Gardaí “from a health and safety perspective”. In truth, though, there were few college students in attendance, with the national council of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) – held in Co Waterford today – meaning there were no representatives from either USI or Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU).
If the Gardaí weren’t offering the services as facilitators, though, it didn’t stop the protestors from getting their point across. With placards, chants and Extinction Rebellion flags – by now a staple of climate protests – they were hard to miss.
Amy Heatley, one of the founders of Trinity’s Extinction Rebellion, told The University Times that “with the elections coming up, it’s really good to show that the school kids who don’t have the opportunity to vote can still make their voices heard and show the adults what they want from their future”.
“It’s important to reconsider what will affect our futures in the long term”, she added. “The current government has not shown that they are very willing to address the planetary crisis as it needs to be dealt with.”
Speaking to The University Times, another member of Trinity Extinction Rebellion, Louise Claffey, urged people to “vote for climate” in tomorrow’s election.
“Our current government has done nothing”, she said, “and we’ve 10 years left before the damage is irreversible to the point where the planet is uninhabitable. We need to vote for the planet”.
TCDSU President, Laura Beston, wrote in an email statement to The University Times: “We, of course, support all the school students or any of our students who are choosing to march today. We hope that politicians take on board the message that the young people are trying to get across today. Hopefully, this will encourage people to vote for parties that have adopted green policies.”
Green Councillor Neasa Hourigan – running in the general elections in the Dublin Central constituency – told those assembled: “We know why you’re striking, it’s to have our voices heard in the most important issue to any of us. To show that we will not be shouted over. This crisis will define our future. We are here to make sure that we can’t be ignored.”
Sárán Fogarty and Robert Quinn also contributed reporting to this piece.
