On May 1, the Project Arts Centre was packed to the rafters as the venue played host to a meeting of minds where members of Extinction Rebellion Ireland, Friends Of The Earth Ireland, school strikers and activists gathered together to share a series of inspiring and stirring conversations on how we all must play our part in combatting the climate crisis.

Managing Editor of GCN, Lisa Connell, began the evening by welcoming the audience, noting how inspiring it was to see such a huge turn out for such an important topic. In advance of the event, Lisa penned an opinion piece where she stressed how “we must take this crisis seriously in order to save the planet from certain death and destruction”.

In our latest podcast, we have put together a flavour of the evening with talks given by John Gibbons and Dr Ciaran O’Carroll.

Environmental journalist and commentator John Gibbons, delivered a powerful speech, highlighting how the time to act was yesterday. Gibbons laid out a series of sobering statistics and stressed that with the upcoming elections, now is the time for people to contact politicians looking for votes and demand change.

Dr Ciaran O’Carroll was one of the activists who took part in the recent protests which brought London to a standstill and captured the world’s attention. One of the thousand activists who were arrested, he discussed the concept of civil disobedience and how effective it can be in implementing change.

The evening proved to be both sobering and inspiring as all gathered recognised the battle we have ahead of us to save the world but left invigorated and ready for the fight.

Over the coming months, GCN will strive to be active in the fight against the climate crisis and keep the conversation moving forward. For more information, visit Extinction Rebellion Ireland Friends Of The Earth Ireland and the Active Hope Network.

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