On Wednesday the 18th of June, activists set up a camp outside the Dáil on Kildare Street.
The camp, which lasted until Friday, was organised by the Stop Shannon LNG Coalition, to demand both peace and climate justice.
Activists from several groups, including the Stop Shannon LNG Coalition, Extinction Rebellion, and Love Leitrim, were present.
They organised it with a view to unite both environmental and human rights’ campaigns from all over the country.
A banner-making workshop, a musical performance, talks about the climate crisis and war, and various other events took place at the camp.
The activists have the following demands:
-A ban on fracked gas imports, through a ban on LNG terminals
-The inclusion of services in the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill and the immediate enactment of this bill
-A ban on US military in Irish airports or airspace
-Save Irish neutrality by saving the Triple Lock
-A moratorium on data centres
-A ban on gold mining
Thomas Morelli, from the Stop Shannon LNG Coalition, said, “The climate crisis and war are both serious threats to society, and they are closely linked. War has a huge carbon footprint, which makes the climate crisis worse, and the climate crisis also makes resources like food more scarce, which makes war more likely. It’s clear that there’s no solving either one of these horrific problems without also solving the other.”
Since late 2023, the government has had a plan to build a terminal to import Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) into Ireland. The current government updated that plan in March this year to allow large quantities of Fracked gas imports to be included.
US Fossil Fuel Company New Fortress Energy has plans to build an LNG terminal, and a gas power plant, in County Kerry on the Shannon Estuary, a project which they call Shannon LNG. They were granted planning permission for a 600MW gas power plant on their land-bank in Ballylongford earlier this year. An Bord Pleanála is also considering a reactivated planning application for their LNG terminal with a decision due in September.
The activists at the camp handed passers-by leaflets outlining reasons against allowing LNG terminals to be built in Ireland.
Eddie Mitchell from Love Leitrim said, “After acknowledging that a LNG terminal would inevitably import Fracked gas, the government is now making a weak attempt at an argument for a LNG terminal based on the false claim that we are already importing Fracked American gas from the interconnectors due to LNG terminals from the UK. We have conclusively proven through direct confirmation with the system operator in the UK that this is not the case, and that the gas coming into us is all North sea gas. All of us from Leitrim, Fermanagh, Clare, Kerry and Limerick who live on shale basins will not allow our country to be a market for Fracked US gas.”
Emma Lavina, from the Stop Shannon LNG Coalition, continued, “Climate activists oppose any LNG terminal because it would import fracked gas and the massive upstream greenhouse gas emissions associated with the use of fracked LNG gas would mean that it would be basically impossible for Ireland to meet our legally binding emissions targets and we would be turning our backs on our commitment to climate change mitigation, and therefore our commitment to climate justice.”
The Occupied Territories Bill has been brought to cabinet, and if passed it would ban trade with and economic support for illegal settlements in territories deemed occupied under international law. However, the version of the bill brought to cabinet only includes goods, and not services.
Patrick Bresnihan, from Academics for Palestine, said, “By excluding services from the OTB, the Government has shielded companies with EMEA headquarters in Ireland from being subject to Irish law for their operations in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights – like Airbnb, or insurance brokers, who advertise lets and services in these illegal settlements. The removal of services isn’t about specific trade flows or company profits, but it surfaces contradictions about Ireland’s role in the capitalist world system and the refusal of the Government to jeopardise that position despite their acknowledgment of Israeli genocide in Gaza.”
ENDS
Stop Shannon LNG Coalition
