Kilkenny climate group 'One Future Ireland' calls for faster and fairer climate action

In the wake of COP26 in Glasgow, the climate crisis has never been more urgent.

Climate activism will continue to play a major role in advancing the changes we so desperately need to see from our governments and leaders. The scale of the problem requires urgency from all facets of society and engagement from citizens at a local, national and global level is surely the way forward.
One Future Ireland is the people’s campaign for faster and fairer climate action. We need to deliver positive transformation within a short period of time.

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Our One Future Carlow Kilkenny branch is campaigning on these issues locally. In November the group held a ‘Climate Solutions TD Town Hall Meeting’ online with our Carlow Kilkenny TDs.
The town hall meeting was organised to give the public a forum with which to engage with our elected representatives and voice their concerns, while working together to find solutions.
The event was very well supported with close to 60 members of the public logging online to voice their concerns over climate change and to hear from our elected officials on a number of topics.
Simon Lewis, principal of the Carlow Educate Together school very kindly chaired the event as an impartial member of the public.

Our five TDs were invited to join a panel discussion and they were forwarded two questions in advance of the meeting.
Malcolm Noonan TD, Green Party and John McGuinness TD, Fianna Fáil attended on the night. It was with disappointment that we received apologies from Kathleen Funchion TD, Sinn Féin, John Paul Phelan TD, Fine Gael and Jennifer Murnane O’Connor TD, Fianna Fáil. We believe that it is very important that we have sustained engagement and leadership from all political parties whether in opposition or government. Hopefully at future meetings at least a representative from each TD will attend.

The questions were drafted keeping two of the more pressing local issues in mind, namely declining water quality in the South East and proposals for better active transport options in both Carlow Town and Kilkenny City.

The South and South-East of Ireland has been highlighted by recent EPA water pollution reports as blackspots for nitrate pollution which they have linked unequivocally to agricultural activities. It was agreed that a lot of effort is needed in order to address this pressing issue.
Public Transport

The Programme for Government supports much greater investment in public transport and active travel and the Climate Action Plan 2021 has stated that it aims to have 500,000 daily sustainable journeys by 2030 through major public transport projects such as BusConnects, Connecting Ireland, the expansion of rail services and cycling and walking infrastructure. However there is very little evidence on the ground of a shift towards sustainable mobility.

The TDs were asked how they will work to implement a programme of active travel infrastructure (footpaths, cycleway networks and safer junctions) in our towns and villages and work to actively promote public transport and rural transport options.

Sadhbh O’Neill, lecturer on climate policy in DCU, spoke on the current state of climate affairs in Ireland and strongly encouraged the TDs present to continue with their advocacy on climate issues on behalf of the Carlow Kilkenny constituency.

Overall it was clear from the level of turnout that the public are very engaged and want action on these issues. We feel that the dialogue and exchange of ideas at these meetings is a very useful approach in tackling the climate crisis as it affects us all.
We thank the TDs who were present on the night and we look forward to further engagement with all five TDs.

As Malcolm Noonan TD, Minister of State with special responsibility for Heritage and Electoral reform, quite succinctly pointed out on the evening: “A small number of people in every community will build momentum. This should all be bottom-up community based activism so that everyone feels involved and included”.
Details of our next town hall meeting can be found on our Facebook and Twitter accounts – One Future Carlow Kilkenny.

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