Bizarre protest scenes in Kilkenny involving paragliding activist
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A Greenpeace activist paraglided over Kelcy Warren’s Castletown Cox estate in County Kilkenny
A number of environmental activists have launched a protest against US billionaire Kelcy Warren’s takeover of Waterford Airport.
On the morning of the recent sod-turning ceremony at the airport, a Greenpeace activist paraglided over Mr Warren’s Castletown Cox estate in County Kilkenny.
The activist, tied to a bright yellow Greenpeace parachute, flew a flag with the message ‘Stop the Billionaire Takeoff’.
Other activists placed signs with Mr Warren’s face on them at the entrance to Waterford Airport with messages such as ‘private airport’ and ‘private jet’.
In a statement, Greenpeace said that the protest was organised to “call attention to this big oil bully’s widely reported takeover of the nearby Waterford Airport”.
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Susannah Compton, Head of Civic Resistance at Greenpeace International, said: “Our message to Trump-donating billionaire and reported Waterford Airport investor Kelcy Warren is that his billions and his proximity to President Trump can buy a lot, but it can’t buy anonymity: his decade of legal attempts to squash free speech and silence opposition to his energy giant’s pipelines will always follow him.
“The billionaire takeoff is accelerating the already devastating impacts of climate change. A healthy future is dependent on curtailing the influence of billionaires whose businesses cook the planet and who use their power to attempt to silence dissent and free speech. It’s time to resist.”
While Mr Warren has not been officially named as the airport’s new owner, it is widely understood that he is the anonymous private investor behind its €30m redevelopment.
Mr Warren, who hails from Texas, is the single largest shareholder in the US firm Energy Transfer and has an estimated net worth of €6 billion.
His company operates more than 200,000 kilometres of oil and natural gas pipelines in the United States.