On Saturday the 3rd of May, activists from Extinction Rebellion Ireland and the Stop Shannon LNG coalition headed to Limerick’s Riverfest to spread the word about New Fortress Energy’s proposed Shannon LNG terminal, and why we need to fight it.
Read on to see our action in pictures, and in the words of the activists themselves...
“I talked to a lot of people who didn’t know at all about Shannon LNG and New Fortress. They had a very nuanced view and mostly argued that we need to supply energy somehow until renewables are able to take over, which I know is a common narrative that we need to work on debunking.
I think the banner was very effective since people became curious and asked about it themselves and then they were usually very open to our arguments, especially after we discussed XR.”
-Emma, student and XRI Rebel
In Limerick two guards stopped to chat with me. One of them proceeded to chat with me about the words on the banner.
For what was about 15 minutes he chatted about the river, how as a child he played/fished on it and enjoyed its life-giving presence. In fact, many people I met shared their memories and were concerned about the river, hence the choice of river and fest as a location and the powerful banner.
I found it was one of my most enjoyable outreaches - the weather, the river and the rural people.”
-Climate Activist from North Kerry
“People were generally receptive and previously unaware of the issue of LNG, particularly in the Shannon, but the majority knew about fracking and how damaging it is. And lastly, people were generally in great form with the weather and Riverfest which I think worked in our favour.
-XRI rebel
We realised that hardly anyone we spoke to knew what LNG was. Some were interested and engaged with us to learn more about it.
I had lots passing on foot and people in cars stuck in the traffic who were looking too. I engaged with lots of younger people (16-20 year olds) who came up and asked me what LNG was and stopped to listen and seemed genuinely interested in the issue.
I was approached by an 88-year-old woman who lived across the street. She’d come out to see her grandson run in the marathon. She asked me what our flag was as she had seen it before somewhere. I said we were Extinction Rebellion Ireland, and was about to say why we were there and she said she had already been told about it by a very earnest young man nearby.
We chatted for some time, how she thought we were all wonderful for doing something, and if she was younger she would have joined us. She said she looks at the river every day, particularly the swans, admiring the wonderful magical way they take off and land. If we don’t do something they’ll be gone and lost forever.
The overall outreach experience was positive and uplifting. Nearly all the leaflets were given to interested parties only. I think everyone had a good time and enjoyed it.”
-XRI Rebel
I was at Clancy’s Strand where we had a crew hanging the 14 m wide banner. I had brought some washed-up rope that I had found at Portmarnock and it was good to see that it was useful for hanging the banner to the light poles.
The interaction was good and worthwhile. Most people were receptive. There was a good mix of people walking past - anglers and people walking their dogs. I was the Garda liaison. A Guard did come up on his bicycle and just asked what we were up to. I explained we were just trying to interact with local people to raise awareness about Shannon LNG, making sure they were aware of it and encouraging them to inform themselves more and to contact their politicians about it. He was happy with that and took a leaflet.
-Seán, a concerned father of three from North Dublin
“I used to volunteer at a Maritime Museum where I learned a lot about knots and hanging square sails and I really enjoyed being able to apply some of those skills to the challenge of hanging our massive banner off the wall at Clancy’s Strand. It was a bit tricky as the wall was very thick, making it difficult to see how the banner on the other side of the wall was hanging. We did have volunteers head over to Sarsfield Bridge to report back on how it looked and had to make quite a few adjustments to get it hanging straight.
Most passers by were really receptive to learning about LNG. I was surprised at how many of the people I talked to knew nothing about the fact that an LNG terminal had been earmarked for the Shannon Estuary for nearly 20 years and were genuinely interested to learn about it.
There was one couple who saw the banner from Sarsfield Bridge and came over specifically to learn more about it. They were both really concerned about climate change and agreed the terminal needed to be stopped.
I also talked to two young Limerick fellas. They both were concerned about the climate crisis and opposed to the LNG terminal. One of them assured me he’d contact his TDs about it.
One young man mentioned he was aware of the LNG issue in Ireland from a video he saw with the actor Mark Ruffalo about six months ago. ”
-Angela, XRI rebel from Dublin
