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Environmental demonstrators hold 'bloody' protest outside Dáil

A protest was held outside the Dáil this afternoon over the Government's 'inaction' on climate-c...
Stephen McNeice
Stephen McNeice

06.29 12 Jun 2019


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Environmental demonstrators hold 'bloody' protest outside Dáil


Stephen McNeice
Stephen McNeice

06.29 12 Jun 2019


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A protest was held outside the Dáil this afternoon over the Government's 'inaction' on climate-change.

Members of the 'Extinction Rebellion' group played politicians during the demonstration, pouring fake blood over other protesters in white overalls.

The theme of the demonstration was 'the blood of our children will be on the government's hands'.

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Leontien Friel Darrell is a 19-year-old activist who played one of the innocent characters in the scene.

She argued that declaring a climate emergency isn't enough.

She observed: "The complete grief and guilt that I feel for the state of our future and our planet... unless we change things drastically right now I'm not going to have a future.

"That's why I decided to join Extinction Rebellion full-time - I'm trying to do as much as I can to help change our Government's mind and make them act."

Another demonstrator, Carol Bereta, said she thinks the government is scared - but insisted action needs to be taken.

She said: "Climate change is not visible yet - we have to take action now in order to stop it getting worse.

"I think politicians are frightened of lots of thing - they're frightened that people will panic."

Meanwhile, other environmental campaigners are calling on the Government to not block a bill aimed at stopping new licences being issued for oil and gas exploration off Ireland's coasts.

Oisin Coghlan, coordinator of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, suggested that the Government doesn't realise that the movement against fossil fuels is here to stay.

He argued: "The Government still has a chance to see sense. Otherwise nothing else it does on climate will have credibility with campaigners or the public."

Main image: Extinction Rebellion protesters outside Leinster House today

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