Extinction Rebellion activists arrested after locking themselves to Dail gate
October 11th, 2019
Five Extinction Rebellion activists were arrested last night in Dublin after locking themselves to the gates of the Dail.
Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) members locked themselves to one of the exit gates of the government building at around
Starting at around
Other demonstrators continued a sit-down protest in front of the gates, with several removed to open a route for people to leave Leinster House.
The incident occurred at the exit on Merrion Square West opposite the temporary site on the square set up by XRI activists on Monday. It is unclear at this stage if any of the five will be officially charged.
The arrested activists were taken to Pearse Street staion for public order offences but were released without charge.
People have been gathering at Merrion Square every day this week as part of Extinction Rebellion’s week-long series of actions, demanding that the government take greater climate action.
A number of barriers were erected by gardaí earlier in the day in front of Leinster House on Kildare Street and at Stephen’s Green.
The international movement began last summer in the UK and rose to prominence in November 2018 when thousands of activists blocked London bridges, disrupted traffic, and glued themselves to public buildings.
The movement uses non-violent civil disobedience, Extinction Rebellion founding member Roger Hallam told The Green News, with the disruption to daily life paling in comparison to what’s coming down the line without urgent action from world leaders.
“Promoting RoundUp”
Earlier in the day, four members of XRI glued themselves to the front door of Red Flag Consulting, an international communications company based in Dublin.
The company has engaged in communications work in relation to pesticides and was recently hired by agricultural groups to promote Ireland’s dairy industry.
Protesters had signs around them condemning the organization, with a sign reading, “Promoting RoundUp, now Irish meat and dairy”.
To date, agriculture is the largest greenhouse gas emitter in Ireland, contributing roughly a third of all total emissions. The European average is around 10 per cent.
Earlier this summer, members of XRI held a similar action where five members glued themselves to the Department of Climate Action to protest the blocking of a Bill to limit the issuing of new fossil fuel licences.
Native Woodlands
Protesters from both XRI and Save Leitrim also held a demonstration outside the Dail yesterday calling on the Government to support sustainable forestry.
The groups raised issue with the low forest cover in Ireland, which is amongst the lowest in Europe at around 11 per cent. The European average is 33.5 per cent.
Both groups are critical of the Government’s support for a conifer plantation led forestry model, with XRI interrupting the Minister for Climate Action Richard Bruton earlier this summer at a forestry industry event.
Conifer species are the dominant species in Ireland, representing just over 71 per cent of the stocked forest area, while broadleaves make up almost 29 per cent.
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