On Thursday 15th of May, Young Friends of the Earth Ireland hosted a Dublin region European Parliament election debate, as part of their national Politics for People campaign. Nicola Winters, Young Friends of the Earth Ireland coordinator tells us what happened.
We were delighted to welcome 5 of our Dublin candidates standing for the European elections on Friday 23rd of May: Brid Smith, People Before Profit Alliance; Eamon Ryan, Green Party; Paul Murphy, Socialist Party; Damon Matthew Wise, Fís Nua; Emer Costello, Labour Party.
The debate began with tasty, home-made treats, and time for attendees to mingle with one another and the candidates. They shared their sentiments on some “ice-breaker” environmental questions. Nicola of Young Friends of the Earth kicked things off with a David Suzuki quote which set the premise for the evening.
“There are some things in the world we can’t change – gravity, entropy, the speed of light, and our biological nature that requires clean air, clean water, clean soil, clean energy and biodiversity for our health and well being. Protecting the biosphere should be our highest priority or else we sicken and die. Other things like capitalism, free enterprise, the economy, currency, the market, are not forces of nature, we invented them. They are not immutable and we can change them. It makes no sense to elevate economics above the biosphere.” David Suzuki.
The stars of the event were then called to the stage – a giant Peacock and a Bird of Prey modelled by their designers from a local Art College. They demonstrated the power play between politics, citizens and corporate lobbyists, embodying the Politics for People pledge which calls on MEPs to represent citizens and democracy over corporate interests.
Our eminent Chair, Joe Curtin, climate change policy specialist of The Institute of International and European Affairs, kept the candidates on their toes for the evening, but not before luring them into a false sense of security. He called on each candidate to share their reflections on one of the “ice-breaker” questions – their favourite place in nature. We heard of the wild landscapes of Slovenia from Paul, Bríd’s dance with dragon flies by the River Barrow, Damon’s Arctic explorations, Emer’s love of the Phoenix park – the lungs of Dublin City, and Eamon’s awakening to the natural world whilst on a school trip.
Next we got down to the nitty gritty. The candidates addressed some of the key environmental concerns which framed our campaign. These relate to emissions commitment, renewable energy feed-in tariff, EU-US free trade agreements (TTIP), biofuels, fracking regulations, GM foods and biodiversity. Further audience questions were directed to the panel. The candidates each pledged strong allegiance to the environmental cause. However, actions speak louder than words – if elected will they properly follow through on their commitments and work on making them a reality here at home?
The next generation of leaders must have the skills, resilience and foresight to radically change our current, environmentally destructive economic model. Does our current educational system adequately equip young people with these skills or does the focus on jobs and economic success overshadow social and environmental concerns? The importance of the environment and how it sustains us must be elevated as a top priority in European and local politics.
Check out our film of the campaign:
For more about what the Young Friends of the Earth Europe network is doing around the European Parliament elections, check out our Your choice, your voice campaign!