Five-day ‘festival of resistance’ in Tyrone targeting industrial animal farming and gold-mining
Another agricultural system is possible, one that protects rather than harms waterways, the climate, farmers, landworkers and consumers, according to the organisers of a Climate Camp that begins today (Wednesday 7th August) on the western shore of Loch nEachach (Lough Neagh).
In the wake of news that blue-green algae is back at 2023 levels in Loch nEachach, hundreds of climate campaigners, community activists and others from across Ireland are gathering at Ard Bó, Co Thír Eoghain (Tyrone), for a five-day ‘festival of resistance’, invited by local community groups Save Lough Neagh and Save our Sperrins.
Climate Camp Ireland is a family-friendly, anti-capitalist gathering at which people come together to share skills and strategies for radical climate action, with workshops, debates, art, music, dancing, direct action and more. Organisers say collective action and solidarity building are the only way to tackle climate breakdown, the ecological devastation of Loch nEachach, and the threat of gold-mining in the Sperrins.
“Many farmers in the North are locked into a system of farming livestock and feed for livestock that gives them very low incomes, causes climate breakdown, pollutes our waterways and dominates the use of the land for export commodity food production, which, in environmental terms, is one of the least efficient ways to produce human food,” said Barry Ferguson, a Co Down farmer/grower and organiser for the Landworkers’ Alliance, one of many groups taking part in this year’s Climate Camp.
“Better would be more focus on production of vegetables and meat for local consumption here, and using the land more efficiently for carbon storage and capture and enhancing biodiversity. We need subsidies that allow farmers to make the transition to the type of farming that gives them a decent living, produces affordable, nutritious food for local supply and also protects rather than harms land, water, biodiversity and the climate.”
Dr Laura Kehoe, an environmental scientist and a member of Slí Eile, the main organising group behind Climate Camp, said: “This year’s camp shows that climate activists and farmers can – and do – work together. Climate Camp is part of a global movement for food sovereignty, led by Indigenous and campesino communities in the global South, and here in Ireland connected to the Landworkers’ Alliance in the North, and Talamh Beo in the South, to support and work in solidarity with small farmers who are stewards of the land.”
“I went to the north side of Lough Neagh yesterday and broke down in tears at her toxic green shores. The collapse of Ireland’s biggest lake demonstrates what happens when the unnatural intensity of animal agriculture rips pieces out of the web of life. Industrial animal agriculture is not only the main cause of the choking of Lough Neagh, but also the number one cause of greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution and biodiversity collapse across Ireland. We need to support farmers while recognising we simply cannot continue with the extreme harm caused by our current system of profit at the literal cost of the very foundation of life.”
The ecological catastrophe at Loch nEachach, which provides more than 40% of the North’s drinking water, has been caused by a combination of intensive animal agriculture – driven by the Stormont government’s ‘Going for Growth’ strategy – raw sewage, industrial sand dredging and climate change. Co Antrim, which has a human population of 650,000, has 20 million caged farm animals.
Pádraig Cairns of Save Lough Neagh said: “The 37-point plan for Lough Neagh published by minister Andrew Muir last month is concerning in its lack of information on changes to the ownership model, which impedes progress and public input into governance, and the fact there is no commitment to ending the disastrous ‘Going For Growth’ intensified agri-policy which the five main Stormont parties approved. Also concerning is that there is no mention of proper management of the Lough, rights of nature status, investment in sewage infrastructure or even an independent Environmental Protection Agency.”
Climate Camp is also supporting the community campaign against multinational mining firm Dalradian Gold, which has prospecting licences for gold across 300,000 acres in Thír Eoghain and Doire (Derry). Fidelma O’Kane of Save our Sperrins said: “We are going to win, Dalradian Gold will not be able to build their mine. The strength of community resistance is too strong.”
Save Our Sperrins is currently crowdfunding for its work with legal experts and consultants on the impacts of mining in order to challenge the Canadian mining company at a forthcoming public inquiry.
Slí Eile member Séamus Diskin said: “Throughout history, positive change has always come from people coming together who dream of a better world. As well as being a space for skill-sharing, network building and radical education, Climate Camp has a focus on direct action. The programme includes direct action training, and each year the Camp ends with a mass direct action targeting the powerful vested interests that are causing climate breakdown and the unravelling of the web of life.”
In previous years, direct action at Climate Camp has targeted fossil fuel infrastructure at the proposed Liquified Natural Gas plant in Tarbert, Co Kerry, and industrial Sitka spruce plantations in Glenboy, Co Leitrim.
The programme for this year’s Climate Camp revolves around themes of “head, heart and hands” – highlights include a discussion hosted by Save Lough Neagh on how agricultural policy has led to the degradation of the lake, and a panel of small-scale farmers on food sovereignty and agroecology, with speakers from the Landworkers Alliance, Talamh Beo and Nature Friendly Farming.
Renowned storyteller and Traveller activist Oein DeBhairduin will mark Lúnasa with a workshop on Traveller traditions and connecting to the land through storytelling, song and poetry, while Cairde Palestine will host a drumming and chanting space. Other workshop topics range from data centres and fossil fuel expansion to local crafts such as eel-skin tanning and a counter-mapping session with the Save Our Sperrins anti-mining group.
GUIDELINES FOR MEDIA AT CLIMATE CAMP
• Journalists/photographers may visit Climate Camp but are requested to make themselves known to Camp organisers when they arrive.
• Any filming or photography must be strictly with the prior consent of anyone who appears in the photos/footage.
• The area where people are camping is strictly off-limits to journalists/cameras.