'Stop The Giveaway Of Ireland's Wind Energy' -Protest At Galway Conference - 1pm, Thursday, April 14th
Éirígí Galway are organising a public protest outside a conference that Mícheal Martin will address in the G Hotel in the city this Thursday (April 14th). ‘The Renewable Energy Opportunity for the West of Ireland’ conference, which is being organised by the Port of Galway, is expected to attract representatives from Big Energy and other private corporations that want to profit from Ireland’s vast wind energy potential.
Éirígí's Galway representative, Ian Ó Dálaigh, has invited the people of Galway to join the picket which will begin at 1pm on Thursday,
"The conference that Mícheál Martin will address this Thursday - entitled ‘The Renewable Energy Opportunity for the West of Ireland’ - is set to focus on the potential for offshore wind energy in the west of Ireland. It has been reported that it will be attended by many high-ranking figures from Big Energy companies.
It appears that the 'opportunity' for the west of Ireland is in fact an 'opportunity' for private energy firms to profit from one of Ireland's most valuable natural resources.
Ian Ó Dálaigh (on left) at a Power To The People information stall in Galway City
It's appalling that while ordinary working people are struggling to pay their energy bills - as a direct result of the energy policies of successive government - Mícheal Martin is preparing the ground to hand the vast potential of Ireland’s offshore wind to private companies.
These companies are only interested in maximising their own profits, whereas the shift towards renewable energy should be about maximising the benefit for working people and the planet.
Since our formation in 2006, Éirígí have opposed the giveaway of Ireland’s natural resources. At that time, the focus was on opposing the giveaway of the Corrib Gas Field.
That giveaway was an outrageous decision, driven by a blind commitment to free-market economics above all else. But the giveaway of our wind energy will make Corrib look like a drop in the ocean.
So I'm calling on the people of Galway to join our picket outside the G Hotel this Thursday (14th April) at 1pm. Add your voice to the call for public-ownership of Ireland’s wind energy – bígi linn!”.