Mr. Conal O'Boyle:

Hello. I am 16 years of age and from Muff in County Donegal. My brother Seán and I made the journey from Donegal to be here this week. We needed to cross the Border twice and there is uncertainty as to what that Border is going to look like. It is not the change of accent, or even the Union Jack colours painted on the kerbs, that lets one know to that one is in Northern Ireland. It is the solar panels, the windmills and the progressive infrastructure that really lets one know where one is.

Some 30 years ago it would not have been possible to travel with such ease. Now, as Brexit looms, we are hoping that what we are saying today is not drowned out by the terms - backstop, common travel area or trade union. We hear enough about that where we live in Muff. In the past number of years it seems that everything has been about Brexit and nothing has been about climate change, which I can tell all those present is far more important than Brexit.

The reality is that there is no progressive infrastructure in the north west that I can see and I am sure this is a reflection on the rest of the country. We want this progressive infrastructure which is physical and eye-catching. We want windmills, solar panels, houses to be retrofitted, and to see an Ireland that will be carbon neutral by 2030.

We need more free public transport. I saw a picture on Twitter recently that showed the train systems of the world's major cities: Paris, New York and London with of all the lines that zigzagged each other; it was impossible to keep up with it. There was then a diagram of Dublin. It showed one green line and one red line, with a black dotted line in between them saying: "you can walk yourself".

I know that is a bit outdated but I am sure the committee understands the point I am trying to make.

About six years ago I was at the Red Cross centre in Muff, which was previously a customs post, when a Red Cross leader, Mr. Bernie Rutherford, told us that children who were then three years old were the last generation who could do anything before it was out of human hands. My brother was that age at that time and he is nine years old today. Bernie's message has stayed with me through him. We hope the message sent on 15 March by more than 10,000 young people on Molesworth Street, more than 15,000 people nationwide and 1.3 million people around the world has come through the thick walls of Leinster House. It would be naive of me to believe that one protest will be enough to save the world and that is why the protests will continue. The children are doing all they can to make sure that men and women in positions of power, like the committee members, can hear us. We cannot vote but that does not mean that our voices will be silenced. A wave is coming and this is the beginning of a climate action revolution. In time the people in the Gallery, those sitting behind me and I will all be able to vote, and we will be able to rock the system to the core. When we do, politicians will know about it.