Ms Aoibh?nn Doyle:

With many of our students, who are the next generation, even if they are from farming backgrounds, they would be in agreement that things need to change and get better. Sometimes the blame is put on farmers. Many people from farming backgrounds can have negative views about climate activists. This is because they are being cut down whereas multinational corporations, in their opinion, are not being cut down enough and are not being held accountable as much as they are. It is basically due to a lack of support in this new transition process which causes a great deal of stress within the farming community. In my experience, it is a very much like attack versus attack. Many members of that community might feel they are being attacked and all of the blame is being put on them when they have a role to play, but their role is not the only one. It is not just them in that there are other companies and multinational corporations.

I am from a rural area but what I have experienced is more of a hopelessness and a disconnect, in that it is all happening in Dublin and everywhere else. Where we are is a little bit secluded from some things. It is about the importance of ensuring that this is possible and achievable and many people in my experience, especially in my year, would be willing to be involved in climate action education and feel impassioned about this subject but they just do not see ways in which they can effectively make a change.