A packed public meeting in St. Thomas National School, Laurel Lodge last night heard Éanna Ni Lamhna of “Mooney Goes Wild” on RTE 1 and Duncan Stewart of RTE’s “Our House” and “Eco Eye” make an impassioned plea for people to take personal responsibility for curbing Ireland’s carbon emissions.

Labour TD Joan Burton organised this Open Forum on the Environment to highlight the climate change crisis and to bring a number of independent expert speakers to Dublin West.

Éanna Ni Lamhna told the meeting that, as well as pushing for action at national level, people need to look at their own lifestyles to find ways that they can reduce their personal carbon footprint in their homes, in their transport choices and in all other areas of their lives. She also spoke of her concerns for Ireland’s biodiversity and local wildlife.

Deputy Joan Burton, Labour Party TD for Dublin West, told the meeting that the Labour Party will be putting forward to voters a clear agenda addressing climate change issues. She spoke of the aims of the Labour Party policy to both reduce emissions and also to improve our quality of life and our economic competitiveness, as the global and EU economies adjust to the dangers posed to the planet.

There was a practical discussion with Duncan Stewart about the many options available to make our homes more energy efficient, from detailed advice on attic insulation to a discussion of the various heating systems that are now available to homeowners.

The third speaker David Phillip, an environmental campaigner, gave the audience a graphic description of what a modern sustainable village could be like, drawn from the model of the Eco-Friendly Community that is currently being developed in the village of Cloughjordan in Co. Tipperary.

After the speeches there was a very lively discussion with the panel, chaired by local scientist Michael O’Keefe.