Offaly human rights campaigner stages one-day hunger strike in Dublin

Photo: Patrick Abbott, Dublin, Catherine Longworth, Tullamore and Tom Roche handing in a letter of protest at UNICEF’s offices in Dublin during Mr Roche’s one-day hunger strike

By Ger Scully 19 Sep 2023 2:46 PM Tullamore Tribune

An Offaly based human rights and education campaigner is staging a one-day hunger strike in Dublin today(Tuesday) in protest at what he termed fossil fuel greenwashing in schools across Ireland.

Tom Roche is staging his protest outside the UNICEF Ireland offices on Ormond Quay Loweruntil 6pm this evening.

Mr Roche handed in a letter to UNICEF protesting that Texaco “Support for Sport” Ambassador Donnacha O’Callaghan is also an Ambassador for UNICEF.

The Rhode based campaigner in an open letter to the Minister for Education, Norma Foley said that her Department, Boards of Management, school principals, teachers, subject associations, teacher unions, non-governmental organisations, along with a host of past advocates, past participants and winners including a former president (Mary Robinson) and a former Government Minister (Ruairi Quinn) have remained silent on Texaco’s sponsorship of the longest running children’s art competition in Ireland.

“The entrenchment of fossil fuel agendas and perspectives across Irish society remains “significantly unchallenged even in contexts where the topic of climate change is actively discussed and engaged with,” outlined Mr Roche.

He added: “The National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland (DES, 2018) was one of the Government’s key strategies for ‘Education for Sustainability’ underpinning the Action Plan for Education (DES, 2016). In the former, the .word ‘green’ gets forty-two mentions.

“Side-by-side with the green rhetoric sits the Texaco Children’s Art competition. Pupils and students are expected to uncritically engage with the green school agenda and the Texaco agenda. This incongruous synchronicity directly challenges some of the key recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss (The Citizens’ Assembly, 2023). “ Mr Roche said his organisation Just Forests creates awareness of the significant role forests play in our economic, social, environmental and cultural lives since its founding in 1989.

Mr Roche undertakes his protest today not long after a day-long hunger strike at the Finucane Memorial in Limerick – the home town of UNICEF boss and former Minister of State, Peter Power

Offaly human rights campaigner stages one-day hunger strike in Dublin

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