Tuesday 23 December 2008

A SEMESTER OF ACTIVISM

Some committee members at the last meeting of the semester, from left to right Lois, Jason, Sarah, Karly, Adam and Mark.

Well everyone this has been our most active Semester since our creation last year! We have achieved so much in such a short period of time and it has been the best of craic the whole way!

Heres a summary of what we have been up to and achieved this academic year so far:

  • Our first activity was taking part in the annual Belfast Pride Parade. QUB Greens and Green Party members took part and showed our support to the gay community and to express our belief that the bigotry and hate of the DUP and the wicked witch of the north is completely unnaceptable in todays society.


  • At the Freshers Bazaar we managed to sign up 67 interested students! We met so many people that day and once again we could see that Green Issues are top of the agenda in many students books and shows the need for a progressive, environmental, activist society at QUB, the QUB Greens!


  • We took part in the Irish Language Rally and Parade in Belfast in October. The Young Greens believe that an Irish Language Act is long overdue as a result of the shortcomings of the Stormont Assembly. The Irish Language has become a political football at Stormont, it needs to be depoliticised because it is not a political issue, it is a Human Rights Issue, that can only be solved by an Irish Language Act. We marched to express our support to the Irish Community and Irish Language and to express our belief that the racist trollings of certain Ministers in the Stormont Assembly should not be accepted in a just and forward society.


  • For the first time the QUB Greens have a full committee made up of two gender balanced Co-Chairs, Secretary, Treasurer and 5 non-portfolio officers. We have become a strong and dedicated team becoming one of the most active political and campaign based societies on campus.


  • Four QUB Greens were elected onto the Student Council and two of our members managed to get elected onto the Environmental Committee and also the Equality Committee.


  • We hosted a talk from the Sustainable Energy Association in which the SEA Project Manager gave us a presentation on the SEA's campaign for Green Energy in Ireland.


  • The QUB Greens have been actively involved in the newly formed Youth Mental Health Strategy which is campaigning to bring about a change of attitudes and opinions towards mental health in Northern Ireland.


  • Monday 1 December was World AIDS Day, part of the global campaign to tackle the epidemic that is HIV/AIDS and to raise awareness about it. The QUB Greens worked together with the Students Union, Rag, Oxfam and Amnesty International to raise awarness of the issue and also to provide sexual health information to the student body.


  • At our last meeting of the semester the QUB Greens looked over our successes to date and also we looked forward! Next semester we hope to continue our momentum and hope to organise a voter registration campaign on campus coming up to the European Election. We will also continue our Sexual Health campaign, Our mental health campaign and will be involved in many more campaigns throughout the campus!


    The QUB Greens would like to send a very special and green farewell to Sarah Tansey! Sarah came to QUB for this semester as a politics student from the USA. Sarah gave a helping hand during our campaigns and we were all gutted to see her have to go back home after the first semester! Good Luck Sarah! We hope you enjoyed Greening up the campus with the QUB Greens!

    We would like to wish everyone as happy and wonderful time of year! Good luck in your January exams!

    Adam and Karly
    QUB Greens
    Co-Chairs

    Sunday 7 December 2008

    FIGHT BELFAST CITY AIRPORT'S RUNWAY EXTENSION


    George Best Belfast City Airport have applied for planning permission to extend their runway by 590m.

    The QUB GREENS, Green Party, including Green Party MLA Brian Wilson, along with a number of residents' groups are opposing this extension and are calling for a public enquiry because of these factors;

    i. Noise Pollution - residents close to the airport and under the flight path have been experiencing annoyance from ever increasing noise levels.

    ii. Poor Economics - the aviation industry is in decline, there is no increase in demand to necessitate this extension.

    iii. Air Quality - the airport intends to expand it's operations to service more long distance flights, meaning bigger jets with more fuel and more pollution and a greater impact on health of those in the area.

    iv. Wildlife - the airport is culling birds in Victoria Park and has requested that trees be cut down though so far this has been resisted.

    v. Safety - the is an EU designated City airport and due to its proximity to residential housing should not be restricted to small planes for domestic flights.


    The QUB Greens sent a delegation to the public meeting on 8th December to show their support to the community groups leading the campaign against the proposed runway extension. The QUB Greens delclared their full support to the Belfast City Airport Watch Campaigners and are planning to actively support the campaign on campus.


    Photo on right shows Mark McCormick of the QUB Greens looking over the planning application for the proposed runway extension with Fiona McKinley of the Belfast City Airport Watch.


    See http://www.belfastcityairportwatch.co.uk/ for more info.

    Saturday 6 December 2008

    GREEN ENERGY TALK


    John Hardy of the SEA with members of the QUB Greens. From left to right - Lois, John, Karly, Adam and Mark.

    The QUB Greens hosted a talk from the Sustainable Energy Association on Wednesday.

    John Hardy, the SEA Project Manager, gave the talk and covered topics such as the establishment of the SEA, its Campaigns and its aims! John gave a very interesting presentation showing us the need for Green Energy in Ireland and the opportunity we could gain from it!

    John Hardy said, "I would like to thank the Young Greens for giving me the opportunity to speak to them, and to show how a local campaign can grow into a national organisation. Renewable energy is the economic driver for the future, which the Greens have always promoted as a clean, cheap alternative!"

    Take a look at the SEA website to see the work they do!

    GREENS CAMPAIGN ON WORLD AIDS DAY

    The Green Stall! From left to right - Roger, Lois, Adam, Mark, Jason, Karly and Sarah.

    Monday 1 December was World AIDS Day, part of the global campaign to tackle the epidemic that is HIV/AIDS and to raise awareness about it.

    The QUB GREENS along with Amnesty, Oxfam, Rag and the Students Union held an awareness day in the Union, distributing information on the situation here as well as around the world.

    At the Green stall we handed out information on HIV/Aids and booklets on sexual health for students. We also handed out hundreds of condoms to the students population in an effort to encourage save and sensible sex!

    For more information visit http://www.worldaidsday.org/

    Monday 1 December 2008

    Sustainable Energy Association Talk


    The QUB Greens will be hosting a talk by the Sustainable Energy Association (SEA). The Sustainable Energy Association was established to give a voice to the interests of the Renewable Energy Industry in Ireland.

    SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ASSOCIATION TALK
    QUB Students Union
    Club Room 1, Third Floor
    Wednesday 3rd December
    2pm


    John Hardy, the SEA Project Manager, will be giving the talk and will cover topics such as the establishment of the SEA, its Campaigns and its aims! You will then have the opportunity to put your questions to John!

    John is a graduate of QUB and also an active member of the Green Party. It was a small local Green Party campaign in Johns local area that lead to the foundations of the SEA so his talk will not only be of interest to people wishing to learn about Green Energy, but it will also be of interest to those wanting to learn how acting local but thinking global really works!

    http://www.sustainable-nrg.org/

    Wednesday 19 November 2008

    Success & New Committee


    Four Greens were elected to the Student Council this year! Thanks to everyone who voted for us! The inaugural meeting of council is next week. Unlike the other political parties in the council, the Greens do not treat the council like a "Fisher-Price Assembly," and attempt to take seats just for the sake of having them - Student councillors are there to represent YOU, the ordinary students. So if you would like anything brought to council (as is your right) by your Green councillors you can contact us at QUBGREENS@HOTMAIL.CO.UK and we'll be happy to do that for you!

    NEW COMMITTEE-

    The new QUB Greens committee for 08/09 is:

    Male Co-Chair: Adam McGibbon
    Female Co-Chair: Karly Greene
    Secretary: Jason Gamble
    Treasurer: Mark McCormick

    Officers Without Portfolio:
    Lois Taylor
    Sarah Tansey
    Fionnuala Gray
    Jason Barnes
    Conor Clerkin


    The Greens will have a stall for World Aids Day, 1st December - stay tuned!

    Monday 20 October 2008

    VOTE GREEN Student Council Elections 2008


    Several QUB Greens are standing for election in the upcoming SU council elections.

    Unlike several other political groupings who merely obstructed workings in council last year, the Greens opposed the stale nationalist vs unionist way the council was operating and helped "green" the campus by setting up an SU Environmental Committee and assisted in the drive to install recycling around the campus.

    With your votes we could do even more this year!Our candidates are:

    JASON GAMBLE - Arts, Humanities And Social Sciences


    KARLY GREENE - Arts, Humanities And Social Sciences


    CONOR CLERKIN - Arts, Humanities And Social Sciences


    MARK MCCORMICK - Engineering And Physical Sciences

    ADAM MCGIBBON will also stand in the "Open" constituency, for which elections will be held on TUESDAY 28TH OCTOBER.

    You can vote on Queens Online on TUESDAY 21ST OCTOBER, BETWEEN 10AM AND 6PM. You can vote according to your university faculty.

    Click HERE to go to Queens Online. When you are logged in, you can vote by choosing "Online Voting."

    Keep it Green!

    QUB GREENS

    Sunday 19 October 2008

    MARCHING FOR THE IRISH LANGUAGE

    Young Greens Claire Nic Innreachtaigh (l), Mark McCormick (c) & Méidhbhín Ní Rúiséil (r)

    The Young Greens took part in this years Irish Language Parade in Belfast. It was a colourful rally and we, like all other groups taking part, demanded official status for the Irish language!

    Leading the Young Greens on the day Mark McCormick said, "The Green Party is a global party firmly based of a Human Rights approach, dedicated to respect for diversity in all its forms and opposed to discrimination in any way.

    We support the Good Friday Agreement, the European Convention on Minority Languages and other HR legislation at European and UN level, not just abroad, but in the UK and Ireland too.

    Irish has the same status as Welsh under EU and UK law and the GFA is now ten years old!! Young Greens feel this issue is long overdue for resolution and I feel this should have been recognised just as Gay Rights have been recognised in NI.

    It was promised in the St. Andrews Agreement over 2 years ago and this type of legislation is already rooted in Scotland, Wales and the South of Ireland, why should N. Ireland be the odd one out?"

    Wednesday 8 October 2008

    GREENS AT FRESHERS BAZAAR 2008!

    The QUB Greens Stall. Mark, Karly, Adam and Jason.

    Freshers Bazaar 2008 was a great day for the Young Greens! We managed to sign up 67 interested students and made good contacts with many.

    It was great to see such a diverse range of people show interest in the society and our environmental and green principles. I spoke to people from all over the UK and Ireland, Europe and as far away as Canada who all signed up and hope to get involved during the year!

    And ofcourse the 'Tree' graced the SU corridors with its presence giving free hugs to all! Even some enthusiastic boys in speedos got a hug.

    With such a positive start I am really looking forward to the events and campaigns we have in store for you all in this new academic year at Queens.

    Our first meeting of the year will be Wednesday 15th October in the Students Union Club Room 1, Third Floor at 2pm. I hope to see some of you there! We will be outlining our plans and also electing our new committee for the year.

    Keep it Green!

    Mark McCormick
    QUB Greens Co-Chair

    Thursday 14 August 2008

    YOUNG GREENS AT BELFAST PRIDE 2008


    Photograph shows Ed Davitt, Eoin Wilson, Mark McCormick, John Hardy, Adam McGibbon and Karly Greene carrying the QUB Green banner at the event.


    The Young Greens once again took part in the annual Belfast Pride Parade. Over 7,000 people made Saturday 2nd August Belfast’s Gay Day making it the biggest and most successful year of Pride yet!

    QUB Green member Karly Greene recently sent much correspondence to the Strangford MP, but recieved no reply.

    Mark McCormick said, "Iris Robinson and her DUP colleagues witnessed thousands of people from all backgrounds turn out to show their opposition to her bigoted and dangerous remarks. I hope Iris Robinson takes into account how much her comments have shocked and upset not only the Gay community but people from all sexual orientations."

    "Iris' comments just add to the DUP's track record in hateful remarks against the Gay Community. In the past it has been well-publised that DUP representatives have shown a consistent anti-gay streak. Maurice Mills, Ballymena DUP councillor, commented a few years ago that Hurricane Katrina was sent by God to punish the gays of New Orleans. Arthur Templeton, a Newtownabbey DUP councillor, was thrown off his local policing board and widely condemened for verbally abusing a gay man. Paul Berry, a DUP MLA, was kicked out of the DUP a few years ago for an encounter with a gay massuese. Last year, Ian Paisley Jr said that he was repulsed by gays, and that they "harm society". The list just keeps growing."

    Pride, year after year, continues to send out the message, louder and louder, that such bigotry is not welcome in the 21st Century.

    Monday 9 June 2008

    Young Greens Slam Robinson over homophobic comments

    The Young Greens have condemned Iris Robinson MP for her disgraceful comments on NI radio last week. Robinson claimed that homosexuals could be "turned back" with psychiatric help, referring to homosexuality as an "abomination", hot on the heels of a homophobic assault on a man in Newtownabbey.

    QUB Greens Co-Chair Adam McGibbon said: "Iris is in a very fortunate position, because I doubt that she would get away with her comments on any other part of these islands. The DUP are attacking one of the only communities in our society that they (sadly) know they can still get away with persecuting - our LGBT community.

    "One has to wonder if Iris would ask that the same "help" be applied to Jews, Muslims and Buddhists, in order that they too could be 'turned.' It's a sad state of affairs when in the 21st century, the chair of the Assembly's health committee believes that homosexuality is an illness."

    Mr McGibbon urged an even bigger turnout for Belfast Pride this 2nd August, in order to send a message to the DUP that this attitude will not be tolerated.

    Monday 12 May 2008

    The Birth Of The Magee Greens

    The Young Greens are expanding into UU Magee in Derry in time for the new university year in September 2008.

    If you or anyone you know would like to be involved in helping to set up a new Young Greens branch, drop us an email at QUBGREENS@HOTMAIL.CO.UK. QUB Greens members will be assisting in setting up the new society - no previous experience required!

    We look forward to hearing from you :)

    Sunday 27 April 2008

    End Of The Year - A Green Year At Queens


    Well, exams are now coming up and the uni year is drawing to a close - the Greens will now slow down for the exam period.

    We've had a great first year at Queens - we'd like to thank everyone who made it possible and helped us along the way. For a small society, we've done a lot and we hope to do even more this year with the experience we've all gained, and the people who have now joined the original two that formed the society in September.

    This year we: -

    • Made our debut at the Fresher's Bazaar, signing up 136 people, more than any other political society.
    • Elected the first four Greens to the Student Council.
    • Established the first environmental committee through the council to look after the SU's environmental affairs.
    • Worked with the SU and Belfast City Council to roll out a proper recycling system for Queens.
    • Held movie screenings and events, including the Fairtrade-promoting "Fairtrade Father Ted" and the Chernobyl movie "Heavy Water".
    • Awarded Sammy Wilson with "The Green Wash Award" at the Green Party's annual conference, (for his dangerous pro-nuclear vision for NI) leading to him mentioning it on the floor of Stormont, and subsequently asking to recieve the award in person, highlighting the irrationality of nuclear power.
    • Publicised the failings of the Vice-Chancellor's sustainability programme.

    A special thanks also needs to go to Jason, Petrina, Conor, Ciaran and Michelle for their dedication. :)

    The QUB Greens will still be having a few events during the summer, though - we plan to join Green Party members for the annual participation in the Belfast Pride march in August.

    Have a great summer and hoping to see you all at Belfast Pride, or in time for Fresher's '08! :-)

    All the best wishes!

    Mark McCormick
    Adam McGibbon
    QUB Greens Co-Chairs

    Monday 21 April 2008

    Earth Day Cycle!


    The Green Party in North Down organised a cycle from Holywood to Bangor, on Saturday 19th April 2008, to mark Earth Day.

    The first Earth Day took place on April 22, 1970 and has become an annual event for people around the world to celebrate the earth and renew commitments to building a safer, healthier and cleaner world for all. April 22 is now viewed as the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement.

    The cycle involved the QUB Greens, the North Down Green Party, members of Sustrans and the NIKPA Lifecycle (An organ donation charity). The cyclists biked between two Green Party stalls in Holywood town centre and Bangor town centre.


    Watch us in action!

    Thursday 13 March 2008

    Taking it Local! The Young Greens Fight Against Nuclear!


    Mark McCormick and Cllr Cadogan Enright at St. Johns Point Lighthouse where a Nuclear Power plant is being proposed.

    Mark McCormick, QUB Green Co-Chair, lives within the Bright Parish in Down District Council. Recently there have been proposals to build five nuclear power plants in N.Ireland, one of which would be at St. Johns point in the Bright Parish.

    Mark, along with Green Party Cllr Cadogan Enright have spoken out against such plans to the local Down District Council.

    Mark said "Myself and residents at Saint John’s point have expressed concern at such proposals to build a nuclear plant at St. Johns Point. Some local councillors have spoken out in support of such plans but I think their position here is more about trying to get their faces in the local papers rather than offering real solutions to the pressing problems of climate change"

    "I have spoken to many local people and not one of them has said they would like a nuclear power plant on their doorstep. For years we have had to face the threat of Sellafield in Cumbria, now the very same threat is on our doorsteps and even the thought of nuclear power has to be challenged."

    The Down District Green Party, of which Mark is an active member, will continue to oppose the threat of nuclear power at all levels of government.

    Friday 7 March 2008

    Greens Welcome Recycling Committment

    The QUB Greens have, in co-operation with the Student's Union, assisted in a rolling out of proper recycling facilities to the university. Deputy President Sarah McCaffery hailed "our own great Greens" in the last issue of the SU Magazine when announcing the roll-out of the scheme. The Greens, with SU officers and volunteers from Belfast City Council, participated in a week of publicising the scheme.

    An over-enthusiastic student recycling!


    Finally, the university has proper, colour-coded recycling for plastic bottles, paper and aluminium cans. According to the last People & Planet survey, recycling at Queens stands at a dissapointing 16%. With recycling now installed in the MBC, the SU and the PFC, and expected to be rolled out throughout the campus by the end of the academic year, thanks to the Greens QUB can be expected to leap a few places up the People And Planet "Green League" towards the top spaces.

    Recycling reduces strain on the environment by providing sustainable and re-useable materials for development, while reducing the amount of space given over to ugly, wasteful landfill. However, the university must adopt a more holistic approach (involving renewable energy and sustainable travel) if it's serious about sustainability.

    Tuesday 26 February 2008

    Upcoming Event - Fairtrade Father Ted!


    As part Fairtrade Fortnight 2008 the QUB Greens Society will be hosting 'Fairtrade Father Ted'. So if you want free fairtrade food, fairtrade coffee or fairtrade tea and also want abit of craic in the form of two Father Ted episodes feel free to come along! We will also be giving a short presentation on the merits of supporting Fairtrade and also abit of information on fairtrade fortnight.


    Date: Thursday, February 28, 2008

    Time: 3:00pm - 4:00pm

    Location: QUB Students Union, Club Room 1, Third Floor


    Everyone is welcome! Bring a friend!
    For more information on Fairtrade visit http://www.fairtrade.ie/

    Tuesday 19 February 2008

    Sammy Goes Nuclear at the Greens!

    The Young Greens Society at Queens University, Belfast today presented the Green Wash Award to DUP MLA Sammy Wilson for his pro-nuclear vision for Northern Ireland.

    The Green Wash Award is annually presented to anyone who threatens the local environment.


    Mark McCormick, from Downpatrick presented the award to Sammy Wilson at Stormont today (Tues 19th Feb, 11am) and asked the MLA: “Which Northern Ireland community does Sammy Wilson have in mind for a nuclear power plant?”

    Mr. McCormick said: “I think it’s great that Sammy Wilson is actually recognizing that climate change is a problem, after all it is the single greatest issue facing society today. However what Sammy Wilson needs to realize, is that nuclear power is not the solution to the climate change problem. Even if nuclear power production was doubled by 2050, we would only see a five percent reduction in global green-house gases. This is less than one-tenth of the reductions scientists say we require in order to tackle the issue.”

    Calling on the Northern Ireland Assembly Executive to support renewable energy instead of nuclear, Mr. McCormick said: “Renewable sources can provide all our necessary power. The untapped wind resources, north and south of the border, are equivalent to many times the total output of our current power suppliers. We could lead the way in Europe simply because of our geographical location. We should be following the example of Scotland who has ruled out nuclear and is fast becoming the most successful wind energy countries in Europe.”

    Asking Sammy Wilson to look at the true meaning of sustainability, Mr. McCormick said: “Uranium used to power nuclear power stations is a depleting resource. Nuclear power producers in France already acknowledge that uranium is a vastly depleting resource and could disappear by the middle of the century.”

    The Greens at Queens said: “By indorsing nuclear power Sammy Wilson is not solving the problem for future generations. He is instead distracting us from implementing the real solution in the form of clean, green, sustainable energy.”

    Mr. McCormick also presented Sammy Wilson with the Green Party document entitled, Previous Generation, ten reasons why nuclear power makes no sense for Ireland.

    Tuesday 5 February 2008

    John Barry talk + Movie screening



    This Thursday the QUB Greens will be hosting a short talk by Dr John Barry, Co-Leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland, entitled "What is Green Politics?" This is intended to be an interesting explanation of Green Politics for the uninitiated - John is an entertaining and intelligent speaker and in a short speech he will outline the case for Green policies and how they are beneficial to both people and planet - how they hold the key to prosperity without costing the earth.





    Following John's speech we will be screening the short film "Heavy Water - A film for Chernobyl," which tells the story of the worst nuclear disaster in human history through the eyes of the people that were there - the unprepared, ordinary firemen who were first on the scene, the nuclear plant technicians, the soldiers, and their families.



    Both these events will take place in Club Room 1, on the top floor of the Students Union, on Thursday 7th Feb, 3pm - 4pm - admission is free - bring a friend!

    Wednesday 16 January 2008

    Why Nuclear Makes NO Sense

    There's been a lot of buzz in both British and Irish media in the past month or so about "going nuclear." Britain has recently committed to a new build of nuclear power plants, "to fight climate change."



    Reasons why nuclear makes NO sense:
    1: Supporters of nuclear often make the case that nuclear power doesn't produce C02 emissions. This is not true. This ignores the emissions created through uranium mining, the transportation of materials two and from plants, the provision of facilities to store waste and the emissions created through reprocessing. In addition to this, uranium is a finite resource, and research undertaken at UCD indicates even at current levels of usage, current supplies will run out in a few decades. Imagine how fast it will run up if we increase our number of nuclear plants?






    Uranium Mining




    2:
    Renewable energy is cheaper. According to 2002 figures from the UK Department of Trade & Industry, off-shore wind power cost is rated at 2-3p per KiloWatt Hour, compared to 2-5p per kW/h for nuclear. This makes nuclear more expensive than offshore wind power and therefore more expensive than on-shore wind and other renewables. Nuclear is unnessesary and expensive, especially in the context of renewable energy becoming cheaper and cheaper. Last December, a company called Nanosolar in America created a highly efficent, powerful new kind of solar panel that doesn't require silicon to construct, is as thin as a newspaper and brings the cost of solar production down to about that of coal. Consistent advances in renewable technology are making nuclear useless.









    3: Nuclear power will NOT solve climate change, especially in Ireland - NI and the ROI combined have a total generating capacity of around 6,000 MegaWatts. Electricity grid operators need to have back-up power they can fall back on, in case a power station fails. This is called "spinning reserve." An efficent nuclear power plant is around 1,000 MW in size. If a nuclear power plant was built in NI or the RoI then we would need several other power plants (perhaps gas-fired or coal-fired, producing even more C02) built to run on standby, thus making the whole reason behind building a nuclear plant redundant.




    4: Nuclear power is still not safe. The Chernobyl accident created a large uninhabiitable area, forever poisonous to human life. A city of 50,000 people, Pripyat, had to be evacuated and lies empty, abandoned and silent, to this day. How can we envisage a power plant that could potentially do the same to London, to Manchester, to Belfast, or Dublin? In 2005, during anti-terror arrests in Britain, detailed plans of Sizewell B, a nuclear power station in Suffolk, were found in the possession of a terror suspect. The potential for a terrorist attack at a nuclear facility is frightening - if there had been an attack on Sizewell B, public outcry would have destroyed any plans for a new nuclear build - we would be highlighting the dangers of nuclear power while mourning the victims of the "Sizewell attack."





    The abandoned city of Pripyat.




    5: The waste issue has never been resolved. In the USA alone, the Department of Energy has reported that there are "millions of gallons of radioactive waste" as well as "thousands of tons of spent nuclear fuel and material" and also "huge quantities of contaminated soil and water." over half a century after the inception of commerical nuclear power, there is STILL no way to deal with nuclear waste apart from storing it somewhere, where it will remain poisonous for thousands of years. An increase in nuclear power will only lead to more waste, and problems with where to store it, and risky "fuel reprocessing" procedures.









    THORP reprocessing plant, Cumbria, England, the site of a radioactive accident in 2005




    The German Green Party, Die Grunen, while in coalition government in Germany, managed to secure a deal to phase-out nuclear energy in Germany. The Scottish SNP administration with support from the Scottish Greens have refused to put nuclear power on the table in Scotland. Eamon Ryan, RoI (Green Party) minister for Energy has refused to allow uranium mining to occur in Ireland. An attempt by the RoI government to build a nuclear plant in Carnsore Point, Wexford, in the 1970s sparked such fierce resistance that the government was forced to back down. Ironically enough, Carnsore Point is now home to a wind farm. Brian Wilson, Green Party MLA has asked the executive to declare whether it is pro-nuclear.

    Nuclear power is an expensive 'white elephant' that will not solve the problem of climate change and will give us more problems to worry about. Electricity generation should never be a threat to public health. A Green solution would be to pour the money wasted in nuclear power into renewable energy.




    In Northern Ireland, we have massive potential for clean, green renewable energy. Planning permission is underway for a power plant near Glenavy that will be powered by chicken litter. A tidal turbine that will power up to 1,000 homes is due to be installed in Strangford Lough. Wind generation capacity is quickly expanding. Electric supplier Airtricity currently has 360MW of wind power in the pipeline in NI. Solar energy is becoming more advanced every year.

    An all-renewables approach would create thousands of jobs, as well as facilitate all our energy needs in a clean, innovative way. Already in NI hundreds are employed in renewable energy, and this is growing. The Green Party opposes plans by Energy minister Nigel Dodds to cut the Reconnect renewable energy grants scheme. The minister will destroy a growing industry in it's infancy and jobs will be lost in a short-sighted move that will make it more difficult for us to cut our C02 emissions.




    In the new semester, the QUB Greens will be showing a free screening of "Heavy Water", a film about the Chernobyl accident and the people that must now live with the consequences. Details to follow :)