Climate activists in Trinity have set up an Extinction Rebellion affinity group, Ireland’s first on a university campus.
The Trinity group, which began over the summer with around 10 members, will become a part of the international Extinction Rebellion movement, aiming to “halt mass extinction” as a result of climate change.
The group plans to stage a number of actions during freshers’ week, and hopes to encompass both staff and students.
The group also has plans to create an intervarsity network of Extinction Rebellion affinity groups around third-level institutions in Ireland.
Speaking to The University Times, Amy Heatley, one of the founding members of the affinity group, said: “We want to encourage students to mobilise and join in on Extinction Rebellion Dublin and Extinction Rebellion Ireland.”
In keeping with the structures of Extinction Rebellion, the group’s leadership will be organised within non-hierarchical frameworks.
“The whole idea with Extinction Rebellion in Ireland for the moment is that it’s very non-hierarchical and really not official. There’s never really any sign up other than joining the mailing list to hear about events”, Heatley said.
An affinity group, Heatley said, is “a big sociological take on how to organise the numbers we’re going to need to make the change”.
“Instead of individuals coming forward to join this massive group where they feel kind of lost because they’re such a large cog in such a large machine, the idea of affinity groups is that you’re affiliated with Extinction Rebellion … but you’re doing your own thing, you organise your own actions, and you’re responsible for the actions.”
The group, Heatley said, plans to approach Trinity lecturers to request them “to give amnesty for students that want to join in on the school-strikes on September 20th and Rebellion Week”.
In July, Trinity students joined a small group of Extinction Rebellion activists to stage environmental protests around Dublin. A “die-in” was staged on Grafton St and in the National History Museum among the taxidermy, and around 30 activists erected temporary road blocks around the city centre.
Trinity has had various sustainable campaigns and initiatives in recent years. In November 2016, after months of lobbying from campaign group Fossil Free TCD, Trinity announced that it would divest the €6.1 million it had indirectly invested in fossil fuel companies.
In 2017, a student lobby group, TCD Plastic Free, was founded to campaign for the College to move away from single-use plastics. Plastic straws have since been replaced by compostable paper straws in the Buttery and the Pav, and plastic cups have been replaced by reusable cups in the Buttery.
Earlier this year, The University Times reported that College’s Central Societies Committee (CSC) would no longer provide funding for plastic membership cards.
In 2017, a Staff and a Student Sustainability Network was formed. In November 2018, Trinity set up a sustainability fund for projects that promote environmentally friendly habits.
In June, the College had its Green Flag renewed for another three years, after an examination of its environmental efforts by heritage charity An Taisce.
