Minister in Lough Allen college for launch of student climate group

TY students in Drumkeeran launched a new student-run climate action group on Friday morning at Lough Allen College, with local councillors and Deputy Marian Harkin in attendance.

The group, known as Lough Allen Community Energy (LACE), consists of eight TY students and was formed as part of an initiative by Good Energies Alliance Ireland, an environmental NGO based in Leitrim.

The initiative aims to bridge the gap between politics and young people while teaching them how to create change through civic engagement.

This project is part of an Erasmus+ funded scheme from the European Union. The students will write a letter outlining their suggestions for reducing energy consumption, which will then be taken through the layers of government—starting with the county council, then to Dáil Éireann, and finally to the European Parliament in Brussels in May.

The event was attended by local councillors: Cllr. Padraig Fallon, Cllr. Mary Bohan, Cllr. Eddie Mitchell, and the newly appointed Minister of State for Further Education, Marian Harkin.

“Today isn’t about speeches from politicians; it’s about engaging. It’s about listening to all of you and working together to find solutions—things that might work locally, regionally, and nationally,” said Minister Harkin.

The students also presented research they conducted on Irish energy consumption and asked their public representatives questions about the possibility of lowering the voting age for young people, as well as how often climate change issues arise in their work.

“The world I live in, climate change comes up every day because I am involved in activism,” said Cllr. Mitchell. He also highlighted Leitrim’s long history of activism around environmental issues and encouraged the next generation to continue this legacy. 

“This is your business; you get old very quickly, so we need you to start developing your knowledge and engage,” he said.

The event, which was attended by first- and second-year students of the school, addressed serious issues around climate change, including critical minerals in Ukraine, the energy demands of data centres in Ireland, the sustainability of GDP growth, and national fossil fuel consumption.

The group displayed great maturity and represented a hopeful future, according to Kathy Dunfey from Good Energies Alliance Ireland, who is mentoring the group through this project.

“The important thing for them was to foster a welcoming environment where they could treat everyone with respect and communicate clearly,” she said, adding that they could very well be the leaders of tomorrow.

Good Energies Alliance Ireland also runs programmes locally for young people to go abroad and volunteer during the summers.

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