‘A truly special moment’ as Longford’s Liam Coyle presents gift to President Higgins

Proud Longford native from Aughnacliffe, Liam J. Coyle, was invited to Áras an Uachtaráin by President Michael D. Higgins and Sabina Higgins, in recognition of his contributions to climate action and sustainability.

The event took place on Thursday, June 26 to recognise his work as an EU Climate Ambassador with the European Commission.

Liam presented President Higgins with a handcrafted wooden harp as a commemorative gift to mark his life to public service and moral leadership on human rights, environmental justice and culture.

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“As a proud Longford native from Aughnacliffe, this was a truly special moment – both personally and for my family,” commented Liam.

“Whilst I work in Dublin as a Strategy Consultant at KPMG Ireland, I take great pride in my Longford background, having been educating at Moyne Community School.”

Liam has raised awareness of climate and environmental issues with hundreds of thousands of people online, lecturing the next generation of business leaders on sustainability at UCD, and advising businesses and public bodies on sustainability challenges — among many other efforts to improve climate literacy and drive climate action.

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He described how there were a lot of NGOs and individuals that were invited all the way from community development to human rights; such as Trocaire.

The event itself was for Global Solidarity and United Nations Sustainability Goals, such as world poverty and hunger.

One in particular interest for Liam was climate action and fighting the climate crisis. He was appointed EU Climate Ambassador at the start of this year.

Liam works for KPMG, advising businesses and government bodies on strategic issues, but also raising issues around sustainability.

He produced a video on how he got involved with sustainability.

Coming from a farming background, Liam started to see the impacts of climate change from increased rainfall that was flooding fields to stronger and more severe storms like Eowyn that were causing havoc and wrecking trees and forestry.

He spoke earlier this year on RTÉ with Katie Hannon. His social media presence has helped with climate literacy.

“No matter where you are from in the country, in the fields of Longford or farms, you can get involved. With continued impact, you can make a difference in society. I want to raise awareness.”

Liam considered the event to be a special moment, having a great respect President Higgins.