Sir, – If the first morning of Extinction Rebellion Ireland’s (XRI) week-long Dublin campaign of civil disobedience is anything to go by, their emphasis will be on the civil rather than the disobedient.
The XRI “camp” in Merrion Square, including extensive, professionally set up crash-barriers, stewards and the clearly prearranged rerouting of Dublin Bus routes, has the feeling of an event that’s been semi-officially sanctioned by the authorities.
Fair play to XRI for attempting to draw the public’s attention to the very real climate crisis.
But if day one’s tame start is anything to go by, they’re more likely to cause a nuisance to a minority of hard-pressed commuters and businesses instead of achieving their stated aim: to “bring society to a standstill and force governments to finally respond appropriately to the climate emergency”. – Yours, etc,
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JOE McCARTHY,
Arbour Hill,
Dublin 7.