15 September 2012
This year’s Network Gathering was held in Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim from the 7th-9th September. We chose to hold the Gathering in this particular area, as it is right on the shore of Lough Allen, an area which would be directly affected by Fracking.
On the Saturday, the first half of the day was devoted to talks and workshops, and two fantastic presentations on Fracking.
After the day of workshops and talks, it was time for a bit of fresh air and an excursion to an organic farm owned by Tommy Earley. As Tommy guided us around his farm, showing us the beautiful view of the lake from his farm, he talked about how fracking would affect him and his livelihood. He also presented on a map what the extent of the proposed hydraulic fracturing would be.The extent of it on a map shocked us a lot.. Fracking was not the only thing talked about on this tour, Tommy talked about his keen interest in biodiversity, and showed us an area of his farm which included a meadow specially designed to accommodate endangered butterfly. After a refreshing walk around the farm, we were served with tea and homemade buns. On the Sunday we had a more relaxed day, starting with painting placards and banners and having some good craic. We took pictures with the placards, for our ‘Countdown to the Frackdown’ Action for the upcoming ‘Global Frackdown’. After another photo-shoot, it was time for our final meal together, and then the off!
Before we left each other in Carrick-on-Shannon we held another little action on the Carrick Bridge, to show our support and solidarity with the people of Leitrim.
To see more photo’s, please check out our Gallery or go to our Facebook page.
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