Eamon Ryan, the leader of the Green Party in Ireland, said on Wednesday that he would be discussing climate action with all parties and will ‘eat his hat’ if Ireland doesn’t stop issuing licenses for new oil and gas exploration drilling in its waters within a year.
“I will eat my hat if within a year we have not stopped the issues of new oil and gas explorations,” Ryan said during a speech at the MacGill Summer School in Ireland, as carried by Independent.ie.
According to Ryan, oil and gas exploration would not survive in the program for Irish government negotiations, “no matter who is in it.”
Earlier this year, Ireland declared a climate emergency, with Climate Action Minister Richard Bruton calling climate change the greatest challenge facing mankind.
Bruton was at MacGill today, where a student confronted him with a speech that received a standing ovation. Sixteen-year-old Conal O’Boyle said, as carried by The Journal, “Of course, we have a civic responsibility to recycle and ensure that our towns and villages are litter free, but Mary in Dingle or John in Castlebar can not pull the plug on oil exploration off the west coast.”