Some events to celebrate Earth Day - 22nd April

Friends of the Earth is delighted to be involved in two special events to celebrate Earth Day on Thursday 22nd April 2021.

Special Screening of Groundswell

We’re teaming up with the Cork Film Festival to present a Special Online Screening of Groundswell, Johnny Gogan's feature documentary film on Ireland and Fracking. The film will go live at 7pm on 22nd April, and will be available to book and watch until 11:59pm on the following Saturday, 24th April.

Those who watch the film as soon as it goes live at 7pm on Thursday will be able to watch a live discussion that will take place immediately after the film at 8:25pm. But don’t worry if you miss it, you can catch the recording after the film any time you decide to watch it.

Filmed in the Irish border counties and in Pennsylvania, Groundswell details the plans of oil and gas company Tamboran to establish a major gas field in Leitrim and Fermanagh in 2011. The film follows the establishment of an inspiring anti-fracking campaign in these counties which spread nationally and internationally, leading to the passing of a seminal law in the Dáil banning fracking in 2017.

With over forty contributions from participants on both sides of the Atlantic including actor Mark Ruffalo, Sandra Steingraber, Eddie Mitchell, Dianne Little and Nuala McNulty, Groundswell is a very affirmative story about the power of community and creativity.

Book your Groundswell ticket here

Regular tickets for the film screening and discussion cost 10 euro - or 7.50 for the unwaged. We’d encourage you to buy a ticket if you can - we’re keen to support an Irish film maker who is making films that inspire environmental action! But if you can’t afford a ticket we do have a limited number of free tickets that you can register for here. Please only take a free ticket if you can’t afford to buy one - we want to make sure they go to those who really need them!

Empty House - Climate Writing Event

Our director Oisin Coghlan will be speaking at the launch of “Empty House” - a book of poetry and prose on the climate crisis at 7.30pm on Earth Day, 22nd April. 

Empty House is an anthology of Irish and international writing responding to the climate crisis. Writers share pieces that address what it is like to live in a world imperiled by climate chaos. Interpretations vary from celebrations of the natural world we are at risk of losing, anxious prophecies of the Earth we may soon live in, to constructive hope of how we can prevent environmental catastrophe. Together they form a rallying cry of human responses to a systemic problem. Contributors include Luka Bloom, Niamh Boyce, Jan Carson, Jane Clarke, Moyra Donaldson, Arnold Thomas Fanning, Rebecca Goss, Claire Hennessy, Lisa McInerney, Paula Meehan, Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Nuala O’Connor, Rick O’Shea, Jessica Traynor and Michael Viney.

The launch event on 22nd April will feature readings by a variety of writers and will be livestreamed at this link. You might like to tune in - for a lovely way to celebrate Earth Day!

Click here to watch the Empty House launch event at 7.30pm on 22nd April