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Could air travel destroy the earth? meeting 8.00 p.m. 2nd November, Void Gallery in Patrick Street Derry

Saturday 28th October 2006

Could air travel destroy the earth?

Are motorways taking the wrong road?

Are transport plans for the North West driving the future off the rails?

These questions will be considered at a meeting in Derry on Thursday (November 2nd), organised by the Socialist Environmental Alliance (SEA). The main speaker will be Lisa Fagan, Irish transport spokesperson for Friends of the Earth.

The meeting, at 8pm in the Void Gallery in Patrick Street, will also be addressed by Ciaran O'Brien, one of the Donnybrewer Road residents who have been resisting plans for the expansion of City of Derry Airport, and Colm Joyce, a train-driver and member of the rail lobby, Into The West.

The meeting will be chaired by Eamonn McCann of the SEA.

In a statement, the SEA said: "Next Saturday, November 4th, is World Climate Change Day. There will be events all over the world highlighting the urgency of cutting CO2 emissions.

"The meeting on Thursday in the Void is our small contribution to this world-wide effort. We will be discussing how the North West can contribute towards a solution.

"Political parties everywhere now agree that global warming is a fact, not a theory. But this fact is often forgotten when it comes to making policy, particularly on transport. Parties are fearful of standing up to conventional thinking on 'economic development.'

"Unrestricted growth in road and air travel is welcomed, even demanded. The case for rail, by far the cleanest and safest method of mass transportation, is virtually ignored. One of the reasons this happens is that the huge private companies behind the road and air industries dominate debate---and indeed dominate governments.

"There are ways forward based on the needs of the people and the planet, rather than the profits of global companies. There are patterns of economic development which save jobs without demolishing homes and destroying the environment.

"We invite anybody in the North West interested in discussing these alternatives to come along and contribute."





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