Buncrana teenagers create Climate Justice mural

Young people from Buncrana have designed a mural to raise public awareness about the global climate crisis.

Devised and delivered by Children in Crossfire – a Derry-based charity whose Global Citizenship Education programme runs across Ireland – this project has created a platform for young people to have their say on the critical issue of their time.

This is one of three similar murals across the county, the other two being in Letterkenny and Bundoran.  

Bayan Smith, Children in Crossfire’s Public Engagement Officer, said: “Young people, more so than any other age-group, are deeply concerned about the threat climate change poses, not just for their future but for the imminent stability of our struggling world.

“These three murals are the clarion call of the young people in Letterkenny, Bundoran and Buncrana to impress upon the public that there is a real crisis, a real threat and that serious, concerted effort at all levels of society is required.

“Each group designed their mural independently, so it is interesting to see that they all followed a similar pattern and presented two versions of the world: a happy, beautiful prosperous one and a dark, exploitative one. This is a powerful message that we, as a society, can choose the world we want by making decisions that lead to our chosen goal. The fear for many of our young is that society consistently makes bad choices or, at best, good ones but too slowly.”
He added: “It has been a privilege to work alongside local Donegal businesses and organisations to deliver this project. We have been overwhelmed by the energy and maturity of the young people in each town whose vision for a better world is clear for all to see.

“We express our sincere thanks to ChangeMakers Donegal, Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana Youth Club, Wild Inishowen Club, and Inishowen Beekeepers Association for their help in Buncrana. We are also deeply grateful to Cara McLoughlin and Donna McFeely for their inspiring facilitation and thank UV arts for the painting.”

Myra McAuliffe from ChangeMakers – a Donegal-based organisation that aims to raise awareness, understanding and, most importantly, action for a fairer and more just world – said: “We were delighted to partner with Children in Crossfire on this initiative to involve local community groups such as Wild Inishowen Club and the Inishowen Beekeepers Association.

"Having such as a visible message to the local community about climate justice is very powerful and something we are pleased to support.

"Well done to the pupils in the inspiring Scoil Mhuire Cli-mates group and to their teachers Denise Dowds and Amanda Doherty for accommodating this project.”

The mural in Buncrana is on the wall of the youth club by Swan Park; in Letterkenny it’s on Devlin Hall on Lower Main Street; and in Bundoran the mural can be found inside the community centre on Main Street.

Take pictures and tag us on social media – Twitter @ChildreninXfire Instagram @children_in_crossfire