Shampalm awareness raising stunt, Dublin, Ireland

On Tuesday 2nd May, members of the Irish Coalition for Business and Human Rights (ICBHR) staged a mock protest at St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, to raise awareness of the injustices surrounding palm oil plantations. The coalition marched there in opposition to plans by the fictitious ‘Sham Palm Industries Limited’ to take over five acres of the park for a palm oil plantation.

 Abigail Nugent represented Don Bosco Aid and the Salesians at the protest, along with other members of the Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network (AEFJN), pictured above. We felt that this was a very important issue to bring attention to, as the palm oil industry is causing serious human rights abuses, as well as contributing in a significant way to deforestation and species loss.

 In an interview at the protest, Trócaire CEO, Caoimhe de Barra said: “Of course, there’s no actual plans to dig up St. Stephen’s Green for a Palm Oil plantation, that would be absurd! But what’s even more absurd is that many of the communities we work with around the world are under attack, being forced out of their homes and are losing their land, all to satiate the global demand for palm oil. This lucrative commodity is found in so many of our everyday products, such as our breakfast cereals, shampoo and cosmetics.”