Last week the Government was defeated as the Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill passed the

Oisin Coughlan, Director of Friends of the Earth

second stage 90 votes to 53. Ireland may soon become the world’s first country to fully divest from all fossil fuels. Friends of the Earth described as “historic” the vote to progress a Bill to pull taxpayer’s money out of fossil fuel companies. Commenting on the landmark vote, Oisin Coughlan, Director of Friends of the Earth said: “This is first real sign of leadership from Ireland on climate action.”

Pictured above is Rossmore Park. Trees are the lungs of the earth and provide natural sanctuaries.

If you find yourself getting overwhelmed by all the bad news in the world, there can be no better way to counteract this than by getting your hands dirty and making a positive impact in your local community. Why not join Transition Monaghan in planting trees in Monaghan Town on Saturday February 11^th at 10am. In Castleblayney the Community Gardens Group welcome people to come along to their tree planting at Park Road Community Garden at 11am.

The ‘one million trees in one day’ initiative hopes to see one million trees planted all across Ireland on the day. In Monaghan, our Transition will be planting 100 trees, with a mix of native ‘woodland’ and ‘hedgerow’ trees. We will be joined by other local groups on the day, including the Tidy Towns, Men’s Sheds and the Allotment Society. In particular, we welcome new volunteers to lend a hand in the planting. All you need are weather proof clothes and a pair of sturdy shoes or boots. If you have a spade, this is a plus, but if not we will provide some. We will announce the precise locations in next week’s noticeboard and on our Facebook page. For further information, please email transitionmonaghan@gmail.com or call 086 865 2724.

February notices can be found here