Students in 2nd year Darwin have been working on Speech writing and presentation recently in English class. Students were asked to write and deliver a short speech about an issue they felt passionately about and the results were outstanding. Here are just three examples that we share here which highlight an issue of importance to the local community of Portrane-Donabate.
Teacher and fellow students. I am here today to discuss global warming. Firstly I am speaking on behalf of the people from Portrane who have experienced the rattle of the ocean. We all know that a cause of this is the ice caps melting in the arctic because of pollution and global warming.
Secondly, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent. We’ve had two examples of this in Ireland in the last six months, Storm Ophelia’s hurricane strength winds and tropical downpours, Storm Emma’s outrageous low temperatures and mind blowing amounts of snow. We must stop dumping in our seas and we must stop treating the environment poorly. Has Ireland ever seen weather this poor?
Thirdly, when I was young I was able to swim in the sea with my friends and family, but did you know that our local beach lost its blue flag due to pollution last year.
Finally, we have to stand up against global warming. It would only take one second if everyone made an effort to clean up the beach. It makes me feel angry that no one notices what’s going on around them. If you could have seen RTE news the other night you would have just known how much it is affecting the beach, the homes and the people of Portrane.
Coastal Erosion by Sean Collins (Darwin)
Good afternoon to you all and welcome here today to talk about the coastal erosion in Portrane, County Dublin.
The erosion at Portrane beach has been known about for the last couple of years, and Fingal County Council haven’t done one thing about it. There used to be a beautiful boardwalk along the coastline of Portrane. It was nearly the full length of the beach and it has since been closed off because it was way too dangerous to walk on and some parts of it has broken off onto the beach or has been washed away.
If Fingal County Council don’t put down boulders or sandbags soon, houses and Pipers’ takeaway will fall into the sea. It makes me feel angry that people might have to evacuate their homes and businesses because they are at risk of being washed away. The future of our community depends on how we look after the coast of Portrane.
Can you imagine seeing Portrane in a couple of years time with ruins of houses and people of the community left homeless with no money?
Finally, to sum up my speech to you today if we don’t take action now our community could never be the same again.
Thank you.
Coastal Erosion by Aaron Dignam (2nd year, Darwin)
Good afternoon classmates I’m here to talk to you about the erosion that has been happening on Portrane beach for several years now.
A few days ago Storm Emma, hit our shores with power, and it devastated our beach, and now there is more damage done than ever before.
Five days of winds and high tides has resulted in over two metres of sand dunes being lost to the sea.
It has washed away some of my neighbours’ gardens and one house is now on the edge of the beach, if we don’t act against the erosion soon more houses and businesses could end up falling into the water.
We need people power to get publicity, the media involved and social media, and put pressure on Fingal county council and the board of works to take action and find preventive measures for this erosion.
Please help the people of Portrane save their properties. This is a human and environmental emergency.
We call on people to meet at the Brook pub in Portrane on Saturday 10th of March at 10 o clock, to show support for our neighbours that are in peril.
Thank you.