ROOTS - Rush Open Organisation for Transition Status and the Transition Towns movement

So what is the Transition Towns Movement all about?

It’s a relatively recent phenomenon which only began in 2001. Currently there are over 400 organisations with official Transition Town status in 34 countries in the world.  The main focus of  each  of them  is to enable their communities  to reduce their carbon footprint and to  be more resilient in the face of some of the major environmental and economic  challenges which we are now facing, specifically, the twin challenges of climate change and peak oil.  The former is well documented and very visible in the media. The concept of peak oil however is new to many.

It’s all about the effects of the diminishing supply of fossil fuels on communities everywhere. Peak oil is about the end of cheap and plentiful oil, the recognition that the ever increasing volumes of oil being pumped into our economies will peak and then inexorably decline. Many people believe that we have already reached this point. So we need to act now!

The Transition Town Movement is so called because it encourages communities to respond positively to the challenges we face as a result of climate change and peak oil and to focus on how we can transition or move gradually and with  a clear purpose to a safe and sustainable future.

So what does living a Transition Town mean in practice?

There’s no simple and complete answer to this question.  While there are similarities in the work being done in many of the successful transition towns, there’s an incredible variety of  things happening  in them also.  It may be helpful to look at what has been achieved by the transition organisation geographically closest to us in Rush, - the TTDP- Transition Town Portrane Donabate.

The TTDP was established by a very small group less than 2 years ago but their work rate has been phenomenal.   Already they have established:-

• a popular thriving farmer’s market held in Donabate every Saturday
• the first stages in the development of a community garden/small business centre in Portrane
• a series of free training courses in food preparation and marketinga shared facility to press fruit juices on a large scale
• a cycle group which organises weekly cycling trip
• Chickenlink- a support group for local chicken keepers
• G Day- an event promoted and televised by TV4, which succeeded in turning the area into a mini Gaeltacht for one day
• a very real and palpable sense of community!!!!!!

And there are plans for many more exciting projects! (Have a look at their website –www.ttdp.ie)

 Why do the people of Rush need to enable Rush to become a transition town?

It has been suggested  that  an initiative such as Transition Towns would never get off the ground  in Rush.  There is a view that the people here are too apathetic and unwilling to take action.  However the view has also been expressed to me that there could never be a better time than right now to do so!

40 years ago we lost Kenure House and its  beautiful surrounding parkland.  We’ve lived with the shadow of Baleally Tiphead on our doorstep for two generations now.  Many of the commercial buildings on our main street lie empty and derelict.  More recently we’ve had impositions from Eirgrid and Tesco. The final straw may well be the new monster sewage plant.  Maybe these impositions could  be  just  the motivation we need  to turn the tables and to re-activate a community spirit  and resilience  which was evident  here many years ago. The large attendances and  strength of feeling at recent public meetings indicate that perhaps the ride is  at last turning.

The global issues of climate change and peak oil are already having an enormous impact on our wellbeing.  The local issues relating to dereliction, Eirgrid, Tesco, and the proposed sewage plant  may be  even more devastating  and detrimental to our community.   

What  do we need to do to get the ball rolling?

Now is the time to to establish  R.O.O.T.S. in our town!

Rush Open Organisation for Transition Status will be formally launched at a  public meeting to be held in  Rush Community Centre , on Tuesday 6^th of December  at 8.30pm. The meeting will be addressed by Trevor Sargent of the Green Party and by Sean Gibbons of ttdp. There will be lots of free local produce and refreshments available!

If you care about any of the issues mentioned above and  if you want to be part of the new beginning then please come along!      

This could well be the tiny acorn from which the mighty oak tree (with the strongest of R.O.O.T.S.)  will grow!