Catherine Connolly criticises ‘deafening silence’ over ‘normalisation of war’

Transformative change to address the climate emergency is not happening fast enough, the President has said.

Catherine Connolly said the world “cannot continue to do business as usual” and called out “deafening silence” around the “normalisation of war”.

In an address to the DCU Climate Conference on Tuesday, Ms Connolly said it had been seven years since the Dail declare a climate and biodiversity emergency.

However, she said that: “In the seven years since the declaration, unfortunately we have seen report after report confirming that transformative change is certainly not happening at the scale and speed that is required.”

In particular, she referenced the European State of the Climate Report 2025, compiled by the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation and the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service last month, which found that Europe is the fastest-warming continent and the impacts are already severe.

Tuesday’s event was the sixth annual conference of the DCU Institute for Climate and Society and was entitled “Holding the Line: Climate action in a time of crisis”.

Ms Connolly’s address also noted research that the Atlantic jet stream is significantly more likely to collapse than previously thought, that 2026 could be the warmest year on record, and that sea temperatures are approaching the highest level ever.

Addressing the students and faculty of the DCU Institute for Climate and Society, she said they were a source of inspiration to her.

“Given these stark facts, your work and research are all the more important.

“Indeed, your institute is the first academic research centre in Ireland devoted to addressing climate change from the perspective of the social sciences and humanities.

“This institute represents the holistic approach that is absolutely necessary if we are to address the existential threat posed by climate change.”

Ms Connolly said “neither technological solutions” nor incremental change on their own will suffice in saving the planet”.

However, she added: “The positive news is that the solutions are there, and you have acknowledged that.

“Those solutions of themselves, however, will not be sufficient.

“There has to be a recognition that we cannot continue to do business as usual.”

Ms Connolly said a vision for change required a paradigm shift centred on climate justice and “the audacity to constantly question self-serving narratives”.

She said: “Of course, the elephant in the room is the normalisation of war, which could not happen without the vast military industrial complex.”

She added: “We can’t get away from the fact that war, the normalisation of war and climate change are inextricably linked.

“The deafening silence around this issue, speaks volumes and must be called out by every single one of us.”

DCU deputy president Professor Anne Sinnott said the institute has played an important role in addressing the “existential threat” posed by climate change.

She said: “The institute is Ireland’s first academic research centre focused on social science and humanities programmes on the climate crisis.

“It brings together over 60 researchers from across three of DCU’s faculties, representing a truly interdisciplinary initiative.

“More than that, it’s a project that embodies the values of the DCU mission to transform lives and societies – the institute is part of our university-wide strategic commitment to make sustainability a key driver of everything we do.”

The institute offers an MSC in climate change examining policy, media and strategy.

Climate change poses risks across all sectors of the economy, society, and environment.

Risk assessments by the Environmental Protection Agency project that Ireland’s climate will get warmer, with average temperature increasing across all seasons and on an annual basis – while the number of heatwaves is also projected to increase.

In addition, the country is set to become wetter overall with an increase in average rainfall.

That rainfall will come as part of increased seasonality, meaning wetter winters and drier summers – with more frequent droughts projected for summer and spring months.

The EPA also said there will be an increased exposure to coastal flooding with a projected rise in sea levels.