Public Resource
How to beat the ‘fracking frenzy’ — lessons from the campaign that ended fracking in Ireland
Jamie Gorman. Waging Nonviolence

The successful Irish anti-fracking struggle offers key insights on community power building for anti-extraction movements all over the world. In 2017, community activists in Ireland mobilized a grassroots movement that forced the state to revoke fracking company Tamboran’s license and ban fracking. The first step towards defeating Tamboran in Ireland was building a movement rooted in the local community. Out of this experience, five key “rooting strategies” for local organizing emerged — showing how the resistance developed a strong social license and built community power. First, build from and on relationships. Second, foster ‘two-way’ community engagement. Third, celebrate community. Fourth, connect to culture. Fifth, build networks of solidarity. Four key political strategies include: find strategic framings; demonstrate resistance; engage politicians before regulators; focus on the parliament.