When Greta Thunberg visited Ireland last month, she spoke to a crowd of more than 1,100 people at Dublin’s Dalymount Park about how climate justice activism and fighting for human rights of the Palestinian people is part of the same struggle.
With clear and simple language, Thunberg linked the ongoing genocide in Gaza with the ecological devastation normalised by the dehumanising systems that prioritise corporate growth over human rights and short-term profits over community health.
The fundraising event, an Evening of Words and Songs for Gaza hosted by the Bohemian Football Club (Bohs), was inspiring not just because of the clarity and commitment of the speakers and musicians, but also because of the culture of care – community-focused values of shared humanity and global solidarity.
In his welcoming remarks, Matt Devaney, the Bohs president, told the audience the event was only possible because Bohs is not owned by a billionaire. In contrast to so many other corporate-controlled clubs and organisations, Bohs is fan-owned, community-powered and not-for-profit.
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Devaney’s comment was striking because he was explicitly acknowledging that concentrated wealth and corporate power are disconnecting us from what matters most by encouraging silent complicity.
With large corporations expanding their influence over public institutions and public policies in countries around the world, concern is growing about the dangers of corporate power. In Ireland, the influence of corporate power is particularly acute because a handful of large US-based multinational corporations are often considered essential to economic prosperity.
For decades, Ireland’s pro-big-business politics and corporate-friendly policy agenda, including ultra-low corporate tax, has dominated government strategy. Although this approach may have served Ireland well in lifting the country from the economic doldrums of the past, the growing risks of corporate capture suggest the urgent need for a new approach.
Corporate capture is when corporations exert undue influence and control over public institutions, laws, and regulations so that corporate interests are prioritised over the needs of the public. In addition to eroding democratic processes and weakening public institutions, corporate capture also creates mistrust and fuels public resentment, especially among communities left behind.
Corporate capture is the primary reason why environmental degradation in Ireland is accelerating. Big-tech companies effectively lobbied for ecologically devastating data-centre expansion, despite massive new energy demand thwarting efforts to meet legally binding 2030 climate targets which will result in financial penalties in the tens of billions for Ireland. Meanwhile, corporate executives from large meat and dairy processing companies were critical in securing another three-year nitrates derogation, despite the public health risks of worsening water pollution.
Marginalised communities and precarious households are impacted the most by corporate capture, because ecological decline and insufficient public services harm those most vulnerable. Research shows that the worsening climate crisis is increasing poverty and inequality. However, despite growing awareness of both ecological and societal injustices of corporate capture, the Irish Government has, so far, been unable to change course.
Across every sector, including housing, health, education, and technology, corporate interests are increasingly dominating Irish public policy while community needs go unmet. Corporate capture has contributed to the systematic underinvestment in public services and community-based infrastructure, leading to growing vulnerabilities and widening resentment, disappointment and mistrust of Government.
Despite the growing risks of corporate power, analysis of the influence and adverse impacts of corporations on political-economic decision-making in Ireland is minimal. New research just published by Maynooth University’s Social Science Institute reviews corporate power by mapping how corporations actively seek to shape Government policies.
Entitled Corporate Power in Ireland: A Review, this analysis summarises investigations of corporate power sector-by-sector, synthesising publicly available advocacy reports, investigative journalism articles, think tank documents and public reports across key areas of Irish society. The report is a resource for those seeking to understand and contest the role of corporations in shaping the distribution of resources in Ireland.
Thunberg’s recent visit reminds us why corporate power in Ireland must be challenged, and the community-owned Bohs Football Club that hosted her in Dublin shows us how. Bohs is a global leader in integrating climate justice and sustainability in sports.
The club links transformative climate action with community wellbeing through the Bohemian co-operatives, a climate justice initiative to create local community wealth-building and a democratic community-owned economy.
Instead of continuing to bow down to corporate demands to maintain a precarious reliance on a few multinational companies, the Irish Government needs a new strategy that invests in community-owned infrastructure and worker-owned co-operatives to reclaim our shared values of social justice, human rights and ecological health.
Jennie C Stephens is Professor of Climate Justice at Maynooth University and author of Climate Justice and the University: Shaping a Hopeful Future for All (Hopkins University Press, 2024)
