Protesters take to the streets of Cork, Dublin and Belfast to demand action on climate change

In Cork, protesters took part in a rally to show their support for real action on climate justice. Picture: Damien O'Mahony

Climate protests got underway in a number of cities across the country today in a bid to urge action on climate change at the Cop26 international talks taking place in Glasgow.

As part of the global day of action on climate justice, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, Belfast, Derry and other cities across the world to demand action on climate change.

In Cork, protesters gathered outside the City Library on Grand Parade at midday on Saturday and took part in a rally to show their support for real action on climate justice while in Dublin, the demonstration simultaneously gathered at the Garden of Remembrance at 12pm.

A "great atmosphere" was reported in Cork City as protesters of all ages united in their call.

Protesters gathered before marching the streets in demand of action on climate change.

Dublin and Belfast witnessed two of the largest demonstration while thousands of protesters braved pouring rain and winds to march Glasgow where the UN climate conference is being held.

Katie Harrington was among the crowds who gathered at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin for a march through the city to Government Buildings.

"For me it's extremely important that we use our voices," she said.

"I'm not here for myself, I'm here for future generations. We need our government to actually act on climate change and the climate crisis, not just keep talking and not just keep making plans.

"It's really important for us to use our voices and march on these streets so we're heard."

Catherine O'Rourke from Liverpool was in Dublin to visit her daughter. She said she felt compelled to come down and join in the protest.

"I am very concerned about the future for my grandchildren and my great grandchildren and we've got to make a difference," she said.

"We can't just hope for it, we've got to do it. We've got to make our governments wake up before it's too late. It's already nearly too late. I had to come - I'd no choice."

The events were part of a global day of action aimed at increasing pressure on world leaders attending the Cop26 conference on climate change in Glasgow.

In total, some 200 events took place around the world, organisers of the Cop26 Coalition said.

Protesters taking part in a Climate Action march in Dublin, to coincide with the COP26 Conference, arrive outside Leinster House on Merrion Square, where a meeting took place. Photograph: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

The marches come after thousands of youth activists, including Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate marched through Glasgow on Friday protesting against investment in fossil fuels and failure to tackle the climate crisis.

Ms Thunberg called the Cop26 conference, where countries are meeting in a bid to increase ambition on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, "a global north greenwash festival, a two-week long celebration of business as usual and blah blah blah".

The latest demonstrations come midway through the Cop26 summit, which has seen world leaders gather to set out the action they are taking and commit to curb deforestation, phase out coal, end funding for fossil fuels abroad and cut methane emissions.