DERMOTT HICKSON

DERMOTT HICKSON

Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland

His magical homeplace, the Lough Beg wetlands, inspires him to resist a ‘desecrating’ motorway

Dermott grew up on the edge of the Lough Beg Wetlands. He describes their tiny bungalow as ‘sitting like a lighthouse at the shore of a vivid, undisturbed infinity’ where, as the only boy in the house, he tended to spend most of his time. “Endless adventure, endless possibility, endless escape – these became the hallmarks of my childhood and fashioned a mindset that probably has brought as much trouble as it has good.”  He cites the epic landscape he grew up in as a primary influence on his values. This was also the landscape that nutured the poetry of Seamus Heaney. “Whatever imagination, creativity, musicality and compassion I have, it came from there. It taught me to follow my instincts in spite of ridicule, to be passionate and to have the courage of my convictions.”  Having worked as an actor for most of his twenties, the young father of two returned to university to study sustainable development so that he could follow a career in environmentalism and now works in industrial ecology.

“I grew up in a place painfully beautiful, hopelessly gentle and helplessly vulnerable to the pathetic disregard of those who should cherish it. It has given so much to me in constancy and sanctuary, I felt an overwhelming need to defend it for my sons, and other wandering cubs.”
DERMOTT HICKSON

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