Death of Manchester’s powerful Green activist

Gayle O’Donovan, a General Election candidate and leading Green Party activist in Manchester died last week.

Gayle served as Local Party Support Co-ordinator for the Green Party from September 2010 to December 2011 and was involved with a variety of green campaigns in Manchester, including the Save Hasty Lane campaign opposing the expansion of Manchester Airport.

She was the co-founder of “Call to Real Action,” which aims to reduce Manchester’s carbon emissions and prepare for the changes climate change will bring and the co-ordinator of BRiM (Bike Recycle in Manchester) which supports people in Manchester becoming confident cyclists and stops bikes going into landfills.

She played a key role in helping Salford Green Party set up independently.

Anne Power, Membership Secretary of Manchester Green Party described Gayle as: “clearly a dynamic person, attracting people and invigorating them.” Her presence at Green Party meetings and Climate Change events was always accompanied by “laughter and serious debate.”

Gayle’s campaign to be Manchester’s Green Party MP stated that she was concerned about Manchester’s “traffic congestion, the lack of quality green spaces and the low level crime currently blighting the community.”

She believed that Manchester needed: “more investment in neighborhood policing, far better provision for youth activities, and more social health resources.”

Power states: “The Green Party and environmental movement have lost a powerful activist and I personally have lost an amazing friend.”

The funeral took place on Wednesday in Gayle’s hometown of Limerick.