A vegan lifestyle!

Gerry Boland, the founder of animalsbehindcloseddoors, was born into a middle-class Dublin family. His father was a civil servant, his mother stayed at home to raise the four children, three boys and a girl. Gerry was the youngest. They ate meat most days, and fish on a Friday. Shepherd’s Pie. Mutton. Beef Stew. Lamb Chops. Sausages. Rashers. Black Pudding. Liver. Kidney. Roast beef on a Sunday. They didn’t eat animals; they ate meat. Like most people, the Bolands didn’t think of the food on their plates as having once being fully-alive, sentient beings. Meat and fish was the norm. Vegetarian meals were never on the family menu.

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In 1982, Channel 4 screened The Animals Film. The two-hour expose of the animal industry caused a furore in the UK and a massive backlash from those industries that relied heavily on exploiting animals. As it was for many, the film was a turning point in Gerry Boland's life. He stopped eating meat and fish and became vegetarian. He found himself drawn into the world of animal rights. He read extensively on the subject. By 1988, he was he was vegan and he has never looked back since. 

In the early 90s, he, together with a few activists he had come to know well, established an animal rights group. They called it the Alliance for Animal Rights (AFAR). For many years, every Saturday, they assembled a large information stand outside the historic old parliament building on College Green. They had placards and posters, leaflets and petitions. The posters were graphic and hard-hitting. Dubliners had never seen anything like it. Thousands of people passed their information stand every Saturday.

The majority didn’t stop, yet everyone who passed was aware of what they were calling for: the end of animal exploitation and abuse. Many people did approach the stand. They engaged in discussion, they signed petitions, they took away leaflets to distribute themselves. Some signed up as regular volunteers. Many arrived as carnivores and left an hour later as vegetarians or vegans.

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Life took over, as it tends to do. A living had to be made, bills had to be paid. As a result, Gerry's animal rights campaigning suffered for many years – too many years. A protest here, an interview there, the odd letter in the paper. Then, in 2020, the first lockdown only weeks old, Gerry decided to get back into regular campaigning, specifically on the factory farming issue, as he was acutely aware of how intensive animal agriculture had grown exponentially in the intervening years. Over a twelve-month period, from November 2020 to October 2021, he did over thirty radio interviews, always on the issue of factory farming. When asked by the interviewer what the solution was, he said that people should stop buying animal products that came from factory farming. He also said that people could cut down on their meat consumption and only buy free range or organic.

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That initial period of ABCD campaigning is over.

Now, when asked, he responds by saying that people should give serious consideration to giving up eating animals altogether.

Higher welfare may alleviate some of the suffering but it is not the answer; the answer is to stop eating animals and adopt a plant- based lifestyle. For the animals. For the planet. For your peace of mind. 

A vegan lifestyle!