{"id":543976,"date":"2026-07-11T05:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T05:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/543976\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T05:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T05:52:10","slug":"irelands-greenest-places-why-we-want-to-salute-net-zero-heroes-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/543976\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland\u2019s Greenest Places: Why we want to salute Net Zero Heroes \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are three weeks away from the closing date for entries to Ireland\u2019s Greenest Places<\/a>, a competition run by The Irish Times in association with Electric Ireland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By August 1st, we are asking readers to suggest places and people that are deserving of the spotlight for their commitments to a greener world. This year, as well as selecting winners for Ireland\u2019s greenest town or village, community, and suburb, the judging panel will be considering submissions for a new category.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Where are Ireland\u2019s Greenest Places 2026? Cast your vote hereOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The Net Zero Hero category is aimed at a singular individual whose climate<\/a> action is making a real impact. Included below are some examples of the sorts of profiles that could excel in this category, but bear in mind that a Net Zero Hero can operate at a very local level. If you see inspiring climate action unfolding around you, please do not hesitate to submit an entry.<\/p>\n

Environmental consultant and former Irish Times environment editor Kevin O\u2019Sullivan, who is returning to the judging panel for Ireland\u2019s Greenest Places, explains that the term \u201cnet zero\u201d is more important than ever. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an increasingly loud and growing movement calling for climate action to be rowed back,\u201d he says, \u201cwhile insisting its advocates are not in the deniers\u2019 camp… their ranks include some multinationals, governments and prominent politicians, airlines and, of course, fossil fuel companies who claim to be still embracing renewables.\u201d<\/p>\n

The narrative being touted, O\u2019Sullivan says, is that climate targets are well-meaning but overambitious and too demanding. <\/p>\n

\u201cInvariably, they are united in detesting the global commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, as if it was some nebulous notion plucked out of the sky,\u201d O\u2019Sullivan says. \u201cThis runs counter to reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Net zero means achieving a balance between greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere, and it is dictated by science, O\u2019Sullivan adds. \u201cIt is essential to making the world a safer place, to avoiding irreversible climate breakdown and to cooling the planet.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a counter to all of this, those who through their actions, especially at community level, bring us a step closer to net zero by mid-century need to be highlighted as the small catalysts that will help build to transformational collective action. That is why the Ireland\u2019s Greenest Places Awards want to salute such individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EamonEamon Ryan, former Green Party leader and ex-minister for the environment and climate, is back on the judging panel for Ireland\u2019s Greenest Places 2026. Photograph: Mark Henderson <\/p>\n

Alongside O\u2019Sullivan, former Green Party<\/a> leader and ex-minister for the environment Eamon Ryan<\/a> is back on the judging panel, as well as Irish Times senior features writer Rosita Boland and Lisa Browne, head of marketing and customer insights at ESB.<\/p>\n

They are joined by biologist, author, presenter and environmental consultant \u00c9anna N\u00ed Lamhna, and sustainability consultant and \u201cde-influencer\u201d Shannen Healy, known as @_greengal<\/a> on Instagram and other platforms.<\/p>\n

Now, to examples of potential Net Zero Heroes. <\/p>\n

Jacinta BarrinsTeaching climate activism \"JacintaJacinta Barrins <\/p>\n

Through a six-week course that has, to date, served 14 counties, Jacinta Barrins fosters an older generation of climate activists in Ireland. <\/p>\n

Having spent close to two decades working in the Department of Hydrology at University of Galway (UG)<\/a>, Barrins left to focus on water-related projects in a host of African countries, and finished out her professional career with 15 years as a residence co-ordinator with the United Nations<\/a>, where one of her main roles was facilitating the Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I retired, I wasn\u2019t ready to put my feet up,\u201d Barrins explains. She returned to UG to complete a climate-based MsC and \u201cit became obvious to me, in Ireland, that my age group \u2013 we weren\u2019t really understanding what is this thing called climate change\u201d.<\/p>\n

That was when the idea for the 60+ Climate Drive Programme arrived. Working with Galway City Council<\/a>, Barrins designed a course aiming to help older people relate to the climate and related issues. She imparts the science, she says, but in \u201cthe most friendly, easy way\u201d. The first session explains the link between a cup of tea and climate change, focusing on consumption first and confronting participants with the impact of their own behaviour. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ireland\u2019s Greenest Places: Community is the catalyst that can create changeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The participants develop an understanding of emissions beyond impersonal statistics, analysing their own carbon footprints and committing to achievable goals. Anyone signing up for the climate drive knows they have to take action in one of four areas: housing, transport, food or waste. On top of effecting personal change, participants are asked to reach out to members of their community, sharing the information they have taken in. <\/p>\n

The course is bolstered by additional speakers. Experts in local biodiversity<\/a> explain, for instance, what and what not to grow; nutritionists teach about meat alternatives; representatives of councils and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)<\/a> detail the grants and incentives available to people who make green commitments. <\/p>\n

It also prepares participants to avail of Community Climate Action Funds if they so choose, giving them a sense of how to access the schemes, but, perhaps more importantly, explaining why they exist. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf the climate fund is focusing on pennies in the pocket without people appreciating the net zero part, getting the greenhouse gases down and the why of why you want to do that, then we\u2019ll have missed this opportunity with this fund,\u201d Barrins says. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have found people who would not have understood their behaviour,\u201d she adds. \u201cPeople begin to see why they should do it\u2026 If you show the opportunities that are out there and the potential that is out there, it is surprising the number who do come on board.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe DevineBog restoration <\/p>\n

South of Bangor Erris, in rural Co Mayo<\/a>, sits an 1,800-acre blanket bog ideally suited to capturing carbon, but which has for long been emitting greenhouse gases instead as a result of draining in the 1980s. <\/p>\n

Joe Devine, co-founder of private investment company Ion Equity, first encountered the bog in 2017 while trekking along the Bangor Trail. It was for sale at the time, though it was 2021 before he began considering it for purchase, analysing the site\u2019s capacity for different projects including forestry, wind farming, tourism, and carbon trading. <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, well look, land values aren\u2019t going down in Ireland, so why don\u2019t we just buy it?\u201d Devine says. \u201cWorst case, the grandkids can figure out what grandad was doing in about 30 years\u2019 time.\u201d <\/p>\n

Having entered the process with no background knowledge of bogs, he became fascinated by them. He set about rewetting and rewilding the land, aided by Bord na M\u00f3na, which conducted a baseline survey and helped designed a bog restoration plan. <\/p>\n

Forestry and wind farms were ruled out as possibilities, and carbon became Devine\u2019s central focus. Since the draining for industrial extraction, the bog was leaking \u201cbetween 1,000 and 2,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions\u201d, so he zoned in on reversing that damage. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe blocked the drains,\u201d Devine says. \u201cRather than filling them all in [individually], which would have been a very expensive exercise, there were dams made of peat from the bog which were filled into the drains in order for the water to accumulate. It\u2019s all about water table management.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018The family has gotten involved and the kids and grandkids have all been to the bog, and they\u2019re all fascinated by it\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Joe Devine, Ion Equity<\/p>\n

As the water table rises, life returns to a drained bog, reversing the leakage of emissions and instead storing carbon. The baseline survey that was conducted gave a precise summary of the state of Devine\u2019s bog, enabling tracking of its progress as it improves. Early indications suggest the process is working, but the first official measurement will take place in 2029, and subsequently once every five years for the next four decades. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Revealed: Ireland\u2019s Greenest Places 2025 long listOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the bog is already a sink,\u201d he says. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t have been drained at all in the \u201980s for a whole variety of reasons, so we have demonstrable evidence that [the whole thing] can be remediated and turned into a sink.\u201d<\/p>\n

As that process continues, the biodiversity, flora and fauna on the site will benefit. Habitat development organisation Breeding Waders EIP has identified the site as a useful location for flocks of birds to nest. Returning mosses are a driver for the removal of dissolved organic carbon from the water, and for controlling the flow of that water into the sea. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fascinated by the whole thing,\u201d Devine says. \u201cIt\u2019s a whole new area for me since 2021. The family has gotten involved and the kids and grandkids have all been to the bog, and they\u2019re all fascinated by it and so on. For me, it underlines that, as a state, we need to be doing more of this work rather than less of this work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pamela O\u2019ConnorFacilitating home energy upgrades<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s incredible,\u201d Anne O\u2019Reilly says of Pamela O\u2019Connor, whose green efforts in Wexford have hinged, in the main, on being well-known, well-regarded and highly trusted in her community. <\/p>\n

In 2021, O\u2019Reilly was one of the co-founders of Wexford Town Sustainable Energy Community (SEC), a voluntary group aiming to address climate change and promote a just transition to sustainable energy use. When the Net Zero Hero category was explained to her, O\u2019Connor was the first person who came to mind. <\/p>\n

A couple of years ago, the SEC had been trying to promote fully funded grants for home energy upgrades offered by the SEAI under its Warmer Homes Scheme. They identified Southend, an area in Wexford<\/a> with high levels of disadvantage, as a good fit for the programme, and carried out a survey among its residents. <\/p>\n

Responses were good, but sceptical. People weren\u2019t sure about the scheme, and meetings were organised to try to explain it to them. O\u2019Connor sat in on those meetings and took an interest in the topic.<\/p>\n

\u201cPamela learned what it entailed herself, checked the application forms and discovered that she could help people fill out their applications if they needed help,\u201d O\u2019Reilly says. \u201cThere were a lot of older people in the area who wouldn\u2019t be able to do stuff online.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018You had people from outside the community contacting her for information, advice and for help\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0 Anne O\u2019Reilly, Wexford Town Sustainable Energy Community<\/p>\n

When upgrading of houses first began, O\u2019Reilly said a \u201cflood\u201d of requests to speak with O\u2019Connor arrived. Nowadays, O\u2019Reilly speaks with people in the area who have benefitted from the scheme, and they tell her their health has improved thanks to O\u2019Connor\u2019s work. <\/p>\n

\u201cBetween the jigs and the reels, she helped to fill out forms for over 100 people, maybe 150, who all made their submissions and who were approved for the grant,\u201d O\u2019Reilly says. \u201cThis started in 2022 or 2023, and since then, 30 to 40 houses have been completed, and it\u2019s ongoing up there in that area.\u201d <\/p>\n

The SEC was set up by Patrick Rochford, its chairman, alongside O\u2019Reilly and a couple of others. They made an early decision to concentrate on upgrading houses, reducing the use of fossil fuels in home energy, and on a just transition \u201cto make sure nobody was going to be left behind\u201d. <\/p>\n

That philosophy is epitomised by O\u2019Connor. Her work highlights the power of local engagement, and her legacy is clear in the upgraded infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t think it was going to turn out anything like it did,\u201d O\u2019Reilly says. \u201cBut Pamela is just incredible. People just take to her. You had people from outside the community contacting her for information, advice and for help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ireland's