Ballyshannon Action welcomes climate grant as 'recognition for our work'

Ballyshannon Action produced a Biodiversity Action Plan by Dr Catherine O'Connell last year.

The Ballyshannon Action Group are one of 96 organisations nationwide who have just received a grant from the Climate Actions Work Engagement Fund, writes Brian Byrne. The group have been allocated €2,500 from the €500,000 fund designed to engage new audiences in local regions on climate issues.

The supports are aimed at groups or organisations working to bring people together to share information on climate action. The fund is administered by Community Foundation Ireland and the grants were announced by Ministers Darragh O’Brien and Alan Dillon of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. The individual amounts granted to groups in 23 counties ranged from €2,500 to €10,000.

Ballyshannon Action applied for the grant ‘to raise awareness of the work that we have done so far as a group, but also the plans we have to improve the biodiversity of the area for future generations’. A spokesperson told the Diary they are delighted to have received this funding and recognition for their work to date. "We have worked really hard for almost six years now, to raise awareness of the importance of the biodiversity and rich heritage in Ballyshannon and its surrounds. It is a huge endorsement for us to receive this funding from government, to ensure that we can continue to get our message out and continue to teach future generations just how precious this area is and what steps we can take to protect it.”

The group was initially formed to fight plans for a quarry in their local rural community, and Last July they produced a Community Biodiversity Action Plan, commissioned from ecologist Dr Catherine O'Connell with the help of a previous €5,500 grant from Community Foundation Ireland. Dr O'Connell identified at least 110 different species in hedgerows, streams, gardens and road frontages in the local area, and the plan assessed these and also provided ideas for further improvements to local biodiversity.

Ballyshannon families on their recent clean-up of the area. (Image: Ballyshannon Action.)

Other County Kildare recipients from the fund are the Maynooth Sustainable Energy Community, which was awarded €5,000 for raising awareness of the Maynooth Decarbonising Zone and showing communities what initiatives they can take, while the Naas-based No Planet B club which runs courses on ‘Youth Climate Action and Leadership’ was awarded €2,500.

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