Nominations sought for Community seat on Climate Action committee

Image: Kildare PPN.

Kildare Public Participation Network is seeking nominations for the Community and Voluntary seat on Kildare County Council’s Climate Action Strategic Policy Committee (SPC), with applications closing on Monday, 11 May at 5pm.

The SPC helps develop, monitor and respond to council policy on climate action. The successful nominee will represent community and voluntary interests, attend committee meetings, report back after each meeting, and work with the PPN Advisory Group to raise issues and policy proposals.

The role involvement includes induction training, four daytime SPC meetings per year, advisory group meetings as needed, and quarterly evening meetings with the Representative Network.

The position offers local community groups an opportunity to have a direct voice in shaping climate policy in County Kildare.

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Climate awareness and action course for seniors

A free climate course for beginners aged over 55 is being offered at Naas Library, starting at the end of February, writes Brian Byrne. It will be led by retired UN Diplomat Jacinta Barrins.

The course provides valuable insights into climate and its terminology. Participants will learn about barriers to behavioural change and how to measure their carbon footprint. They will also select an action to help the planet and implement it.

Throughout the course, progress will be shared and enjoyed over a cup of tea. Climate conversations will be held to promote discussion and understanding.

The course comprises six sessions scheduled on the following dates in 2026: 24th February, 3rd March, 10th March, 19th March, 24th March, and 5th April. Each session runs from 10:30am to 12:30pm at Naas Library. A bus stop is only a two-minute walk away.

To enrol, please call 045 980795 or email naaslib@kildarecoco.ie, or use the QR code in the header image.

Kildare County Council, the Kildare Climate Action Office, and Age Friendly Kildare support this course.

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Kildare PPN Climate Action Series 2025

A number of free climate action events will be held this week in libraries in Naas, Maynooth, and Leixlip, and at Maynooth University, writes Brian Byrne. The Kildare PPN Climate Action Series 2025 from Thursday to Saturday, 22-24 May, will comprise ten workshops and other events and an online session.

Participants will learn how to save energy and money, reduce waste, make eco-friendly choices, and understand the environmental impact of digital habits. Among the subjects covered will be Sustainable Beauty, Valuing Nature & Biodiversity, Climate Friendly Foodies, and Connected Communities Creating a Sustainable Future. The events are suitable for everyone, from beginners to sustainability experts.

Full details and registration at this link.

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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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This is National Tree Week 2025

Imelda Hurley, Chief Executive of Coillte, Minister Michael Healy-Rae, and Éanna Ní Lamhna, National Tree Council, launching National Tree Week 2025.

This is National Tree Week, writes Brian Byrne and as part of it schools and community groups around the country will be receiving a total of 150,000 native tree saplings donated by Coillte, the state forestry company.

Planting Trees, Growing Together is the theme of this year’s event which will see a diverse programme of free events taking place across the country. The event is organised by the Tree Council of Ireland and since its inception in 1985, Coillte and TCI have been responsible for the planting of over one million native trees.

Putting that into environmental perspective, a million native trees can absorb 2,500 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere each year, offsetting the total emissions of some 550 cars.

It's a good opportunity to plant a tree in your garden, take a walk through your community spaces and learn about the trees in them, get together with local action groups to maintain and add to the trees in your area, or simply relax near a tree and read or reflect.

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'Repair Cafe' event for Narraghmore

A repair cafe event in The Hague last month celebrating the 15th anniversary of the movement.

A 'Future Ancestor Repair Cafe' event will be held at The Old Hardware in Narraghmore on Saturday 16 November, writes Brian Byrne.

Running from 10am-2pm the day will offer opportunities for people to learn how to repair and restore bicycles, furniture and textiles. The event is in association with the Blueway Art Studio in Narraghmore, and is funded through the Kildare Climate Innovation Fund.

The Repair Café concept comes from the Netherlands and was created in 2009. It is now a global initiative offering meeting space where neighbours can repair their broken items themselves supported by specialists and in a relaxed atmosphere. 

The workshop is free, but registration is essential here. 

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Health restoration in nature talk on Friday

Dr Liz Cullen: Nature is good for you. (Image compiled with Firefly.)

A reminder that a talk in Kilcullen Community Library TODAY, Friday 30 August will encourage people to seek physical and mental restoration in nature, writes Brian Byrne.

Hosted by Kilcullen Community for Climate Action, the event is designed to provide food for thought for those feeling stressed out by modern life.

Why Being in Nature is Good For You begins at 7.30pm and attendance is free.

READ: Go down to the woods today - you'll feel better 

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Scoil Bhride NS delighted to be representing Kildare in national awards

We’re truly honoured at Scoil Bhríde, Kilcullen to represent Kildare at this year’s Our World Irish Aid Awards under the theme, ‘Food for Life’, writes the Principal, Sarah FitzPatrick. It’s a magical end to our actions and achievements in ‘all things green’, this year. 

Sarah FitzPatrick.

At the start of the year, we were awarded the (maximum) ESD Grant for €5,000, following application for funding under ‘ESD to 2030’. We invested in raised beds for our school garden, a New Zealand Compost Bin, a new rainwater harvesting system and also seeds, compost and native hedging plants. Our year concluded with achieving our 7th Green Schools Flag for Global Citizenship and Energy. 

Raised beds and some of the food growing.

One highlight among many this year, was our Scoil Bhríde ‘Green Day’, held on February 14th. From Junior Infants to Sixth Class, everyone participated in a range of activities including: 2-hour-no-power, global awareness orienteering hunt, messy play in the school garden, analysis of data from Green Schools Committee on energy use and waste management, and lots more. We chose this green code for our school: Now the planet’s sick and sore; turn off lights and plant more! 

Scoil Bhride pupils in Library Garden after litter picking.

Reaching the finals has been a team-effort. We’re especially thankful to members of Kilcullen Tidy Towns for their mentoring and support at regular Litter Picks in our local community. Everyone at Scoil Bhríde has played a big part in reaching the Irish World Aid Awards finals. Our Green Schools Committee members have led the way under the expert guidance of inspirational teacher, Mr Mark Murphy — the wind beneath our ESD wings! Their garden programme across the school this year included growing sugar snaps, garden peas, beetroot, rocket, potatoes, scallions, lettuce, chives … and more. 

I was absolutely thrilled to ‘take work home’ last Thursday evening, when Mr Mark Murphy and Green Schools Committee members presented me with a gorgeous lettuce, grown in our very own school garden, by our own hands! Of course … it was totally delicious!

EDITOR'S NOTE: The 2024 final of the Our World Irish Aid Awards, with ten schools including Scoil Bhride Kilcullen, will be held at a ceremony to be held at Dublin Castle next Thursday 13 June. There are seven Awards, comprising the Changemakers Award, Gaeilge Award, Performance Award, Food for Life Award, Countries in Focus Award, Teacher of the Year and the coveted School of the Year Award. Each of the ten schools will also have their work featured in a special printed edition of the Global Goal Getters annual which will be distributed nationwide. The project submitted by Scoil Bhríde comprised a summary of all of the activities the school’s pupils had undertaken to explore this year’s Awards theme Food For Life.

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Nature and Health talk cancelled

The talk about nature and health scheduled for Friday evening in Kilcullen Library has had to be cancelled, due to unforeseen circumstances, writes Brian Byrne.

A new date for the talk will be arranged as soon as possible and all those who indicated attendance through Eventbrite will be notified.

The organisers apologise for any disappointment or inconvenience.

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If you go down to the woods today - you'll feel better

Skip the shopping centre at the weekend and go to the woods instead, writes Brian Byrne. That’s the advice of a Kilcullen retired community health doctor, who believes we’re genetically programmed to appreciate and be restored by nature.

Dr Liz Cullen will be pushing this message home at a talk scheduled in Kilcullen Library on this Friday 24 May, starting at 7.30pm. Hosted by Kilcullen Community for Climate Action, the free event is designed to provide food for thought for those feeling stressed out by modern life, with its non-stop calls to consume, in algorithmic thrall to endlessly scroll on phone screens, and trying to cope with the pounding news cycle of bad happenings.

Liz Cullen is a medical doctor with a long-standing interest in the environment and the impact of the physical and social environment on health. She received a PhD in 2009 from NUIM for her work on the impacts of climate change on health in Ireland. In 2016 she was one of the recipients of the first BT Masters bursaries, for her work on how to assess environmental factors contributing to cancers. Her illustrated presentation will describe why taking time out in nature is beneficial from a physical and psychological perspective. 

“We evolved together over millions of years with every other living organism, and we’re naturally attuned to the natural world,” she told the Diary. “So from the earliest times of Stone Age man, our eyes and our ears were in tune with the sound of nature, for food and for danger. When we take time out to link back with natural things, and leave our phones and gadgets behind, it restores us. The natural world always delivers. On the other hand, going to a shopping centre, which promises so much and generally leaves us unsatisfied, is very deeply un-restorative. You never see a window in them, for instance.”

She cites recent research which shows the production of biogenic organic compounds from trees and plants, the soil and insects and other parts of the natural world, have a positive effect on humans who spend time in a nature environment. She also firmly believes that biodiversity is humanity’s ‘life support system’. "The benefits include decreasing stress and boosting our immune system, and these compounds just give us a lift."

“When I give this talk I’ll not be lecturing people on how they should live their lives,” she says. “It will be a two-way event, and I really want a discussion, what I hope will be the start of a conversation on how we can all build a better balance in life. We need to get out of the television and the mobile phone world for a bit. We need to let the forest into our lives.” 

Living in the Ballyshannon area just south of Kilcullen town, Liz Cullen is also an active member of that community’s fight against a plan by the Kilsaran Group to turn local farmland into a quarry, which she says would ‘industrialise a peaceful and tranquil area’. Which sounds like the absolute antithesis of her mission to help everyone live in a better balanced way. 

NOTE: This article was first published in The Kildare Nationalist.

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Nature and health talk

A talk on the benefits of being out in nature will be given on 24 May by Dr Elizabeth Cullen. The event is free and will take place in Kilcullen Library from 7.30pm. 

Dr Cullen, a medical doctor with a long-standing interest in the environment and the impact of the physical and social environment on our health, will give an illustrated presentation describing the benefits of why being out in nature is beneficial from a physical and psychological perspective. She received a PhD in 2009 from NUIM for her work on the impacts of climate change on health in Ireland.

The event is under the auspices of Kilcullen Community for Climate Action, and places may be booked on Eventbrite here. 

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Primary schools trees photo competition

A primary schools photography competition launched by Coillte will bring four winning school classes for a day out at the 'Beyond the Trees Avondale' attraction in Co Wicklow, writes Brian Byrne.

The initiative is to mark National Tree Week, which runs from 3-10 March, for which Coillte is also donating 150,000 tree saplings to local community groups. This year’s theme, ‘Planting Trees for a Greener Future’, highlights the unique role trees and forests play in helping to address climate change.

For the competition, teachers and their pupils are being encouraged to take photographs of their favourite trees or open nature spaces and upload them to the competition space on the Coillte website. 

The closing date for entries is Friday 23 February 2024.

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'Waiting on the World to Change'

 

On a freezing Monday morning, here's video to lift the spirits. "Waiting on the World to Change” Song Around The World, features 100 musicians and dancers from 18 countries, collaborating to shine a spotlight on the critical issue of climate change.

The aim of the piece is to inspire individuals, communities, and leaders to take meaningful steps towards a sustainable future, while emphasising the importance of humanity and coming together to support one another.

Sounds like just what the world needs at the moment ...

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Polar Bear & Penguin family show

Riverbank Arts Centre are delighted to welcome Paul Curley and John Currivan to the venue for a family performance of Polar Bear & Penguin on Saturday 2 December at 11am and 1pm.

The show tells the tale of an unlikely encounter between a Polar Bear and a Penguin. This is the story of polar opposite characters meeting for the first time, getting to know one another and learning how to survive in a world that is melting beneath their feet (paws? flippers?).

Paul Curley and John Currivan bring this quirky and relevant play for young audiences to life. Award-winning director Ian Cameron joins the team along with designers Ger Clancy and Sarah Jane Shiels and composer Denis Clohessy.

Polar Bear & Penguin was originally developed by Paul Curley and Draíocht with the support of The Arts Council YPCE Project Award and Meitheal CPS. A Branar Initiative, it is presented with the support of an Arts Council Touring Award.

Tickets are priced €10 (single) and €32 (family of 4) and can be booked through the Box Office, either in person or by telephone on 045 448327 Monday to Friday 9.30am-5pm (closed for lunch 2-2.30) and Saturday 10am-1pm. Tickets can also be booked 24/7 on www.riverbank.ie – Online tickets subject to €1 booking fee per ticket.

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