Tributes were paid to a deputation from the Achill Decarbonisation Zone Group following a presentation made to members at this week’s Westport Municipal District meeting held in Belmullet.
Councillors for the district congratulated the group for all their hard work to date in promoting sustainable and environment projects and on the many surveys and expert public talks they had hosted in the area.
The deputation included speaker Marie Kilbane and co-speaker, Sabine Wandel, with representatives of the group, Bob Kieran and Mary Sweeney, also at the meeting.
Marie Kilbane said the group had made an application under the decarbonisation zoning for the Sraheens Polranny Lynchaghan area, which was on either side of the bridge in Achill. It was an area of 17.3km with a population of 184 people, over 50% of whom are aged 65 plus. Over 50% of houses were inhabited, the rest were mostly holiday homes. “It is a big ask for the people in this area to make these big climatic changes without supports; these people are the custodians of our heritage. We use the decarbonisation zone to get projects into the whole Currane area. The warm home scheme is coming in, there is a high reliance on oil heating, also turf, coal and gas; our electrical supply on Achill is very poor and it is not suitable for taking sustainable energy sources in the future. There is rock, bog and sea in the landscape, all full of untouched carbon stores - you can sell your carbon, and I think we have to start looking at this for our people and farmers who live there, and ask, how much do we hold in carbon - before we talk about what we do to cut our carbon.”
Sabine Wandel stressed that the electricity grid in the area - which was very poor - was ‘not going to be expanded’ anytime soon. She said the group had conducted multiple surveys throughout Achill, people were very engaging and well motivated and all supported the clean environment drive; they had successfully won special Area of Conservation designation in regard to bogland; hydrogen wind power was already well advanced and the feeling was to ‘go for it’. “We have the wind and maybe this will provide a better future for our children. We are also looking at upgrading energy ratings in houses.” She alluded to a number of additional environmental project ideas the group was looking at for which they plan to continue bringing in expert speakers to ensure people are properly informed.
Cllr Paul McNamara complimented all involved on their hard work to date and the many sustainable projects they were promoting, saying the group had carried out tremendous door-to-door surveys right throughout the parish, that drew out interesting statistics on the rural area and that showed population and age profile is the real challenge rural Ireland faces, while being surrounded by wind and sea offered huge potential for environmental projects. “The work and time you are putting in to this, it is all voluntary and it does contribute to the culture and adds to the work that goes on in the community to make sure our beaches and environment remain pristine,” he said.
Cllr Peter Flynn added: “Your contribution to your community and beyond and focus on sharing ideas is brilliant and will work for the betterment of us all, as we seek to meet our carbon footprint targets. There are huge opportunities, not just in Achill but in Mayo as a whole, in regard to bog carbonisation."
All members joined in paying tribute to the group on their presentation in the council chamber and on their continuing work for the environment.
