Two Galway City schools, Gaelscoil Dara, Renmore and St James' National School, Bushypark, have been awarded a Green Homes flag for their participation in the new An Taisce initiative. The schools received their awards at a special ceremony in Tailor's Hall, Dublin last week, which was attended by the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley.

Gaelscoil Dara in Renmore receiving their Green Home Flag in Tailor's Hall, Dublin. (l-r) Eileen Costigan, Green Homes Manager, An Taisce; Charles Stanley-Smith, Chairman, An Taisce; Eoin Shimizu, Gaelscoil Dara; Manus O Domhnaill, Gaelscoil Dara; Mary Kelly, Director General, EPA; Hugh O Domhnaill, Gaelscoil Dara and Dr. Sharon McHugh, Environment Education Officer, Galway City Council.

Gaelscoil Dara and St James' NS were two of only 17 schools to be presented with awards on the day, which acknowledged the achievements in the first phase of the scheme. The Green Homes initiative will now be rolled out nationwide, in an attempt to raise environmental awareness and support positive and sustainable environmental actions amongst householders and community groups.

The Green Homes programme focuses on waste reduction, energy efficiency in the home, water conservation and the promotion of sustainable travel. Householders receive information and advice through the programme to help them make informed decisions and take various actions that will help the environment, while also reducing costs in the home. The Green Home programme, which builds on the very successful Green Schools programme, has been run on a pilot basis since November 2006.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Minister Gormley commended the Green Home participants: "Parents of Green School children are well aware of the tremendous value of the Green Schools Programme to their child. The Green Home Programme goes a step further to ensure the parents themselves can also get involved in a very pro-active manner.

"Householders, parents and students all over the country who are involved in the Green Homes programme are helping to change Ireland for the better. They are helping to make our environment as clean and healthy as possible and they are helping in the fight against climate change," Minister Gormley added.

Dr Sharon McHugh, Environment Education Officer, Galway City Council commented: "It is great to see that Galway City schools are once again leading the way with environmental initiatives. Currently, we have the country's highest percentage participation rate in the Green Schools Programme and our involvement in this new Green Home initiative illustrates the dedication of teachers, students and parents throughout Galway City to improving our environment. I am delighted to see this dedication recognised at a national level".

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment