A community group who carried out an impressive beach clean-up have been presented with a national award.
The Creevy Co-Op completed one of Ireland’s biggest beach cleans this summer, picking up litter from 10 miles of the Wild Atlantic Way Creevy Shore Walk from Rossnowlagh to Ballyshannon.
With gloves, bags and litter pickers, they lifted over 50 bags of litter on the diverse shoreline.
Their efforts were acknowledged yesterday at the Ocean Hero Awards at the Royal College of Physicians, Dublin.
Creevy Co-op. Image via Creevy Cottages Experience Donegal
This year Clean Coasts’ Ocean Hero Awards are celebrating eleven years of honouring the invaluable contribution Ireland’s coastal communities have made towards conserving our spectacular coastline.
Other local nominees in the Beach Clean of the Year category were the NW Mountaineering Club, who carried out an annual beach clean of Pollaguill Beach, Horn Head, which is untouched throughout the year.
The event also had ‘Ocean Talks’ speakers discussing matters of litter in the marine environment both at sea and on land.
Proinsias O’Tuama, Ballynamona Clean Coasts group, Co Cork who won Outstanding Award 2017; and Dr Easkey Britton,pro surfer and NUIG researcher at An Taisce’s Ocean Hero Awards 2017.
Dr Easkey Britton from Rossnowlagh spoke at the event. The founder of Like Water, is a big-wave surfer and marine social scientist at NUIG. Her work explores the relationship between people and the sea, using her passion for the ocean to create social change and connection across cultures. She is currently a post-doctoral research fellow at NUI Galway co-leading NEAR-Health.
Seamus McGoldrick, who won Individual of the Year; with Dr Easkey Britton,pro surfer and NUIG researcher at An Taisce’s Ocean Hero Awards 2017.
Sinead McCoy, Coastal Communities Manager with An Taisce’s Environmental Education Unit said “Over the past 11 years the Clean Coasts programme’s Ocean Hero Awards have really brought to the fore the remarkable work and wonderful coastal celebration events that Clean Coasts volunteers have been involved in along the Irish coastline. We hope this year is no different as we look forward to receiving inspirational nominations that show the true dedication of these coastal custodians.”
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