Success for Fingal at Chambers Ireland Awards
Goat project on Howth Head wins Climate Action Award
There was success for Fingal County Council at this year's Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards when the Wildfire Management project on Howth Head won the Climate Action Award.
This project, which is led by Kevin Halpenny, Hans Visser and Deirdre O’Farrell from the Parks & Green Infrastructure Division within the Department of Planning and Strategic Infrastructure, came about following wildfires in Howth Head a few years. The Council collaborated with international wildfire experts, Dublin Fire Brigade and local community groups to develop a proactive wildfire management strategy. This included restoring the Old Irish Goat to Howth Head in order to maintain 5km of strategic wildfire breaks near residential areas to reduce the immediate risk to homes.
The Award was presented to the Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Brian McDonagh, and Kevin Halpenny, Senior Parks & Landscape Officer, at the awards ceremony in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry.
Accepting the award, Mayor McDonagh said: "Our Howth goats are absolute firefighting stars for the crucial work they play in maintaining the health and beauty of the headland. They've gone from strength to strength since they were introduced, and are an integral part of what we're doing to deliver a more economical and sustainable solution to managing what is a wonderful landscape. I look forward to see more innovative initiatives like this being introduced across the county to help deliver better climate and biodiversity outcomes for us all."
Fingal County Council was short-listed in six other categories. These projects were:
- Supporting Tourism: Fingal Cultural & Tourism TV
- Communications: Virtual Reality for Libraries
- Local Authority Innovation: Public / Private Retrofitting Scheme
- Festival of the Year: Fingal Proms 2024
- Urban Revival: Restoring St Ita’s Historic Homes for Modern Use
- Age Friendly Initiative: Vintage Picnic
Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly said: “It was great to see that seven of the projects we entered into this year’s awards were short-listed, as it shows the level of innovation and commitment that exists within the Council to deliver for the people of Fingal. I am delighted that our biodiversity project on Howth Head with the Old Irish Goats was recognised for the excellent piece of work that it is."
This was the 21st staging of the Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards and it attracted a record 191 entries from 27 councils across the country.
