Recently, at St Mark’s Junior National School in Tallaght,An Taisce Green-Schools officially relaunched its energy theme for primary and secondary schools around the country, thanks to its new partnership with EirGrid, the operator and developer of Ireland’s electricity grid. To date, over 3000 schools have been awarded the energy flag since the beginning of the Green-Schools’ programme in 1997, with great interest already received for participation in the coming year.
During the 2023-24 school year, schools saved a combined 18 million kWh of electricity, equivalent to 58 million cups of tea, due to their participation in the Green-Schools’ programme, proving that interest in energy is strong among Ireland’s school children. Now, with a formal structure in place thanks to this exciting new partnership with EirGrid, the energy theme will encourage primary and secondary school children to develop their awareness around energy conservation and how to effectively manage this important resource in our schools and homes.
Speaking at the official launch of the partnership at St Mark’s Junior National School, Tallaght, Suzanne Collins, Head of Public Relations, EirGrid said “This partnership represents an incredible opportunity to engage young people in a tangible and impactful way, to empower students to lead the charge for positive change in their communities and we look forward to an exciting year of learning ahead.”
At EirGrid we believe that addressing energy challenges requires everyone’s participation and we’re excited to collaborate with An Taisce’s Green-Schools’ energy theme to make energy conservation a shared priority together,” added Collins.
Joanne Scott, Green School’s Programme Manager added: “We are incredibly excited to relaunch the energy theme to schools, and we couldn’t do it without the support of EirGrid. Our goal is to empower both students and teachers to take meaningful action in reducing energy consumption, while fostering a deeper understanding of where our energy comes from and how we can manage it more sustainably for the future.”
The Green-Schools’ Energy programme has an exciting year lined up with a series of four regional workshops planned for early 2025, our first ever dedicated Green Schools’ Energy Week with free online activities and learning about all things energy, and more to follow.
To find out how your school can take part, visit www.greenschoolsireland.org
Pictured are students from St Mark’s Junior National School in Tallaght relaunching the An Taisce Green-Schools energy theme for primary and secondary schools around the country. Photography: Conor Healy / Picture It Photography
