The Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, has been crowned the overall winner of Ireland’s Greenest Places 2025.
The peninsula, which has been described as “the most beautiful place on earth” by National Geographic, claimed the title due to the local community’s dedication and commitment to their wonderful environment.
The judges said the core of the community’s work is based on the fact that they don’t take any of their peninsula’s considerable advantages for granted.
“They care for their beautiful environment, they know they have to protect it and as a result they create imaginative ways to be more sustainable in the way people work and live there. They also understand they have a responsibility to improve the peninsula and to leave it in a better place for the next generation of residents and visitors.”
Although Dingle town itself has a population of only about 1,600 people with 13,000 in the wider area, a million people visit the Peninsula annually. A big area requires big green commitments, and the community has worked tirelessly to develop projects in energy, transport, agriculture and sustainable tourism.
Whether its initiatives to reduce waste at food festivals or people working together to plant trees in ‘Meitheal na gCrann’ or WhatsApp groups for lift sharing and gardening, on the Dingle Peninsula it’s all about fostering inclusive communities, collaboration and sharing.
Dingle town harbor. (iStock)
‘Ireland’s Greenest Places 2025’, an initiative by The Irish Times in association with Electric Ireland, began in late May when members of the public were invited to nominate a special place or project which they believe contributes to a genuinely greener environment.
Each place was judged on specific criteria including its beneficial environmental impact, level of ongoing collective engagement by the community and evidence of behavioural change by people.
The panel of five judges consisted of Eamon Ryan, former leader of the Green Party, Kevin O’Sullivan Irish Times Environment and Science Editor, Lisa Browne of Electric Ireland, and journalists Rosita Boland and Mary Minihan from The Irish Times.
In total over 120 nominations were received from across the island with the overall winner and category winners being chosen from a shortlist of 14 entries.
Category Award Winners
Skerries won the title Ireland's Greenest Town for its wide range of community-based green initiatives.
Skerries – Ireland’s Greenest Town
Skerries in north Dublin won the title Ireland’s Greenest Town for its enthusiastic embrace of a wide range of community based green initiatives. These include everything from a pollinator corridor which runs from Skerries Mills to Ardgillan, to organising groups of local children to remove plastic from beaches, to installing solar panels on community buildings and several water refill stations around the town.
Skerries is of course a seaside town, and the judges were particularly taken with the ‘Skerries Beach Toybox’.
“It’s a simple but brilliant idea. The big box is full of the plastic toys children love to play with at the beach such as buckets, spades and much more. Instead of buying more and more plastic beach toys every summer and adding to landfill, children can use and reuse for free the items in the Toybox. It’s a green enterprise that could and surely should be in place on every Blue Flag beach in the country”
Inagh – Ireland’s Greenest Village
The village of Inagh in County Clare which has a population of 192 has been crowned Ireland’s Greenest Village. Among the many projects completed in recent years is the planting of 30 nut trees with the intention of establishing a nut butter business as well as planting an orchard of eating apples in the village playground – a playground which was constructed by local parents. There are also plans to plant raspberry canes there.
The judges were particularly impressed with this initiative. “Such a clever enterprise of making a playground also a place to access free healthy snacks for children is one that has the potential to be replicated in many other playgrounds. So too is Inagh’s inspirational plastic-free Christmas market, which now attracts visitors from all over the county.”
Dysart River Project – Ireland’s Greenest Community
The category winner for Ireland’s Greenest Community is the Dysart River Project in Westmeath. Judge Eamon Ryan who visited the project found that water quality had been an issue at Lilliput in Lough Ennell in 2019 due to ongoing pollution issues, one of which related to runoff from farming activities on the river Dysart.
Thanks to collaboration with the local farming community, the Lough Ennell trout preservation association and a number of local representatives a plan, was drawn up to address the issue. The project was a success and last year Lough Ennell was classified as achieving good water quality.
Dún Laoghaire won Ireland’s Greenest Suburb.
Dún Laoghaire – Ireland’s Greenest Suburb
Dún Laoghaire in south Dublin won the title Ireland’s Greenest Suburb for the way it has reimagined urban space to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists, enhanced biodiversity with more trees as well as establishing more shared public areas.
What began through a committed WhatsApp group of 120 people has become a model for community action with its connections now extending to every fabric of Dún Laoghaire’s development.
While the project still has another two years to run the judges believe “there is every indication Dún Laoghaire will become a blueprint for other locations across Ireland”.
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Showcasing environmental action
The Chair of the Judging Panel, Mary Minihan from The Irish Times congratulated the Dingle Peninsula and the category winners on their success. “To make it through to the final stages and have your work recognised with an award is a wonderful achievement. So very well done to our winners and all the people involved in those projects. We look forward to meeting you and presenting you with your trophies in a couple of weeks’ time.”
“But congratulations to all the places and projects who made it onto the short list, the long list or who simply entered the competition. One of the main objectives of this initiative was to showcase the wonderful environmental work which is taking place in communities all over the country and to share those experiences and knowledge with others.”
“No doubt all the winning Greenest Places as well as many other entrants will find themselves being visited in the near future by other communities around the country hoping to learn from what they have achieved. We know all too well that our world is a fragile place that we need to take care of. And as this competition has shown in abundance the best place to start is in our local community.”
Ireland’s Greenest Places 2025
Overall Winner
The Dingle Peninsula
Ireland’s Greenest Suburb (2)
Winner: Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Nominee: Harper’s Island, Cork Harbour
Ireland’s Greenest Village (4)
Winner: Inagh Co. Clare
Nominees: Louisburgh, Co Mayo, Castlegregory/Maharees, Co Kerry and Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Co Tipperary
Ireland’s Greenest Town (3)
Winner: Skerries, Co Dublin. Nominees: Killarney, Co Kerry, Ballina, Co Mayo
Ireland’s Greenest Community (5)
Winner: Dysart River Project, Co Westmeath
Nominees: Taplin’s Fields (Bridgefoot Street Park Community Garden), Dublin, Coolmine Lodge, Dublin, The Dingle Peninsula, Co Kerry, Ambrosetown Cemetery, Co Wexford
For more information about ‘Ireland’s Greenest Places’ click here.
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