Clean Coasts is thrilled to announce the shortlist for the annual Ocean Hero Awards. The Clean Coasts’ Ocean Hero Awards pay tribute to the exceptional contributions made by Clean Coasts volunteers, groups, and communities in safeguarding our coast and marine life.
Established in 2006 as the 'Clean Coasts' Merit Awards,' the accolades initially featured a single category, 'The Clean Coasts Group of the Year.' Over the years, the program has evolved, engaging over 2,000 Clean Coasts groups and 40,000 volunteers, becoming an integral part of coastal communities nationwide.
This year, the Ocean Hero Awards take on special significance as Clean Coasts marks its 20th Anniversary. For the past 20 years, Clean Coasts has grown from strength to strength expanding and creating campaigns and initiatives aimed at enjoying, protecting and celebrating the beauty of our coast. None of that would be possible without the groups and volunteers all across Ireland that have helped make and grow the programme into what it is today.
In County Cork, five groups were shortlisted across several categories.
Proinsias Ó Tuama, from Clean Coasts Ballynamona, was shortlisted in the 'Individual of the year' category. Proinsias is the volunteer who started Clean Coasts Ballynamona by simply picking up litter on his local beach, and the group has now grown to include East Cork Biodiversity and Planet Ireland, all under the unbrella of Sea Land and Trust. He isn't afraid to take on big challenges and works with school groups, university groups and corporates, looking for challenging areas of litter that need attention. Proinsias works tirelessly for his passion of the ocean, eradication of marine littler and biodiversity and with a big smile on his face.
Clean Coasts Ballynamona was also nominated in the 'Event of the Year' category for running a school beach clean in beaches in East and West Cork in May and June 2023. These clean ups have serious scale: over the two main days in East Cork - , there was 500 students with another 100 students at the event in West Cork. The event included 4 stations for the students, three focused on marine themed workshops and one clean up station. The events were set up to tie in with Cork County Council for their Blue Flag environmental education activities.
St. Colman's Community College, in conjunction with Ballynamona Clean Coasts, were nominated in the 'Youth of the Year' category. In 2023, St. Colman's were integral in facilitating and assisting in the Big Little Beach Clean that saw over 600 kids from 14 different schools go to the coast in May & June this year. Moreover, the Environmental Society of the school is currently engaged in several projects around litter prevention in the town of Midleton and in the school. The have adopted many parts of the coast and regularly conduct beach cleans on them. 4 members of the environmental society took part in an Erasmus + trip to Lisbon and brought the message of "When you throw something away, it doesn't go away" and the issues of sewage related litter with the Think before you flush campaign. This year they have conducted beach cleans on Pilmore, Redbarn, ClayCastle, Front Strand, Ardnahinch, Ballynamona, Ballinwilling and Ballycrennane., with Ballybranagan being done after the awards last year.
Cobh Island Clean Coasts groups were also nominated in the 'Event of the Year' category for their Big Beach Clean 2023 event. This nomination is not for one group but for three groups who cleaned up the great island of Cobh: Ballymore Community Association, Clean Coasts Cobh and Cobh Tidy Towns. These groups joined forces to remove litter from different areas of the island, involving over 40 volunteers and removing 55 bags of marine litter in total.
Mark Maccarthy, a Clean Coasts volunteer based in Schull, was shortlisted in the 'Campaigner of the year' category. His dedication and commitment to not only keeping the coast clean, but sharing that passion and encouraging others is remarkable. Mark does amazing work in cleaning the coastline and encouraging others to take an active interest in maintaining the local marine environment litter-free. He is an inspiration to many and even goes out to the islands locally to retrieve sea pollution.
Finally, Siuloid@CCRC were nominated in the 'Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' category. Siuloid@CCRC (walking group at Clonakilty Community Resource Centre) made a pact as a group on World Water Day earlier this year to do a monthly beach clean at Inchydoney Beach in West Cork and continue to do so, working with Cork County Council and local RSS Worker. Walking participants come from many walks of life, some working, some retired, some from other local groups including The Cope Foundation, Men's Shed and Clonakilty Tidy Towns, and all with a common goal to support each other and enjoy time in nature as much as possible. This is always accomplished with visits to Inchydoney beach where several bags of rubbish are collected each visit, making a visible and meaningful difference to the environment, and always finished up with delicious refreshments on one of the many picnic benches and in the sea air.
To view the full shortlist, head to www.cleancoasts.org.
