The manager of the Dunleer Energy Team, Eugene Conlon, made a presentation on “Supporting Energy Transition” at a meeting of the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly (BIPA) in the K Club Hotel in Kildare yesterday, October 24.
The BIPA promotes co-operation between political representatives in Britain and Ireland for the benefit of the people they represent.
In his presentation Mr Conlon said that while having the right policies and strategies in place was vital, community activation and engagement programmes were critical for their implementation.
“To do this in an integrated way requires partnerships between statutory agencies, communities, academia and business” he said.
Mr Conlon provided BIPA delegates with examples of the work of the SEAI Sustainable Energy Communities National Network, producing examples of the word of the Energy Team in delivering this energy transition.
“We bring programmes to communities that aim to inform and inspire people to take action on climate change,” he added, “to date bringing this to four thousand people across six counties.”
Since 2016 the Dunleer Energy Team has managed the energy upgrade of 360 homes across the North East, along with community facilities, commercial and local authority buildings.
Eugene emphasised that the foundations of partnership which is reflected in the Parliamentary Assembly can be brought to bear on supporting the energy transition across each of the countries involved.
Feedback delivered highlighted the list of projects and homes delivered on by both Tipperary E.A. and Energy Team Dunleer, showing the work happening on the ground to deliver on the energy transition.
The Chairman emphasised the importance of Assembly Members from across all of the member countries supporting such community actions.
