Banner image: Circus 250, Comhar Dún Chaocháin Teo, Scoil Naisunta Cheathru Thaidhg — Winners of Event of the Year at Clean Coasts 2024 Ocean Hero Awards

An Taisce’s Clean Coasts Programme hosted the Ocean Hero Awards Ceremony at the Gibson Hotel, Dublin, to celebrate and give thanks to the dedicated groups, individuals, communities, and businesses who have gone above and beyond to protect their local coastline and its surrounding environment, in 2024. During times of uncertainty, one thing is always guaranteed that you will leave these annual awards feeling uplifted, inspired and with a renewed sense of hope for the future of our coast and marine environment. 

Every year, the Ocean Hero Awards commemorate the invaluable contribution and dedication that Clean Coasts volunteers, groups and communities give towards conserving Ireland’s unique coastal heritage. Established in 2006 as the 'Clean Coasts Merit Awards,' the awards initially featured a single category, 'The Clean Coasts Group of the Year.' In the years following, the awards have grown alongside the programme itself as more groups have come on board. As of 2024 there are over 2,000 Clean Coasts groups and over 40,000 volunteers who are actively engaging with the programme and who are integral to their coastal communities nationwide.  

In 2024, Clean Coasts determined six distinct categories, and after hundreds of nominations were received, a total of 30 groups, organisations and individuals made the shortlist for the title of Ocean Hero in each category.

At the awards ceremony, the hard work and achievements this year of each group was showcased and celebrated, and now the winners for each category have been announced:  

Group of the Year Award: Joint first place — Enniscrone Clean Coasts, and Spanish Point Community Group 

Individual of the Year Award: Anne Marie Kirwan from Tomhaggard Clean Coasts 

Youth of the Year Award:  Navan National Learning Network  

Event of the Year Award: Circus 250, Comhar Dún Chaocháin Teo,  Scoil Naisunta Cheathru Thaidhg for their joint Big Beach Clean event.  

Campaigner of the Year Award: Joint first place: Mark McCarthy and Rathmullan Clean Coasts  

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award: Arklow Coast Care 

At the awards, Clean Coasts dedicated special attention to its incredible volunteers and their contributions to the programme. The event featured a keynote address by Conall O’Connor from the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage, and contributions from An Taisce’s Environmental Education Unit. The audience was held captivated by guest speaker Seán Ronayne, as he spoke about his debut book, Nature Boy: A Journey Of Birdsong And Belonging and his second album entitled Hope. It was a timely reminder to everyone that when you follow your passion, great things can happen. 

The venue was adorned with various displays spotlighting Clean Coasts campaigns and initiatives, highlighting collaborations such as the #2MinuteBeachClean, and featuring information stands on topics like biodiversity and Marine Litter. This year the venue was decorated with table centre pieces featuring ocean-inspired sculptures crafted entirely from waste such as discarded plastic bottles, metals and fabrics that were salvaged by Native Events from various productions, festivals, and waste facilities. These creative pieces not only add a striking, marine-themed visual to the tables but also reduce the use of virgin resources and as a result the event's carbon footprint. The sustainability theme carried right through to the awards presented to the winners which were made of Polygood which is a material composed entirely from 100% recycled and recyclable plastics, demonstrating how plastic waste can be repurposed into something meaningful and durable.   

Speaking at the Ocean Hero Awards ceremony, Conall O’Connor of the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage said, “I would like to commend the Clean Coasts team for their outstanding work.  The impact that their programme has on all our lives and particularly on coastal areas is immeasurable.” 

Shane Dineen, Environment & Planning Manager at Fáilte Ireland added: “Fáilte Ireland has been proudly supporting An Taisce's Clean Coasts programme for over a decade. The Ocean Hero Awards recognise the unwavering dedication, hard work, and commitment of individuals, volunteers, groups, and the broader community in safeguarding the future of our coastline and oceans. It is fantastic to see such a wide variety of entries across all award categories and the outstanding initiatives from across the country. The Clean Coasts groups are making an outstanding contribution to Ireland’s coastal environment through their conservation work which protects and enhances our extensive coastline and is highly valued by local communities and visitors alike.” 

Bronagh Moore, An Taisce’s Clean Coasts Programme Manager:

“The Ocean Hero Awards is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate and showcase the incredible work that is being done day in and day out by volunteers in the Clean Coast Community. We hope that it will inspire others to get involved and be ambitious about the positive impact we can have in protecting and caring for our marine environment. Now more than ever our Ocean needs to be protected. We are stronger together and when we work with a common purpose, great things can be achieved.”  

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Ocean Hero 2024 full shortlist: 

Group of the year  

• Enniscrone Clean Coasts  
• Friends of Rossnowlagh Clean Coasts 
• Maharees Heritage and Conservation 
• Spanish Point Community Group 
• Tomhaggard Clean Coasts  

Individual of the Year  

• Anne Marie Kirwan  
• Donal McGuirk 
• Peter O’Donnell 
• Proinsias O’Tuama  
• Peter O’Donnell  

Youth of the Year  

• 1st Port Sea Scouts 
• Navan National Learning Network   
• Northwest Home Education Group 
• St Colman’s College   
• West Coast Surf Club  

Event of the Year  

• Ballygarrett Tidy Towns – Cahore Little Tern Project 
• Circus 250, Comhar Dún Chaocháin Teo, Scoil Naisunta Cheathru Thaidhg – Big Beach Clean  
• Clean Coasts Cobh, Ballymore Community Association and Cobh Tidy Towns – Big Beach Clean and World Ocean Day 
• Clean Coasts Ballynamona and St Colman’s College – Little Big Beach Clean  
• Cooley Community Alert – Big Beach Clean 

Campaigner of the Year  

• Galway Atlantaquaria  
• Magheroarty - Togra Fiontar & Cultúr Uladh Ctr 
• Mark McCarthy  
• Martina Healy – Leitrim Litter Picker  
• Rathmullan Clean Coasts 

Equality Diversity and Inclusion Award  

• Arklow Coasts Care  
• Liquid Therapy 
• Rathmullan Clean Coasts and Coastal Warriors 
• Tralee Tidy Towns 
• Western Care with Keep our Beaches Clean 

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About Clean Coasts  

An Taisce’s Clean Coasts programme engages communities in the protection of Ireland’s beaches, seas and marine life. 

Since 2003, Clean Coasts has been working with communities to help protect and care for Ireland’s waterways, coastline, seas, ocean and marine life. Clean Coasts strives to create tangible and immediate improvements to Ireland’s coastal environment, involving thousands of volunteers removing large quantities of marine litter from our coastline each year.     

For the past 21 years, Clean Coasts has grown from strength to strength and now includes two main national clean-up drives, as well as other initiatives, including the Green Coast Award, the Love Your Coast Photography competition, the Clean Coasts Roadshows for coastal communities and the Ocean Hero Awards. All these initiatives are aimed at celebrating the beauty of our coast and the efforts of our volunteers across all of Ireland. 

Currently, there are over 2,000 registered Clean Coasts volunteering groups and 40,000 volunteers. There are a variety of group types such as community groups, residents’ associations, tidy towns groups, sports clubs, schools, businesses, universities, etc. Clean Coasts organises hundreds of beach clean-ups annually mobilising thousands of volunteers, removing considerable quantities of marine litter from Ireland’s beaches and waterways.