As Ireland tries to tackles the climate crisis, Longford is ahead of the curve
If there is one local authority that climate action commentators can pinpoint as being a standard-bearer in meeting Ireland’s green energy targets, it’s Longford County Council.
Like all local authorities around the country, senior officials at the council have been mandated with cutting the county’s energy output by 51pc by 2030.
While that national push clicked into overdrive in recent years, the offensive is one council officials began setting in motion back in 2009.
Over a decade and a half later, that 51pc target is one council chiefs are within touching distance of. A recently published progress review returned a 43.8pc reduction in the county to date.
That review contained a 12-point plan that charted the inroads the local authority has made, while also supporting the efforts of over a dozen community groups in following suit.
Under the first strand of a state-incentivised Community Climate Action Fund, more than €300,000 went to 14 successful applicants – a figure expected to be bolstered by a second phase of funding announced by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment in October.
A key element of the council’s renewable energy focus has been firmly centred on addressing the carbon footprint of its 90-vehicle fleet.
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Last year, close to 210,000 litres of fuel – 89pc of which was used in diesel engines – were recorded, triggering an internal review.
The review explored whether using hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), which has lower carbon emissions, was a viable option.
It also identified a number of vehicles that could be eliminated from the fleet, and paved the way for the purchase of the council’s first electric van. It will be used by the council’s dog warden service.
Longford County Council climate action co-ordinator Bernard Shea said the hurdles confronting councils like Longford’s may be wide and, at times, daunting to contemplate, but they are also ones that have already brought real and lasting change.
“There is no doubt about it that the goals are extremely challenging and, sometimes, if you want to depress yourself, you could think ‘Oh God, we will never get there’,” Mr Shea said. “But, on the other hand, we are taking steps in the right direction and everything helps.”
In 2024, that focus on transportation saw the council partner with Eir and EasyGo to provide rapid EV chargers in major urban centres countywide.
“We have 50kw or better chargers in [Longford County] Library, the Ballymahon Street car park and behind Sports Direct [in Longford town],” Mr Shea said.
“They are also in Granard behind the garda station, in Ballymahon, and in Lanesborough.”
But that, in truth, barely lifts the lid on Longford’s transition to a green economy.
Retrofitting has been a further catalyst behind that drive, thanks chiefly to the upgrading of 39 social houses, 27 of which were brought up to an A3 BER standard.
LED street lights have been installed in Longford. Photo: Getty
Eighty-two new-build houses were also added to the county’s 2,200 residential stock. They were finished to a BER A3 standard, and fitted with electric heat pumps and all the necessary mod cons required to be classified as nearly zero energy buildings.
“There are two aspects to housing,” Mr Shea said. “Retrofits where we take existing council houses and upgrade them to an A-standard in terms of insulation, solar panels, heat pumps.
“The second aspect is the new houses we build are up to A-standard. The new houses on the Strokestown Road and in Alder Field estate [both in Longford town] are built to very high energy standards.
“It is one of the biggest things we are doing, but a further area is that of public lighting. Over the last 10 years, we have had a programme of converting all public lighting from the old-fashioned lights to LEDs, which are 30pc more efficient.
“It has meant Longford has over 80pc of its public lights converted to LEDs, which has contributed to huge energy savings and of, course, by extension carbon savings.”
We have to keep going in the right direction
Even by the most ambitious of targets, these are results that mean Longford County Council’s Climate Action Plan could achieve that 51pc reduction well ahead of the 2030 cut-off.
As one of the lead officials turning those aspirations into a reality, Mr Shea is realistic about whether Ireland, as a whole, can replicate the Longford model.
“They talk about having 80pc of the grid renewable by 2030, but it has taken over 20 years to get it at 40pc, so how in God’s name are we going to do the other 40pc?
“[Climate action shift] is accelerating, and you do get better at things as time goes on. I know the targets are there and we are aiming towards them, but I am not letting them stress me out, as we have to keep going in the right direction.”
And that, perhaps, is the soundest message we, as a nation, can cling to as we try to meet emissions targets over the course of the next five years.
Just keep going in the right direction.