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Sustainable Clonakilty is not aligned to any political party or religious group.
Environment Award for Clonakilty Hotel
O’Donovan’s Hotel, Clonakilty was presented with the 2008 Commercial and Business Category Award at the annual Cork Environmental Forum Awards ceremony held recently at the Firkin Crane Centre, Cork in recognition of several environmentally-positive initiatives in the hotel. The hotel took the prize for their commitment to using Fair Trade products in their restaurant since 2003, their use of renewable energy sources, their support of the local Farmers Market and their dedication to making use of their food waste. On the night, the CEF stated that “O’ Donovan’s Hotel serves as a model for how local business can support local community and lead the way with their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint”.
The family-run, town-centre hotel which has been in the family for five generations, was nominated by fellow Clonakilty lady, and regular customer, Jennifer Sleeman, who introduced owners Tom and Gobnait O’ Donovan on the night. She said that the hotel was in the heart of Clonakilty town and the town is at it’s heart, as she praised them as two people working hard for environment in their own lives - planting trees, keeping bees, making their home as environmentally friendly as possible, growing their own vegetables, keeping hens and their children walk to school. “Ever since the Fairtrade campaign started in Clonakilty in 2003, the hotel have had FT tea, coffee and sugar. They have never had any fanfare about this. The owners embraced it because they thought it right thing to do.” Recently Solar Panels were installed to heat the water, and the weekly Farmers Market has a home on the property. As well as that, all food waste is composted, low energy lighting is used where possible in the hotel and all waste is separated and recycled. Energy costs are kept down by switching off lighting in areas of the hotel not being used, which also keeps down the carbon footprint.
Tom O’ Donovan accepted the award on behalf of himself, and his two sisters Dena and Therese who together run the hotel, saying they were doing their bit because they wanted to respect the environment, and keep down costs as much as possible. Speaking to “The Clon Notes”, Mr. O’ Donovan said, “A lot of what we do here in the hotel which was recognised in the award is common sense. It makes sense to cut down on costs whether you’re a householder or a business. We do that by looking at every aspect of how we run the hotel. Energy and waste are two big costs, and we continually monitor these to ensure we are minimising unnecessary usage or creating waste. Where possible we re-use and recycle. That said it’s a great honour to be nominated and to receive an Environmental Award, not just for us, but for Clonakilty town, where there’s generally a great appreciation of our environment”
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Our congratulations to Marleen & Mike who received Biodiversity Garden of Special Merit Awards in the Corrin Hill Biodiversity Garden Awards 2008:
- Marleen Drykoningen from Clonakilty, Co. Cork for colourful garden that is full of berries and plants that provide food and shelter for birds
- Mike Shanahan for his biodiversity garden in Clonakilty, Co.Cork that is teeming with butterflies and birdsong and has been cleverly designed so that it is easy to manage and provides food, shelter and habitats for wildlife
11 October 2007
-Dismissing climate change is similar to saying
cigarettes don't cause cancer - Meaney
The impact of climate change on rural Ireland should not be underestimated despite recent media coverage claiming climate change is over hyped, said Green Party Rural Development spokesperson Cllr Brian Meaney today.
Speaking following a conference on Climate Change and Agriculture, Cllr Meaney said: "Dismissing the threats posed by changes in climate is similar to the actions of cigarette manufactures in the 1950s and 60s who rubbished the view that cigarettes were a major cause of lung cancer. Doubt became the ally of the cigarette industry, as it is now the ally of those that seek to undermine efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions. Every day it becomes more and more clear that the science backing up these predictions is extremely robust and recent attempts to undermine or rubbish the risks posed by climate change are dangerous."
The conference, organised by the Irish Climate Analysis and Research Unit (ICARUS) in Kilkenny last weekend, found that Climate Change will alter living patterns in Ireland and severely affect agricultural practices. These changes include necessary irrigation, a switch in current crop use and geographical movement of animal production, due to wetter winters and warmer summers.
Cllr Brian Meaney: 087 215 2215
Nicola Cassidy, Green Party Press Office: 01 618 4088 / 087 914 8175
Note to Editor:
The conference data is based on research undertaken at the Irish Climate
Analysis and Research Units (ICARUS) based in NUI Maynooth. In a lecture delivered by Dr. John Sweeney of NUI Maynooth, the following agricultural effects were predicted:
- Wetter winters to cause soil damage
- Winter rainfall to increase the stored feed requirement
- Increased slurry storage likely to be needed
- Irrigation for all crops in the east of the country
- Greater area of agricultural land to be affected by drought loss
- Loss of potatoes as a commercially viable crop
- Earlier barley harvests and increase in Maize grain yields
- Livestock production to dominate to the west and arable production to dominate the east ----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.blogactionday.com/
New Scientist 27 October 2007 p. 5
The Energy Watch Group (EWG) in Berlin, Germany reported that world oil production peaked in 2006 - far earlier than expected. They predict production will fall by 7% per year dropping to half current levels by 2030. They also predict significant falls in gas, coal and uranium production.
