Community Champions

A central part of our work is helping community group and organisations to make positive changes to their local water quality and boost biodiversity in their towns and villages.

Our dedicated team of Community Water Officers provide expert knowledge, advice and support to community groups that have a passion for their local waterbodies. Our different funding schemes, such as the Community Water Development Fund and Catchment Support Fund, which are funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, offer vital financial support that allows groups to develop projects of different scales and to employ people to bring these projects to life.

In this series, we are celebrating our Community Champions, the local heroes fighting to improve the quality of their rivers, streams, lakes, and coastal waters and to create biodiverse habitats in their local community.

Abhainn Dá Loilíoch Woodland Group

In this instalment of our Community Champions series, we caught up with Gabrielle Bolster from the Abhainn Dá Loilíoch Woodland Group to speak about the group’s conservation efforts in the river valley near Gort, Co. Galway.

 

Availing of the Community Water Development Fund, the group commissioned a hydromorphological assessment and survey of the waterbody with a view to protecting the parts of the river that were already achieving their Blue Dot, or high status objective, and restoring parts of the river in the lower reaches to high ecological status.

Speaking about the support LAWPRO has provided to the group, Gabrielle said: 

We have found LAWPRO amazing to work with really. They’re immensely helpful, immensely supportive, very approachable. They do make it easy to apply for funding too. We feel very aligned with them, in terms of their objectives, because not only would it be support for the waterbodies, but it’s very much about community based action.

In 2026, the Abhainn Dá Loilíoch Woodland Group received a further €40,000 from the Community Water Development Fund to continue their restoration work in the area. We look forward to supporting the group in their aim of restoring all areas of their local waterbodies to high ecological status.

Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns

This instalment of the Community Champions series focuses on the citizen science work carried out by Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns in Co. Mayo.

Laura Dinraths, a member of Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns, explains how the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) has provided support, funding and training to allow the group to monitor and better understand the pressures on the water flowing through the River Dalgan in Ballyhaunis. LAWPRO provided funding for citizen science monitoring of the River Dalgan through the Community Water Development Fund.

 

“We’ve worked with LAWPRO through really closely through all phases of this programme,” Laura said, “from the training stage to acquiring equipment. We have been helped by engagement officers to build up our capacity and our equipment to enter the water safely and to have our people essentially trained in what we are seeing.”

The excellent citizen science and biodiversity advocacy from Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns was recognised in 2023, when the group were awarded the Waters and Communities Special Award as part of the national SuperValu Tidy Towns Competition. The award is jointly funded by LAWPRO, Inland Fisheries Ireland and Waterways Ireland.

Indeed, in 2025, the group’s hard work was again recognised at the 2025 SuperValu TidyTowns competition, where they were named the North West & West Regional Winner in the Waters and Communities Special Award category.
 

It is well-deserved recognition for their hard work and their passion for their local waters.

Kilkerley Emmets GFC

In the summer of 2025, Kilkerley Emmets Gaelic Football Club in Co. Louth engaged LAWPRO Community Water Officer Eoghan Connaughton to undertake a habitat survey on the wetlands located beside their new football pitch.

The survey highlighted the ecological value of the club’s two-acre wetland and identified practical steps to protect and enhance it.

In this edition of Community Champions, club representative Peter Kelleher explains that championing sustainability is an important part of the club’s role in the community. Peter outlines the measures taken by the club to ensure their grounds provide a thriving ecosystem for the wildlife in the area. 

 

As Peter says: ‘Having a couple of acres of wetlands is not a silver bullet to the ecological crisis we face in Ireland, but it is a good first step.’

The club have plans to create educational information boards about the flora and fauna that can be found in the wetland on the grounds. As part of their educational outreach with the community, they screened an expanded version of this video at the club to mark Water Heritage Day 2025.

By protecting their wetlands, the club recognises that local actions have wider impacts. Their actions will help to safeguard the streams, rivers and coastal waters downstream, which flow towards the Special Area of Conservation in Dundalk Bay.

If your GAA club wants to follow the example set by Kilkerley Emmets GFC, you may want to consider getting involved in the Green Clubs Programme. It supports GAA clubs in taking simple and effective sustainability action in their grounds and activities.

Geashill Tidy Towns

Pat Foley, from Geashill Tidy Towns in Offaly, explains how funding from LAWPRO allowed the group to install a raingarden and reclaim a historic wetland area on the edge of the picturesque village in Co. Offaly.

 

Nature-based solutions such as raingardens and wetlands help slow the flow of water in the landscape. This reduces flood potential and filters harmful contaminants and sediments.

With the help of LAWPRO’s Community Water Development Fund, Geashill Tidy Towns installed raingardens and wetlands to filter nutrients from the run-off water coming from the nearby car park. It was a practical solution to a local problem and created a wonderful amenity for residents in the village to enjoy. The wetland ponds attract a huge variety of insects, animals, birds, small mammals, (tadpoles, frogs etc) and are a wonderful addition to the area.

Pat Foley, Chair of Geashill Tidy Towns, said:

“The funding is essential for us because our resources, while it facilitates us doing small jobs locally, maintenance work, it wouldn’t allow us to take on a large project such as this. But it’s not just to have the financial funding, it’s the reservoir of information, the background knowledge, I think that’s really important.”

It is a wonderful example of the community coming together to tackle local issues, creating a beautiful place for everyone to enjoy, and a space that provides educational opportunities for all to learn more about nature.