Tourism

Maintaining a welcoming community

Tourism is a major driver of the local economy, and we’re working to make sure visitors and locals alike continue to enjoy our uniquely beautiful environment.

Sustainable Energy Community

Background

In partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Kerry County Council, Údarás na Gaeltachta and Dingle Peninsula Tourism Alliance, Dingle Hub is leading a new project to foster a Sustainable Energy Community (SEC) based in the Tourism and Hospitality sector.

A sustainable energy community is any group of people who come together to improve how energy is used for the benefit of their community.  They look at how we can use energy in a sustainable, holistic way.
 
An SEC can include a range of energy users in the community such as homeowners, sports clubs, community centres, local businesses and churches. In this way, an SEC connects sustainable energy, local economic development and public well-being.

This is the first Tourism and Hospitality SEC in Ireland, and there’s no more fitting place than the Dingle Peninsula, where the beautiful natural environment is a key factor in the thriving tourism industry.

The goals of the SEC are:

  • to promote energy efficiency;
  • to use renewable energy; and
  • to develop de-centralised energy supplies.

The SEC will carry out detailed energy surveys over the 2023 summer season, and will also monitor energy use.

We invite local businesses to join the SEC and help us create a more sustainable tourism sector. Among the benefits to local business are:

  • lowering energy bills through collective buying power;
  • being first to learn about and participate in future ventures such as solar panels and anaerobic digestion;
  • knowing you’re helping keep the industry thriving by maintaining the natural environment on which it depends.

 

 

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Please consider joining this vital new initiative by clicking on the button below and filling out the energy questionnaire.

Sustainable tourism conference attendees

 Energy Master Plan

Tourism SEC EMP launch photo
Front row: Helen O’Connor Barry, Martin Bealin, Breandán Fitzgerald, Ann Ní Chíobháin. Top row: Maura Ní Mhainín, Daíthí Gallagher, Deirdre de Bhailís, Declan Murphy, Patricia Greaney.

The Dingle Tourism SEC has developed an energy master plan, after extensive consultation with local businesses and national experts.

The plan was launched on October 23, 2024.

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See Also:

Our related “Enpower” project, which aims to lower energy spending through community campaigns instead of an individual household approach.

Solar panel launch at Ventry P.O.