Irish school children lead the charge in saving electricity as Green-Schools relaunches its energy theme sponsored by EirGrid

An Taisce Green-Schools officially relaunched its energy theme for primary and secondary schools around the country at St Mark’s Junior School in Tallaght, Co Dublin today, thanks to its new partnership with EirGrid, the operator and developer of Ireland’s electricity grid. 

To date, over 3,000 schools have been awarded the energy flag since the beginning of the Green-Schools programme in 1997, with great interest already received for participation in the coming year.

During the 2023-24 school year, schools saved a combined 18 million kWh of electricity, enough to make 58 million cups of tea, due to their participation in the Green-Schools programme, proving that interest in energy is strong among Ireland’s school children.

Now, with a formal structure in place thanks to this exciting new partnership with EirGrid, the energy theme will encourage primary and secondary school children to develop their awareness around energy conservation and how to effectively manage this important resource in our schools and homes.

Speaking at the official launch of the partnership at St Mark’s Junior School, Tallaght, Suzanne Collins, EirGrid Head of Public Relations, said: “This partnership represents an incredible opportunity to engage young people in a tangible and impactful way, to empower students to lead the charge for positive change in their communities, and we look forward to an exciting year of learning ahead.”

She added: "At EirGrid we believe that addressing energy challenges requires everyone's participation and we're excited to collaborate with An Taisce’s Green-Schools energy theme to make energy conservation a shared priority together.”

Joanne Scott, Green Schools Programme Manager, added: “We are incredibly excited to relaunch the energy theme to schools, and we couldn’t do it without the support of EirGrid. 

"Our goal is to empower both students and teachers to take meaningful action in reducing energy consumption, while fostering a deeper understanding of where our energy comes from and how we can manage it more sustainably for the future.”

The Green-Schools Energy programme has an exciting year lined up with a series of four regional workshops planned for early 2025, our first ever dedicated Green Schools Energy Week with free online activities and learning about all things energy, and more to follow.