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Cork City Council wins Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Award

28/11/2025

Collecting the Age Friendly Initiative award at the Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards were (left to right) Dr Martin Davoren, Rebecca Loughry and Siubhán McCarthy of Cork City Council, Minister Kieran O'Donnell, Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr. Fergal Dennehy, Nuala Clarke EnergyCloud, and Ian Talbot, CE Chambers Ireland. 

Cork City Council has won a Chambers Ireland excellence in local government award for its work on a project that uses surplus renewable energy to provide free hot water to older people in Cork city.

It is the second national award for the EnergyCloud Age Friendly Initiative – a collaboration between Cork City Council, Cork City Age Friendly, and the EnergyCloud Ireland charity.

It won the environment category section of the National Age Friendly Recognition and Achievement Awards in October.

But Cork City Council has now won the Age Friendly Initiative category at the Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards, which were announced in Dublin on Thursday night.

The novel energy project was brainchild of the late John Mullins, the former chief executive of Bord Gáis, businessman and renewable energy entrepreneur, who served as the Age Friendly Ambassador for Cork for over a decade and latterly as chair of EnergyCloud Ireland, until his sudden death in April 2025.

The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Fergal Dennehy, congratulated the team involved in the EnergyCloud project on their second national award.

“The fact that the wonderful EnergyCloud project has won a second national award is a fantastic achievement and a testament to the innovation, collaboration, and commitment demonstrated by all involved in Cork City Council to support older people in Cork,” he said.

Valerie O’Sullivan, the Chief Executive of Cork City Council, said she was delighted that the project has been recognised at a national level again.

“This achievement reflects the vision that underpins Cork City Council’s commitment to delivering for people, to sustainability and supporting older people in our community. It is great to see the work of Cork City Council being recognised at a national level, and I am very proud of our team who delivered this initiative for older people and I am delighted they are again recognised for their work,” she said.

Cork City Council’s Age Friendly Co-Ordinator, Siubhan McCarthy, said it has been such a joy to work on this project that serves the older people of Cork City in such an innovative and meaningful way.

“It's been a real delight to see some of our older residents engage with and benefit from this innovative technology, allowing them to benefit from free tanks of hot water overnight,” she said.

“The late John Mullins was such a champion of this collaboration between Age Friendly Cork and EnergyCloud - it is testament to his work on this initiative that we are bringing this award home to the city.”

EnergyCloud Ireland estimates that more than €450m of renewable energy was wasted in Ireland in 2024 alone.

Mr Mullins identified that Cork City Council's Age Friendly network would be an excellent platform for promoting the work of EnergyCloud Ireland.

The EnergyCloud Age Friendly Initiative was launched as a pilot project earlier this year.

It was its first project in privately owned homes in Cork City, and its first project aimed at over 65s.

It involved the fitting of devices to the immersion tanks in the private or local authority homes of 40 older people to redirect surplus renewable energy from wind farms to power the immersion heater overnight.

Now in its 22nd year, the Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards recognise outstanding achievement in local government, with 98 local authority projects shortlisted across 16 categories, highlighting the dedication, innovation and impact taking place within communities across Ireland.

Cork City Council had a number of other projects shortlisted at the awards, including:

  • Ar Scáth a Chéile: Clár Teanga agus Cultúir Ghaelach i Leabharlanna Cathrach Chorcaí -Scéalta, Ceol, Cultúr, Pobail in the Celebrating Irish language and culture category.
  • Transforming Kerrypike: the transformation of Ballycannon Park in the Supporting Sustainable Communities category.
  • And Knocknaheeny Per Cent For Art: ‘I Can Colour Between The Lines but I Choose Not To’, in the Sustaining the Arts category.
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