- Green Leader Award winner Neil McCabe, Dublin Fire Brigade
Nine out of ten businesses believe Green agenda important for their firms’ success
Friday, 15 April 2011 – Some of Ireland’s largest and most innovative businesses and organisations were recognised last night for their achievements and commitment to sustainability and the environment at the third annual Green Awards.
Microsoft Ireland, Intel, Airtricity, Deloitte, the Aviva Stadium and Croke Park were among 23 winners who were honoured for their excellent work in promoting, developing and implementing green ideas and innovations and for leading the sustainability agenda in Ireland. The 2011 awards are the largest to date, with more than 300 entries, 23 categories and 130 finalists.
To mark the awards, a specially commissioned survey of Irish businesses was also published which showed that 86 per cent of respondents believed that sustainability issues were “very important” for the success of their businesses.
The survey, carried out by RealEyes also found that 78.5 per cent of businesses said that the down turn had not had any impact on their commitment to addressing sustainability issues.
The awards were sponsored for the third year running by Ireland’s largest recycling and waste resource firm, Greenstar. Speaking at the awards, Greenstar Divisional Managing Director Jerry Dempsey said: “The entries this year show how far Ireland has come in developing innovative sustainable solutions. Sustainability has clearly become a proxy for efficient business practices which drive the bottom line and support enterprise and job creation. The Green Awards once again salutes outstanding personal and corporate contributions that will help to make Ireland a world leader in resource management”.
Other sponsors include the Irish Independent, RealEyes, Ecocem, Amárach Research, Greenbusiness.ie, Construct Ireland, Deloitte, rx3, the National Transport Authority, Airtricity and Accenture.
Guest of Honour at the Event, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan, said the Government was committed to supporting green enterprise and he committed to prioritising the development of the first National Action Plan on Green Public Procurement. “This is an example of how investing in the well-being of our environment can save money and create jobs, and is a clear example of how Government can lead in this area,” he said.
Gerard O’Neill, Chairman of the Amárach Group and a member of the judging panel, said that the judges noted not only the high standard of entries this year, but also that the finalists included many of Ireland’s largest and most successful companies.
“It is heartening to see that companies like Intel, Pfizer, Diageo, Microsoft and the Bank of Ireland were all award winners here tonight. Like all great companies they know that the future economic success of their businesses, and this country, lie in embracing the sustainability agenda.”
This year’s Green Leader award went to Neil McCabe a Dublin City fire-fighter and champion of the world’s first carbon neutral fire station. His efforts have also saved Dublin City Fire Brigade €50,000 a year through lower energy and fuel bills
The Green Awards this year introduced new categories, including the Green Corporate Citizenship Award, which was won by Intel, and the Green Waste to Business Resource Award, which was won by Wellman International.