Over €768,000 Just Transition funding used to connect University expertise with Offaly communities

THE work of a Just Transition funded project, called the Just Transition Academy, was outlined to councillors during the February monthly meeting of Offaly County Council.
Dr Maura Clancy, the Dean of Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology at the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) addressed the Councillors and said the Just Transition Academy (JTA), which will come to an end on March 31st, 2026, had been a great success and an awful lot of beneficial work had been carried out, connecting the University expertise of TUS with communities across Offaly.
She said the Just Transition Academy had helped hundreds of people to adapt amid “the move towards a sustainable, low-carbon future.” Dr Clancy pointed out that the JTA is based around the idea of ‘communiversity’ – where a university uses its research skills “to strengthen the good work of stakeholders already serving communities: in this case Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board (LOETB), Offaly Local Development Company (OLDC), and Offaly County Council.”
She pointed out that since last March, the Academy had supported “more than 400 participants across its four work pillars — from farming diversification to social enterprise and community development.”
The JTA was established through an investment of €768,265 under the national Just Transition initiative, co-funded by the Irish Government and the European Union. The funding enabled TUS to recruit five dedicated staff — one project coordinator and four research development officers — based on the ground in Offaly. Just over half of the investment supported employment costs, while the remainder funded programme delivery, community engagement and promotion.
“This innovative model, described as 'bringing the university to the community',” continued Dr Clancy, “demonstrates how higher education institutions can play a leading role in regional transformation. By embedding academic research and expertise directly within the community, and having researchers working side-by-side with community workers on the ground, the Academy identified education, training, and outreach gaps and co-created new, practical solutions with local partners.”
After listening to Dr Clancy's presentation, a number of the Councillors told the meeting that the Government's decarbonisation programme had resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs in Offaly and those jobs hadn't been replaced. They said they had wanted the Just Transition funding to go towards replacing the massive loss of jobs created by the decarbonisation programme, but this hadn't transpired. Just Transition is a programme lasting from 2021 to 2027 and represents €169 million in investment to support the Midlands region, comprising €84.5 million in EU funding combined with national co-financing.
Bord na Móna started downsizing in 1988, said Cllr Fergus McDonnell. “When I left it there were about 3,000 employees in the company. That was in 1988. What are we now transitioning to is the big question. I haven't seen the promised transformation in employment in the Midlands. All the grants were for community development or social economy, which were nothing to do with replacing the jobs that were lost. The Community Benefit Funds being offered by Wind Farms are an insult. We want real tangible jobs. In other countries, such as in England with the closure of its coal mines, they handled the transitioning period more skilfully. In contrast Offaly has been badly let down. It's all a micro vision thing, when in fact what we Councillors were always looking for was a macro vision approach."
Dr Clancy pointed out that initiatives such as Burren Beo have been a great success and people stayed in the Burren region because of it.
Cllr Liam Quinn said the various Councils in the Midlands became “quite tribal” over recent years as they jostled for the Just Transition funding. He said it was obvious that Offaly suffered the most due to the decarbonisation programme and therefore Offaly should have benefited the most, by far. “Unfortunately Offaly lost control of the narrative. Just Transition is not going to be the thing which we Councillors want. We must look elsewhere. We are looking elsewhere, because we are pointing out we should strongly benefit from the Wind Farm community funding pot.” This “funding pot” is known as the Community Benefit Fund (CBF).
Cllr John Leahy, Cathaoirleach Offaly County Council, a couple of weeks ago pointed out that over the next 50 years Offaly will be entitled to claim €50 million from the Wind Farm companies' CBF. He pointed out that at the moment the fund is worth €2 per hour per every Megawatt produced on each individual Wind Farm in Offaly. Offaly is currently producing 565MWs of energy per hour. As it stands,” he remarked, “the Community Benefit Fund is not resulting in anything really substantial in the county. Yes, it's benefitting many community groups with €1,000 here, €3,000 there, and so on, but our vision is still too narrow in the county and we are not benefitting from it as much as we could be. In effect a lot of the CBF money is being hoarded by the Wind Farm companies and I am worried that if we don't draw it down in the near future then in 20 years or so we will lose it. It's great that community groups are getting the funding but the big projects are not happening.”
Cllr Eddie Fitzpatrick agreed with Cllrs McDonnell and Quinn. “Just Transition was watered down to something which we weren't seeking,” he remarked. “We wanted a replacement industry or industries for the hundreds of jobs lost because of decarbonisation. That didn't happen. Now we have a huge number of wind turbines and solar farms but no jobs. The people of Offaly were very supportive of Bord na Móna and the ESB over many years. Now those companies have moved on and have forgotten about the people of Offaly. We need to focus on the Small & Medium Enterprises. We are not going to get big factories such as they have in Athlone.”
Just Transition was not designed to replace the lost Bord na Móna jobs, said Cllr Aoife Masterson. “It was like being given inappropriate, light footwear for a job requiring heavy duty footwear.”
Cllr Leahy's comments during the meeting focussed on the positives, pointing out that a number of former Bord na Móna employees engaged in upskilling LOETB courses. He also pointed out that the 65 acres of land in Tullamore, recently secured by the IDA, will be a great boost for the county.
It was obvious from Dr Clancy's presentation that a great deal of work has been done over the year of its existence by the Just Transition Academy. She said the JTA's aim was to “create a collaborative, community-focussed academy in Offaly which delivered targeted education, training, research and support to enable an inclusive and sustainable transition to climate neutrality.”
She spoke about the popular Clara Bog Bothy Project which engaged about 20 members of the local community. The Clara Bog Bothy was a multi-use shelter structure delivered by the Irish Architecture Foundation and 12th Field, and was located on Clara Bog.
“Clara placemaking (under the theme of Regenerative Communities) engaged 45 community members,” Dr Clancy continued. “It identified natural, cultural and social assets and identified Eco Tourism as the strategic tourist product based on green and blue ways and cultural tourism based on local history and heritage.
“The Interactive Map project (under the theme of Regenerative Economies) created a visual map of social enterprises in Offaly; which helped to identify where support and mentoring might have the greatest impact. There was a long list of social enterprises involved, including ACT Counselling Tullamore, Birr 20:20 Vision, Birr Leisure Centre, Clara Community Pool, Edenderry Youth Café, Kilcormac Development Association, Moneygall Community Garden, The Growery Birr, and Tullamore Show.”
The JTA developed a step-by-step Social Enterprise Handbook called “Profit for Purpose: A practical guide to starting and growing a Social Enterprise in Ireland.”
Six interviews were conducted with service recipients and administrators to assess the social impact of the Meals on Wheels service on the physical and mental wellbeing of older adults in rural communities.
The JTA designed and delivered Retrofitting workshops for older households reliant on turf and coal; engaging with 400 people across 8 locations in the most affected areas of Offaly. Advice was provided on SEAI grants.
The JTA delivered an 8-week Digital Skills programme with 16 Small & Medium Enterprise participants.
A research article called “The enduring impact of the Energy Transition on smaller farmers in Offaly and emerging support needs” was published. This assessed the impact of the closure of peat operations at Bord na Móna on small and medium-sized farming households in Offaly. 67 farmers from across Offaly participated in the research. 2 in 5 farmers reported previous "household employment" with Bord na Móna. 60% of the farmers who participated in the research said they had never heard of Just Transition.
A number of farmers received training in: sheep / cattle pregnancy detection (Scanning); genomic selection, herd improvement (Breeding); Hoof Trimming (animal welfare and productivity); Welding; Fencing (Gurteen Agricultural College); and Trailer licence lessons.
The Just Transition Academy also engaged in the Dark Skies Project. The Dark Skies project is a nationwide initiative aimed at protecting, restoring, and promoting the country's natural night skies from the increasing impact of artificial light pollution. The project focuses on preserving rural darkness for its ecological, cultural, and tourism benefits, ensuring that the night environment is saved for future generations.