Irish Energy Narratives in the Transition (IENARR) https://www.ucd.ie/earth/ie-narr/ is an interdisciplinary project that probes how communities are narrating the energy transition in rural and urban Ireland. Across 2024-25 the team successfully organised three community mapping workshops at Kilrush, Co. Clare (September 2024, capturing the shift at Moneypoint away from coal and towards other uses such as energy storage), West Dublin (May 2025, considering how fossil fuels and emergent energy infrastructures such as district heating are tied up with data centres); and Clifden, Co. Galway (November 2025, discussing the development of offshore wind energy amidst decarbonisation).
Each workshop involved a field trip to a site of significance, including the coal fired power plant at Moneypoint, the Codema District Heating System in Tallaght, and the windy coastlines of West Galway, followed by a community mapping workshop. Our activities are underpinned by a methodology derived from the “Tree School,” in which community co-creation is a guiding principle https://www.ucd.ie/earth/ie-narr/methodology/. Workshop organisers encouraged community participants to add their knowledge onto transparent overlays over Ordnance Survey maps of the local landscape; while visiting three themed tables on “Policy,” “Infrastructure,” and “Cultural Heritage.” These layers were designed to capture the multiscalar, systemic and experiential dimensions of energy transition across various interests and mechanisms of governance.
In Spring 2026 we will present our findings to the UCD community at the Earth Institute coffee morning.
IE-NARR team members include Dr Treasa De Loughry (School of English, Drama, and Film), Dr Tomas Buitendijk (School of Business), Dr Patrick Brodie (School of Communication and Information Studies), Dr Zoe O’Reilly, and Rosie O’Reilly. We also received support from Emma Millet, Dylan Murphy, and Josie Taylor. The team engaged with community, industry and government partners, including the ESB, the Co. Clare Climate Action Office, Sustainable Energy Community Groups in Galway, and Codema.
The project is funded by the Earth Institute Strategic Priority Support Mechanism; and has received support from the Marine Institute, ENACT, the UCD Centre for Digital Policy, and the UCD Marine & Energy Social Sciences & Humanities Interdisciplinary Research Group.