Catchment News

Home News LAWPRO Opens Grants Scheme for Heritage Week 2025

LAWPRO Opens Grants Scheme for Heritage Week 2025

Community groups are invited to host an event to celebrate Water Heritage Day 2025

Wednesday, 25^th June 2025: The Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) encourages community groups to apply under the ‘Water Heritage Day Grants Scheme 2025’ to celebrate Water Heritage Day on Sunday the 24^th of August. LAWPRO is a national shared service working on behalf of the 31 local authorities in Ireland coordinating efforts to achieve good water quality in rivers, lakes, estuaries, ground and coastal water.

Apply here

Speaking about the €30,000 grants scheme Anthony Coleman, Director of Services at LAWPRO said: “We are delighted to once again invite community groups to organise a water related event for Heritage Week. The theme of Heritage Week 2025 is “Exploring Our Foundations” and our waterways are an important part of the history of our island.

Water Heritage Day gives communities a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our heritage through water whether it be hosting a river safari, a talk at the riverside or launching a booklet on a local waterway, there are ample ways to get involved.”

You are asked to contact your local Community Water Officer in advance of making an application. Their contact details are on our website here: Communities Team – Local Authority Water Programme (lawaters.ie). The deadline for making an application is Friday, 25th of July at 4pm.

“Water Heritage Day continues to be a significant highlight during National Heritage Week every year, showcasing the creative and ingenious ways communities celebrate the impact of canals, lakes, rivers, and the sea on our local heritage. This LAWPRO grant scheme will enable people to explore and highlight our water-based foundations, emphasising how vital they are to our natural heritage. It’s a wonderful opportunity for event organisers to avail of supports that will encourage them to dive into our shared history and appreciate the incredible resource our waters provide.”
Virginia Teehan, CEO of the Heritage Council welcomes LAWPRO’s grant programme

LAWPRO works in partnership with the Heritage Council, and to run a Heritage Week event you have to register your event on their website here: www.heritageweek.ie/get-involved/organise-an-event

As part of Heritage Week there are awards for events held throughout the week, if you are holding a Water Heritage Day event you can submit your event to be considered for a Water Heritage Award.

Ballycumber Tidy Towns represented by Eddie Buckley, Tony Ennis and Emer Doherty are presented with the Water Heritage Award for Folly Tales and Treasure Trails by Margaret Morrissey, Local Authorities Water Programmme; Virginia Teehan, Heritage Council CEO; Dr Martina Moloney, Heritage Council chairperson and MC Síle Seoige at the Heritage Council’s National Heritage Week awards ceremony in the Royal Hospital, Kilminaham.

Learn more

To make an application see: https://submit.link/3T3

More information on the awards can be found here: www.heritageweek.ie/awards

About author

EPA Catchments Unit

Administrator

The EPA Catchments Unit is based in Dublin, and the team is involved with catchment science, chemistry, ecology, hydromorphology, modelling, Geographic Information Systems and planning. We work with the wider EPA, all of our local authorities, the Local Authority Waters and Communities Office, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, and other public bodies and Departments to ensure we have the best available data and information about our catchments.

Who is involved?
Quite simply, everyone in Ireland has a role to play. This can be from something as simple as making sure you don’t pollute your local stream, or a local community working together to establish a Rivers Trust to enhance the rivers and lakes in their area, to a Government Department or Agency helping a Minister implement a new policy to help protect and enhance all our water bodies.

This website has been developed and is maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency, and is a collaboration between the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Local Authority Waters Programme.

Local Authority Waters Programme

The Local Authority Waters Programme coordinates the efforts of local authorities and other public bodies in the implementation of the River Basin Management Plan, and supports local community and stakeholder involvement in managing our natural waters, for everyone’s benefit.

Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA is responsible for coordinating the monitoring, assessment and reporting on the status of our 4,842 water bodies, looking at trends and changes, determining which waterbodies are at risk and what could be causing this, and drafting environmental objectives for each.

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Department is responsible for making sure that the right policies, regulations and resources are in place to implement the Water Framework Directive, and developing a River Basin Management Plan and Programme of Measures to protect and restore our waters.