Ireland

This archive collects solutions-journalism stories and milestones from Ireland — covering policy advances, community-led efforts, and social progress reported from across the country. Read about what’s working and why.

Offshore wind turbines rising from the North Sea at dusk for an article about the North Sea wind hub

Ten nations pledge €11 billion for a 100GW North Sea wind hub

By / / Good News For Humankind

North Sea wind hub: Ten European nations have pledged €11 billion to build a 100-gigawatt offshore wind network in the North Sea, enough clean electricity to power roughly 100 million homes. The commitment, formalized through the Esbjerg Declaration, is the largest coordinated offshore wind investment in European history. Beyond the raw numbers, the agreement marks a fundamental shift from competing national energy projects toward a shared multinational grid spanning northwestern Europe. It directly addresses Europe’s dependence on imported fossil fuels while setting ambitious targets of 100GW by 2030 and 300GW by 2050.

A musician playing traditional Irish fiddle outdoors, for an article about basic income for artists in Ireland

Ireland’s basic income for artists pilot is set to become permanent

By / / Good News For Humankind

Basic income for artists proved its worth in Ireland’s three-year pilot, with evaluation data showing increased creative output, improved mental health, and more ambitious work across all disciplines. Roughly 2,000 artists received approximately €325 per week through a lottery system, freeing them from precarious side work and enabling projects that market pressures would otherwise have made impossible. The Irish government has now named permanent implementation a formal policy goal, potentially making Ireland a global model for treating cultural labor as a public good. Challenges around access equity and legal permanence remain, but the evidence is clear: economic stability helps artists create more and better work.

Aerial view of a coastal power station at dusk for an article about Ireland coal-free Moneypoint closure

Ireland closes its last coal-fired power plant at Moneypoint

By / / Good News For Humankind

Ireland’s coal-free milestone arrived in 2025 when Moneypoint power station, the country’s only coal-fired plant, shut down permanently after nearly six decades of operation. The closure makes Ireland one of Europe’s first fully coal-free nations and eliminates the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from its electricity grid. Wind power, now generating 35-40% of Irish electricity, effectively replaced what coal once provided. Communities near Moneypoint in County Clare stand to see direct air quality improvements, while Ireland’s shift from imported coal to domestic wind also strengthens energy security against volatile global commodity markets.

Consumers embrace Ireland’s first bottle deposit return scheme

By / / Good News For Humankind

Ireland’s bottle deposit scheme has Irish shoppers returning containers at a remarkable clip — monthly returns jumped from 2 million in February 2024 to 111 million by August, totaling 630 million bottles and cans in just eight months. Shoppers get 15 cents back per can and 25 cents per plastic bottle, a small nudge that’s quietly rewired daily habits across a country of just over 5 million people. Train passengers carry their empties home now. Office workers pool refunds like petty cash. As the U.K. and other countries plan their own rollouts, Ireland’s bumpy-but-successful start offers a hopeful template: behavior change at national scale really is possible when the incentives meet people where they already are.