Kilkenny Civil Defence are taking Climate Action

Get to know Kilkenny Civil Defence Officer (Michelle Colclough) & the Civil Defence Team

• What does the Civil Defence team do?

Civil Defence is a voluntary organisation that supports the Principle response agencies such as An Gardaí Síochaná, HSE, Fire Service and Local authority in times of emergency. We operate in 5 core areas: emergency response, medical response, search & rescue, community assistance and radiation monitoring. We are funded by the Department of Defence and the Local Authority, and are employees of Kilkenny County Council.

• How many members are there on the team? 

There are 2 fulltime staff employed to manage our building, fleet, equipment. We are responsible for training more than 40 volunteers who assist in the work of the Civil Defence Office, conducting risk assessments, procuring equipment, etc.

• Where did you work before this position?

Prior to working as Civil Defence Officer I was managing the COVID-19 testing centre in Carlow.

• What’s the best concert/gig you’ve went to?

I have a few concerts that come to mind, I unashamedly went to Garth Brooks, but the best by fair had to be in Cillín Hill we were providing medical cover for the Coronas and Sinead O’Connor over 2 nights. Sinead O’Connor was really incredible and it was such a great venue.

• How important is the issue of Climate Change/Action to you personally?

Over the past few years I have become more concerned with the effects of climate change I see it more regularly is my personal and professional life. I have been actively trying to make small sustainable changes to play my part. Switching to electronic from paper where possible, seeding parts of the garden with bee friendly pollinators, recycling etc.

• Summarise what Civil Defence have been doing in relation to Climate Action?

We have drawn up a climate action policy which outlines the changes we are committed to making. We have removed all the older large diesel engines from the fleet, we have started to switch over some of the newer vehicles to run on Hydro treated vegetable oil. We have replaced our petrol generators with powerbanks that can be charged by solar. And the everyday changes such as vehicle logs, removing single use plastic, etc. I am also a member of the Kilkenny County Council Climate Action Steering Committee, I contributed to the preparation of the Climate Action Plan and report to the committee on delivery of the Civil Defence climate actions.