Work of Leitrim-based Clean Coasts volunteer showcased and celebrated at the Ocean Hero Awards

Today Clean Coasts hosted the Ocean Hero Awards Ceremony and Ocean Talks amber 6 Kildare Street, in Dublin, to celebrate and thank the groups, individuals, communities, and businesses who, throughout the year, have done outstanding work to protect their local coastline and environment.  

Each year, the Ocean Hero Awards honour the invaluable contribution Clean Coasts volunteers, groups and communities have made towards conserving our spectacular coastline. The awards, originally called the ‘Clean Coasts Merit Awards’, were conceived in 2006, consisting then of only one category, ‘The Clean Coasts Group of the Year’.    

This year, Clean Coasts has chosen 7 dedicated categories with a total of 28 groups, organisations and individuals shortlisted for the title of Ocean Hero within each category.  In County Leitrim, Martina Healy AKA Leitrim Litter Picker has been nominated for the Campaigner of the Year award. The Campaigner of the Year award is an acknowledgement of the individuals and groups who have engaged with and helped spread awareness about the work of Clean Coasts and our key campaigns – Think Before you Flush and the #2minutebeachclean. They are the voices championing the importance of reducing marine litter in their local areas and wider region. 

Martina is consistently busy cleaning up her local area and raising awareness on social media not only of the quantity and type of litter found along our beaches and waterways, but also of how easy it is to make a difference. In January of 2022 she was featured by RTE in their Climate Heroes segment on their website and across social media. 

Leitrim may have a short coastline, but it has many waterways that lead to the sea and Martina Healy has been working hard to fight pollution and waste of them and raising awareness on social media to her almost three thousand followers.