From peat to progress: How Irish businesses are pioneering a sustainable future with EU support

Ireland is undergoing a significant transformation as it moves away from peat production and other carbon-heavy industries toward a more sustainable, low-carbon economy. This transition has had profound economic and social impacts, particularly in the Midlands region, where communities have historically relied on these industries for employment and economic stability. Discover stories of entrepreneurs that are not seeing this transition as an obstacle, but are using it as an opportunity.

From a bank to an eco-friendly travel company

For Brendan Flanagan, a former Ulster Bank employee, the closure of the bank was a turning point. After 15 years of working in financial services, he took it as an opportunity to turn one of his dreams into reality. He turned his passion for the outdoors into a business.

With support from the EU Just Transition Tourism Learning Network, Brendan founded Ethical Tours, an eco-friendly travel company offering cycling and walking experiences across the Newcastle Woodland Trail, Corlea Bog Amenity Walk, and the Royal Canal Greenway.

Ethical Tours was founded on the belief that travel should create positive experiences for both visitors and the communities they explore. This commitment to responsible tourism ensures that every journey provides meaningful enrichment to both travelers and local residents. Rather than focusing solely on sightseeing, Ethical Tours actively engages with local cultures, collaborating with communities and businesses to ensure that tourism’s benefits are shared widely, supporting traditions, strengthening local economies, and fostering meaningful connections.

Brendan credits the JTF-funded program with helping him gain essential skills in digital marketing, accessibility, and tourism business management. “The learning network has been a game-changer for me,” he says. “It’s provided both practical insights and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs.”

Transforming a mine into a world-class bioeconomy campus

For Stephen Napier, who became CEO of the Irish Bioeconomy Foundation in 2020, his journey with the EU-JTF focused on revitalising the former Vedanta Zinc Mine in Lisheen, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, which, thanks to the latest investment from the EU Just Transition fund, is now set to expand its operations that will help facilitate scale up and demonstration of novel biotechnological approaches for biomanufacturing.

The BioScaleUp project, will help realise the long term vision of IBF and Tipperary County Council to enable Ireland to transition to a greener future with lower GHG emissions in a Circular Bioeconomy through the piloting and scaling of biomanufacturing. The funding will integrate precision fermentation and green chemistry to enable the conversion of biomass and food processing side streams to products of value ranging from fine chemicals, single cell protein, bioactive, biopolymers, and bioenergy.

With this investment in the campus, the vision is that Lisheen will become a thriving centre of excellence for bioeconomy development at all scales, where scientific, educational, technical and business expertise are integrated at a location that provides a soft landing for investment and growth.

These are just two examples of the impact of the EU-JTF in the Midlands, but several other projects can also be mentioned, as Mount Lucas Circular Aquaculture Initiative, CycleUp Textiles, and REShape, all initiatives that focus on sustainable business development, upskilling and reskilling workforces for a low-carbon economy, driving circular economy initiatives, and peatland restoration and industrial site regeneration.

All of them were also showcased at a recent event hosted by Technological University Shannon (TUS) Midlands Campus and the Eastern & Midland Regional Assembly (EMRA), “Green Futures: Sustainable Innovation in the Midlands”, which discussed the projects’ success as a result of receiving funding under the initiative, highlighting how EU-backed initiatives are fostering new industries, job opportunities, and environmental restoration efforts.

The EU Just Transition Fund (2021-2027) is dedicated to helping regions most affected by the shift to climate neutrality. Ireland will receive up to €84.5 million from the EU JTF by 2027, with an additional €84.5 million in match funding from the Irish Government, bringing the total investment to €169 million. The programme is unique in the way that it targets the specific opportunities and challenges faced in the Midlands region, and how it creates opportunity to a great breadth and diversity of original ideas in the Midlands. The fund brings direct financial supports that enable new, locally grown innovations to come to life. Through a number of schemes, the EU JTF programme is enabling everything from large-scale projects like bioeconomy demonstration initiatives, to training courses and grants to run successful regenerative tourism businesses, to restoring degraded peatlands for new uses, to local community-led projects that enhance and diversify the local economic and community fabric.

For more information on the EU Just Transition Fund, and to see more projects that are receiving funding from the programme, visit eufunds.ie or emra.ie .