Artist Deirdre Brennan teams up with local school children on a mission to turn rubbish into eye-catching mural.

INSPIRED by her passion for youth empowerment and sustainability, artist Deirdre Brennan approached the Union Hall Tidy Towns committee with a unique initiative.

Her idea was simple - to use the marine debris washing up on local shores to create an art installation celebrating marine life and community spirit.

The Tidy Towns committee loved the idea, and so, with students from Scoil Naomh Bhríde and members of the local Foróige group, Deirdre ran a series of workshops in the classroom.

The hands-on sessions offered a space where students could use the collected beach litter, which had been cleaned, for a creative project.

The end result of the workshops were a series of cards designed by each child, using unique pieces of debris that they could take home to their families.

The card-making session aimed to inspire the students’ minds to create a larger art piece, specifically a mural made from debris to be displayed in the village.

Deirdre, who was a Home Economics and Special Education teacher before turning her hand to art, moved to Union Hall four years ago from Limerick.

The collaboration with school children to make cards came about as a way to raise awareness for the larger art installation.

‘I think you have to start small and you have to plant a seed,’ Deirdre said. ‘I didn’t know how we would get to all the houses in the locality. So I just thought that using the cards was a way of free advertising. Call it what you wish, it’s awareness really. It’s all about awareness.’

She brought samples of cards into the classrooms of Scoil Naomh Bhríde to inspire the children on what they could make with the debris.

They then took them home to showcase their creations to parents and friends, and on the back of the card reads a message explaining the ethos behind the card, and asking members of the community to give a hand with the beach clean-up if they could.

Union Hall Tidy Towns committee member Kate Nolan said the project aims to empower the community to tackle climate change issues, one small step at a time: ‘The important message Deirdre wants to highlight is that we can all make a difference to improve the situation,’ she said.

The initiative reflects the changes in ethos seen in the Tidy Towns in recent years.

‘The focus is a greener approach with a big emphasis on biodiversity, recycling, upcycling, climate change. That is the focus of Tidy Towns now. I think people think it’s just sweeping and cleaning but it’s not, it’s there’s a lot of other areas that we have to be mindful of.’

Union Hall Tidy Towns have left buckets and pickers at Squince, Carrigillihy and Reen strands to encourage local children and adults to collect the debris for the project and at the same time clean up the area.

The Coffee Cup at Reen Pier offers litter pickers a free coffee or hot chocolate for every bucket of rubbish collected, which adds a further incentive to get involved.

‘The debris from the beaches has been incredible what people have picked up. Even if it’s only two or three people I believe it will make a difference,’ added Deirdre.

There have been some unusual finds amongst the buckets of litter collected, including a flask and a toothbrush.

All of these discarded items will contribute to the final mural, where debris will be arranged to create a piece of art reflected the hard work of the community.

Deirdre hopes the mural will be completed by early summer.

If you happen to be in the area, be sure to pick up a bucket and a picker, and give just two minutes of your time to help make West Cork a greener place.