Philanthropy Funding Supports Dark Sky Ireland’s Work to Protect the Night
Community Foundation Ireland support will help Dark Sky Ireland continue its work towards lasting policy and legislation on light pollution
Dark Sky Ireland, the all-island organisation working to protect and restore the night-time environment, is delighted to announce that it has received a grant from Community Foundation Ireland under its Opportunities 2026 funding round.
The funding will support Dark Sky Ireland’s core work through to the end of 2026. This includes its advocacy for meaningful and lasting policy and legislation on light pollution, and its training and outreach with local authorities, communities and professionals across the island. Dark Sky Ireland continues to seek further funding to sustain this work beyond 2026.
Light pollution is recognised internationally as a major threat to biodiversity, sustainability, culture and human health. It is growing globally at an estimated 10% per year, compounding the impacts of other environmental pressures, including climate change. Reducing artificial light at night, by contrast, can support nature restoration while also saving energy, carbon and cost.
Dark Sky Ireland is the only national body on the island of Ireland dedicated to reducing artificial light at night through encouraging responsible lighting. Its work includes:
- Training biodiversity and heritage officers, and delivering webinars to capital delivery teams in every local authority.
- Supporting Mayo County Council’s goal of becoming the world’s first dark sky county and supporting nationwide communities in their efforts to establish protected dark sky areas.
- Advising government on dark sky policy, including input to the Nature Restoration recommendations and the nocturnal pollinators section of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan.
- Working with partners such as Leave No Trace Ireland, Tidy Towns and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to embed dark sky practice in existing networks.
This is not the first time Community Foundation Ireland has backed the organisation. Previous support from The Foundation helped Dark Sky Ireland host the international ALAN (Artificial Light At Night) conference in Westport in October 2025, the largest in the series to date, with more than 200 researchers and advocates from over 40 countries. Dark Sky Ireland has since been named an SDG Champion for 2025–2027 and was recently the overall winner of the “Nature Education & Wellbeing” category at the Powerscourt Estate Working with Nature Awards.
Professor Brian Espey, Chairman, Dark Sky Ireland, said:
“We are enormously grateful to Community Foundation Ireland for their continued support.
For a volunteer-led organisation like ours, philanthropy is what makes sustained work possible.
This funding helps us to keep building the partnerships, expertise and policy influence needed to secure lasting protection for our dark sky heritage, for people, wildlife and future generations.”
Denise Charlton, Chief Executive of Community Foundation Ireland, added:
“Our skies fascinate us, they set our mood, our seasons and our daily lives. Dark Sky Ireland are on a mission to teach all of us that the importance of the night sky is even greater – and protecting it is vital not just for nature to thrive but also to excite imaginations for generations to come.
This strategic work fits perfectly with our mission as a Foundation to mobilise philanthropy to strengthen communities and protect climate and nature.
We are a proud partner of all who are passionate about protecting the dark sky.”
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See more about our work with Dark Sky Ireland here