Croke Park wins top honour at Business Energy Achievement Awards

Croke Park stadium in Dublin has been named the overall winner at the Business Energy Achievement Awards 2025, which recognise and celebrate outstanding sustainable energy initiatives across Ireland.

This awards ceremony, hosted by Eric Lalor at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Santry in Dublin, saw 67 entries from 41 companies competing across 19 trophy categories, with 164 attendees gathering to celebrate energy efficiency excellence.

In the award citation, the judging panel noted: “Croke Park has set the standard for sustainable energy leadership through innovation and long-term vision. Their commitment to reducing consumption and maximising efficiency has delivered measurable, lasting impact.”

It continues, “From pioneering green initiatives to embedding best practices across operations, they have demonstrated true excellence. The stadium’s dedication goes beyond compliance, inspiring others to follow their lead. A shining example of how ambition and action can transform energy performance.”

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Colin O’Brien, operations and sustainability executive at Croke Park, described the recognition as “fantastic” and a driver for continued progress. He explained that winning awards provides “belief that we’re doing the right thing” and gives the team “enthusiasm and optimism to keep going and push forward”.

O’Brien also highlighted the value of benchmarking against other companies, networking, collaboration, and learning from peers’ approaches.

Launched in 2021, the Business Energy Achievement Awards recognise businesses and organisations that are taking a leadership role in sustainability by actively working to reduce their overall energy consumption and transition to cleaner sources of power like solar or wind.

The energy leader award was presented to David Maguire, founder and chief executive of BNRG Renewables, which develops, constructs, owns, and operates solar projects across multiple continents. The judges noted that since 2007 BNRG has delivered hundreds of megawatts of operational capacity and built a development pipeline spanning the USA, Canada, Ireland, the UK, and Australia.

“An environmental scientist by training with advanced degrees in environmental sciences and resource management, David has over 23 years’ experience in environmental and renewable energy sectors and has founded key industry associations, shaping policy and driving sustainable growth worldwide,” said the award citation.

Accepting the award, Maguire emphasised the importance of strong leadership in Ireland’s current environment, particularly given geopolitical challenges. He praised the “stellar calibre” of shortlisted companies and projects, noting an impressive mix of indigenous and multinational businesses.

While acknowledging that Ireland remains “the most energy-insecure nation in Europe” with “a long way to go”, Maguire expressed optimism, saying “the future in Ireland is really bright”.

Among other award winners, Martin Mulholland, commercial operations director at Activ8 Solar Energies, stated that his company continuously strives to do better for the environment, describing their focus as “all about sustainability and innovation”.

Vincent Hudner, campus Ireland energy strategy lead at Johnson & Johnson, expressed delight at award recognition for his team. He emphasised the value of demonstrating decarbonisation efforts to customers, particularly for a large multinational corporation. Hudner also stressed the importance of participating in such awards programmes

Judging coordinator Brian Norton said the awards programme had attracted a broad range of excellent and diverse entries.

“The awards showcase the wholehearted commitment and demonstrable success of Irish companies in reducing their energy use, make greater use of renewable energy, and contributing to environmental sustainability,” he added.

Liz Cribbin, projects manager at Greyhound Racing Ireland, which was shortlisted in two award categories, remarked: “Resource efficiency is vital for the future. These awards highlight how industries such as greyhound racing, encompassing tourism, entertainment, catering and welfare, must continually strengthen sustainability to ensure resilience and long-term viability.”

Anne Butterly, founder and chief executive, Easydry, said she was “shocked, surprised, but also very happy” to win an award in the water usage category. She highlighted her company’s impact of saving 11.7 billion litres of water, proving that “a small company can make a big impact if we get the right companies on board”.

Butterly praised the awards process itself, explaining that it helped the company to assess where they are and where they need to go.

Daniel Walsh, energy engineer at Astellas Ireland Kerry plant, welcomed the recognition for his team’s efforts in implementing their energy management system and ISO 50001 certification. He said it was “great to get the story of the site out there and the large projects we’ve undertaken”.

Kevin O’Driscoll, director of partnership programmes at awards organiser BusinessRiver, commented: “Events like this are made possible through the support of sponsors. We are thankful to our 2025 supporters, AEE Ireland and Amárach Research. I also want to recognise our communications partner, The Irish Times. Their investment in the awards underlines their commitment and support of this key business area.”

Awards supporters

AEE Ireland
Amárach Research

Awards judges

Brian Norton (judging coordinator), emeritus professor, Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, and Technological University Dublin
Michael Conlon, professor, Technological University Dublin
Xavier Dubuisson, chief executive, RetroKit Ltd
Lorna Fitzsimons, assistant professor, DCU
Ciaron King, chief executive, Digren Ltd
Brian O Gallachoir, associate vice president of sustainability, University College Cork
Ken O’Byrne, commercial director, Flogas Energy
Aideen O’Hora, co-founder, SustainabilityWorks
Ronan Power, chief executive, Solar Ireland
Catriona Power, senior executive, Enterprise Ireland
Pat Smith, managing director, Local Power Ltd
Katherine Valery, senior sustainability engineer, Jacobs

Award winners

Overall energy achievement award

Winner: Croke Park