TWO Kerry group have been nominated for national awards.

An Taisce’s Clean Coasts Programme has  announced the shortlist for the 2024 Ocean Hero Awards which pay tribute to the exceptional contributions made by Clean Coasts volunteers, groups, and communities in preserving and protecting our coast and marine life.

Tralee Tidy Towns is shortlisted in the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award category and Maharees Heritage and Conservation in the Group of the Year category.

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The Maharees group is no stranger to success in the awards with Martha Farrell winning the Individual of the Year in 2023 and the group win the an Ocean Hero Special Achievement award in 2022.

All shortlisted nominees have been invited to the awards ceremony, which will take place on November 27 at the Gibson Hotel in Dublin.

Starting in 2006 as the ‘Clean Coasts’ Merit Awards,’ the awards initially featured a single category, ‘The Clean Coasts Group of the Year.’ In the years since, the program has grown to engage over 2,000 Clean Coasts groups and 40,000 volunteers nationwide.

This year, Clean Coasts has received hundreds of nominations across six distinct categories: Group of Year, Individual Volunteer of the Year, Youth Volunteer of the Year, Campaigner of the Year, Event of the Year and Equality Diversity and Inclusion Award.

This year a total of 36 groups, organisations and individuals were shortlisted for the title of Ocean Hero within each of the categories.